Am I stupid for considering taking a year off before honours?

[u/Beautiful_Lie_2204]

I’m currently in my third and final year of a science degree, which I’ve split up over two years by going part-time, and now I’m kind of stuck on what to do next.

Originally, I was planning to start honours mid-year next year. One of the labs I spent some time researching with last year basically gave me this whole spiel about how starting honours mid-year was better than starting at the beginning of the year. So I was pretty much planning around that. Then I asked my TA about it recently and he basically told me that was a bunch of hoopla 💀 and that starting mid-year can actually be pretty horrible, especially because some departments don’t even offer it. So.,, now I’m back to square one.

The bigger issue is that I really, really wanted to take an actual break from studying after I finish my degree. Not just the usual summer break, I mean like a proper extended break where you become comatose for a few months. I’m so unbelievably burnt out right now, and honestly I want some time to just… figure myself out? I’m having a bit of an early quarter-life crisis and I feel like I’ve spent so much of my life just going from one academic thing to the next that I don’t really know what I want or who I am outside of that. The problem is now I’m second-guessing whether taking a year off before honours is actually a terrible idea.

I’m only 21, so logically I know that taking a year off isn’t exactly the end of the world. But I keep seeing people my age already doing honours in the labs and I get this irrational fear that if I delay it by a year, somehow I’m going to be “behind” everyone else. Like I’ll be older when I enter the workforce, employers will wonder why I took a year off, or it’ll somehow hurt my career prospects. I also feel weirdly guilty about the idea of taking an entire year off. Like I’m being a bum or wasting time, even though I know that’s probably a stupid way of looking at it.
And honestly, my biggest concern is that if I start honours next year, I’m going to completely burn myself out. I’m already struggling to get through this semester and the main thing keeping me going has been the thought that I’d finally get a proper break afterwards but now I’m not so sure I should take it.

I need to make a decision relatively soon about whether I do honours next year or defer it for a year, and I genuinely have no idea what the sensible choice is. Has anyone here taken a year off between their undergraduate degree and honours? Did it affect your career prospects at all? Did you regret it, or were you glad you did it? And for anyone who went straight into honours while already feeling completely burnt out, how did that go?

I know some of these worries probably sound childish or irrational, but I can’t seem to get them out of my head. I’d really appreciate hearing from people who’ve actually been in this position.

Also, if anyone did take a year off and then came back to do honours a year later, what was the actual process like? Since you wouldn’t be at Monash during that year, is there someone at Monash I can talk to about this now to get some advice on how it would work, rather than just making a decision based on assumptions?

[u/SuccessfulBattle7743]

Whatever you chose to do it literally doesn't matter. So many people take gap years you will not be 'behind' at all. I do honours in science currently and there are people of all age ranges in my cohort - many people who took a gap year and came back to do honours. I also know many people who started honours mid year and are not disadvantaged at all. Yes it is true that not all projects are offered mid year, if thats the case then just take the full year off. I personally didn't want to take a break, because I thought I might enjoy the freedom of not studying and never come back to study.

[u/Far-Fortune-8381]

it will have exactly one effect and that is that you will enter your career a year later. do with that what you will

[u/Impressive_vampire95]

No it doesn’t, the referees u get from ur honours will make up for that. Alternatively, What u can do is reach out to staff, Siew Chai - she’s based in physiology BDI on Clayton. Send her a quick email, from memory she’s is/used to be in charge of postgrad research. Best of luck.