Something to readWorkload & wellbeing
Time out or burn out for the next generation
An essay from Harvard's admissions office on why stepping off the fast track isn't falling behind
Why it’s worth your time
Stepping off a fast track can feel like falling behind, and this essay pushes back on that feeling from an unexpected place, Harvard's admissions office. Its authors, two longtime leaders of Harvard College admissions and a psychology lecturer, argue for time out in many forms, from a brief break to a year off before college, and describe professionals who say they ended up in their work because of someone else's expectations, or drifted into it. It's written for students and parents, and its central question carries well past school.
How to decide whether to take time out
The essay · 15 min · Free
How to get it
Opens their site. We don’t copy it here; we’d rather they get the read.
- Read the essay.
It sits lower on Harvard's gap-year page, below the admissions questions. If time is short, start at the section called The fallout and read through the reactions to the year off.
- Write down whose goals your next step serves.
Write the next step you're working toward, at work or in school. Next to it, write who first wanted it for you. If the answer isn't you, write one thing you'd want from the next year, and one way to test it without quitting anything.
Good moments for this: before a big application or job decisionafter a stretch of running on emptyat the end of a school or work year
Keep going with Truest
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
The essay passes on smaller versions that students suggested for the high school years: downtime in the week, summers with less structure, an ordinary summer job. In a job, the equivalent may be a protected afternoon or a vacation you don't check in from.
What might make this harder
Describe what the time is for and what you expect to come back with, in terms they care about. A plan with a purpose tends to be easier to support than a wish to step away.
Questions people ask
What is Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation about?
An essay by two longtime Harvard admissions leaders and a psychology lecturer about the pressure on students to collect the right credentials, and their case for taking time out before or during college, whether a short pause or a full year.
Does Harvard encourage gap years?
Yes. Harvard's gap-year page says admitted students are encouraged to put off enrolling for a year to travel, work or take on a project, and the essay says Harvard has recommended deferral for more than four decades.
Will a gap year hurt my college application?
The authors write that time away almost never makes someone a weaker candidate, and they warn against taking a year off just to impress an admissions office. Policies differ between colleges, so check the ones you're considering.
Is the essay relevant if I'm already working?
Its argument about chasing other people's goals applies at any stage, and it describes professionals in their thirties and forties who feel they drifted into their work. The specific advice is written for students.
What it says, and how it holds up
The essay first ran in The New York Times in December 2000 and has been revised since; it now lives on Harvard College's gap-year page. Its authors are William Fitzsimmons, Harvard College's dean of admissions and financial aid; Marlyn E. McGrath, its director of admissions until she retired in 2021; and Charles Ducey, whom the essay page lists as an adjunct lecturer in psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They start from what they see in applicants: a race for credentials that begins with interview coaching for toddlers and runs on through college, graduate school and the right sequence of jobs. Their sharpest claim is that trying to live up to goals that aren't your own is what burns people out.
The remedies come next, and the year off is the main one. Harvard says it has suggested deferral in its letter of admission for decades, and the authors report students coming back with new plans and almost no regrets. That evidence is mostly testimony from students who chose to go, plus a high graduation rate the authors link to time off with a careful perhaps, so it reads as an argument from experience. The essay is also candid about its audience, high achievers bound for selective colleges.
For someone already working, the useful part is the question underneath. If you can't say why you're on your current path, a break may help you hear yourself think, though it can also postpone the question. When the pressure comes from one job or one manager rather than the whole track, a direct conversation about your workload, or a couple of weeks of real time off, may do more than a year away.
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Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.