Drop year
My story
Psychological Tension and Declining Motivation Among the many aspects of
taking a ‘drop year’, the most overlooked is the mental strain created by the
stress associated with it.
1. Initial Motivation Compared to The Reality Initially, students who take a
drop year tend to be very motivated. They believe that if they work hard
enough during this period, they will dramatically improve their ranking.
However, such motivation often decreases after a few months due to the
following: - They don’t have the structure of being in a school or coaching
class - There is no other student studying around them or competing against
them in everyday life to help keep them motivated - Studying in isolation
from others (monotonous routine).
2. Increased Anxiety Over The Period of Drop Year As time goes on, the
amount of stress continues to build as opposed to getting less. Every time
they take a test, they compare their results to their “anticipated
improvement.” This results in feelings of: - Doubt - Fear of failing again -
Emotional fatigue Instead of being able to build their confidence up, many
students experience mental exhaustion and fatigue.
3. The Isolation Experience Taking a drop year often entails social isolation of
students. Friends are moving on to college, having new experiences, and
working in various internships while a student is working towards their goal
of passing a test.
This will typically lead to: - Fewer opportunities for social interactions -
Stagnation of life; the inability to keep up with their peers - Increased levels
of comparison stress The mental isolation you create for yourself during the
drop year creates despair and leads to inconsistency in performance
Same Preparation Process
Again Many students who take a year off before they sit their final exams will
use the same preparation process as they did at school. Using: -
The same text books - The same coaching modules - The same principles
Using the same preparation technique as didn't work first time around means
you are unlikely to obtain any better results than you did previously.
2. Too Much Confidence Students make the mistake of thinking, "If I have
lots of time available to me I will study everything thoroughly and properly".
The reality is they often do things such as: - Procrastinate - Delay their
revision cycles - Attempt to use too many resources to prepare Rather than
being focused, students have fragmented preparation on too many fronts.
3. Little Improvement in Rank Historically, and in the majority of cases,
students in an academic drop year will: - See minimal improvement from
their previous academic performance. - Stay at approximately the same level
of performance compared to the percentage of students in their previous
academic performance level. - Often perform worse than they did previously
due to the pressure of being in an academic drop year. The idea that a
student will promote from the 70th to the 99th percentile is unrealistic for
the vast majority of students.
4. Broken (stopped) Momentum When a student finishes school they have
built up a rhythm for studying, however when you take a year off you lose
that rhythm, therefore if you want to re-establish your discipline to study
without outside accountability is extremely difficult.
The Long-Term Effects of Opportunity Cost
1. Lost Year of Education Dropping a year means postponing schooling by an
entire academic year; as such, a dropper is: a) Delaying graduation; b)
Delaying job placement; and c) Delaying participation in internships (and
ultimately gaining exposure). All of these factors contribute to the long-term
impact of a year's delay in an increasingly rapidly changing world.
2. Uncertainty of Career Outcomes Even if a dropper does well after returning
to school after having dropped (i.e., excelling), a dropper may still not achieve
the desired result based on how other factors (like timing) affected their
success. If a dropper's results do not improve significantly during his or her
second attempt at school, he or she will have lost (1) energy, (2) a year's
worth of experience, and (3) confidence with which to seek the next career
opportunity. Thus, a dropper runs a high-risk opportunity with an uncertain
payoff.
3. Peers Gain a Competitive Advantage As droppers are preparing to re-enter
academic life, they miss developing skills as quickly or fully as their aged
peers do. Many droppers lose out because of this lost opportunity and find
themselves in the same lower-positioned company as other students who
have because of available timing for placement. Over time, the dropper
experiences further downside challenges that prevent them from recovering
from the earlier delay. 4. The Emotional Toll of “One More Opportunity”
Pressure The pressure to be successful on their next academic experience
creates stress-induced decreased performance during challenging situations
(like JEE). Many students feel as if they only have one chance to succeed
before they will be forever unable to recover.