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Comment by kenneth | Hacker News Reader

I get why this is bad for universities. For students though, the solution seems simple: take a gap year if you're just about to start, or a semester off if you're already in school. Gap years are tremendously valuable life experiences that for some reason Americans don't like, but that is really popular among Europeans. The value of university is primarily in the social bonds it forms and life experiences it provides (and the piece of paper you get at the end, for some). The education part itself is rarely applicable to real life anyways. What's the point of overpaying to slave over online classes and a compromised experience? Just wait it out…

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The only problem about taking a gap year though is that it’s not clear what that will he like either this year...

Travel restrictions are probably still going to be around for some time, and the likelihood of getting a part time job to fund it is much lower than usual.

This is not a bad idea, and the way to spend that time may be youth corps. There are calls for youth corp in the US[1] and the UK[2], and it does seem like a valid way to contribute, learn and stay productive while universities arrange the new normal.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/corona-co...

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/24/an-ope...

Gap years are a luxury for the privileged. A lot of American students lack the funds to sit around for a year. You can't get a student loan unless you're actually studying in an accredited school.

and do what for 4-6 months? get a job in a labor market that has suddenly gone belly up? travel abroad to places that won't take you?

Play video games, watch Netflix, intermixed with PornHub, become obese, depressed, and addicted to some substance, even if purely out of boredom.

Then, after all this, forget why you even wanted to go to college.

Sounds like a plan.

Even "doing nothing" is cheaper for the time being if you can't get a job.

Where I'm at, there are lots of listings. Many places need more people to deal with curb-delivery, etc., and contact-tracing is taking off.

More importantly, though, you can simply live cheap in parents' basement or whatever, and study, study, study. You don't need a college to learn.

Maybe just transfer to a school that has great online courses for lower cost?, and if you really want to, you can try to then transfer back

Ah, yes. "Just take a gap year," the "Hurricanes? Just move to another state" kind of solution.

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