A record-breaking 20% of Harvard College’s Class of 2024 chose to defer their first year— three times higher than the usual amount, according to an August 2020 Forbes article. The class of 2025 became the largest class in Harvard’s history and perhaps also the most diverse in experiences. How are these first-years adjusting to campus life? Hear from two students who took a gap year and two who did not.
“I feel like going to college is almost a step down in terms of independence,” said Abby Miller ’25, who spent nine months of her gap year at a computer science bootcamp in Israel. Meanwhile, Katie Laverty ’25 spent her gap year living at home, working as a babysitter and sharpening her diving skills before starting on Harvard’s swim and dive team. She believes she didn’t develop academically, but says she “professionally matured” from working and training during her time off.
Although Miller and Laverty spent their gap years differently, they agreed that it is much easier to quickly bond with someone who also took a gap year as they have a sense of shared experience and maturity. These friendships may also form on the basis of similarities in age and maturity. “I’ve noticed that it’s easier to connect with gap year students,” Miller said. This observation stemmed from a concern she had coming into the school year: “I was worried that everyone would be super immature compared to me because I had just spent nine months abroad and gained all this new independence.”
Students who came into their first-year immediately after high school offer an alternative perspective. The high number of gap year students in the class of 2025 “adds to the nuance of the amazing experiences that we can all bring,” said Lily Roberts ’25, who spent her senior year of highschool completely online. “I finally get to be surrounded by new people and by people like me and also people who are so different from me and have different life experiences,” she said, such as those who hiked across the country or worked in a lab last year. If fewer first-years took time off, Miller adds, the social dynamics wouldn’t be as “exhilarating.”
For Dylan Piggot ’25, being surrounded by gap year students at Harvard is “a good influence,” he says, “pushing me to work harder in classes.” He did not take a gap year, instead spending his senior year of high school alternating between virtual and in-person classes. After such an academically disorienting year, Piggot said he benefits from the presence of older first-years who are particularly focused on their school work.
Gap year students bring grounded and mature outlooks to campus life, Piggot and Roberts concurred. But “at the end of the day,” Miller said, “we’re all really mature, driven, passionate people, so you don’t really notice whether or not someone took a gap year.”
Before the fall semester began, some students worried that abnormal social dynamics would prevail amongst the large class of 2025. Instead, they’ve found that its diversified profile actually serves as a benefit. The combination of gap year and non-gap year students has provided the class with room to grow, an urge to work harder, and an expanded outlook.
As Piggot reflects on the year ahead, he considers that while “this year is a little peculiar, I believe that we are better off than we were last year, and I’m excited to see what happens!”
Alexandra Friedlander ’25 (afriedlander@college.harvard.edu) took a gap year, and is so glad she did.
Ariel Beck ’25 (arielbeck@college.harvard.edu) did not take a gap year, but wishes she had.