Redditors who have taken a gap year between highschool and college, how did it work out for you?

It really depends on where you live and what kind of topics you studied.

In the early 90s anthropology was an academic free-for-all. One of my professors quipped that it was less the study of culture and more the combination of proper nouns: people X + place Y + thing Z = masters thesis. My thesis was on Indigenous totem pole carving on the Northwest Coast but all my coursework dealt with Complexity Theory and Medical Issues. I even took a course called The Anthropology of Violence, which is a terrible way to start a Monday morning. But back then students at smaller schools were forced to take the courses that were offered and there was little room to be picky.

Most Anthropology departments are filled with professors who specialize in topics that are far removed from one another, (and in the case of certain ethnographic and evolutionary approachs, are now considered racist). They replaced the racist topics with a new approach: activism (like Nancy Shepherd-Hughes). They wrongfully accused Napoleon Chagnon of killing a whole tribe of Yanomamo by irresponsibly exposing them to measles, and a student poured a pitcher of water on Edward O. Wilson's head for daring to compare human culture with ant colonies. That tension still exists. Archeologists and Anthropologists sometimes won't speak to each other; in one of the universities I attended the archeology department moved as far away as physically possible from the anthropology campus. And if you were taught to embrace the faddish post modern approach to anthropology, then you probably wouldn't be suffering through the structural and scientific methodology of modern archeology.

I imagine you friend took courses with a specific career in mind, like curation. That's a smart move. It also helps when you enroll in a school where the archeology and anthropology departments are friendly with each other.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent