Staying out of university for a year could mean leaving a year to uncertainty!

After the university placement results, some candidates may decide to prepare for the exam again without adequately researching the department and university they have won. Expert Psychological Counselor Özgür Akoğlan stated that the decision to take a gap year should not be made solely with the thought of 'I will get a better ranking,' adding, 'Career and life are too vast to be confined to a single exam paper. Sometimes, the most strategic success is not to halt life, but to step on the existing ground and build the path as you walk.'

With the announcement of university placement results, a new decision-making period has begun for students and families. Some candidates who could not achieve the ranking they expected or could not be placed in their target university and department, opt for the 'gap year' option without examining the opportunities offered by the program they won.

Özgür Akoğlan, Expert Psychological Counselor and Manager of Üsküdar University Educational Institutions and Guidance Services, explained that the decision to take a gap year should not be made solely based on the university's name or ranking expectations. 

'Decisions made without analyzing the won department may not be healthy'

Stating that one of the patterns frequently encountered after placement is that candidates consider preparing for the exam again without adequately researching the programs they have won, Özgür Akoğlan said:

“One of the situations we frequently encounter with the announcement of university placement results is the tendency of candidates to directly take a gap year without thoroughly analyzing the programs they have been placed in. These sudden decisions, made without objectively evaluating the academic profile, accreditations, sectoral integration, and graduate employment rates of the department won, are often shaped by cognitive distortions and the pressure of environmental dynamics rather than rational career planning.”

'All-or-nothing thinking can make success invisible'

Özgür Akoğlan noted that perfectionist thought patterns can be particularly influential in the decision to take a gap year, stating, “Often, the dynamic governing this choice is not a mismatch of goals, but a rigid perfectionism operating on an 'all-or-nothing' principle. A candidate who dreams of being in the top few thousand but achieves a slightly lower ranking suddenly disregards the tangible success they have. When filtered success stories on social media, implicit family expectations, and peer prestige rivalry combine, all options except a few popular universities are preemptively labeled as 'worthless' in the candidate's mind. The result is the reduction of the process of acquiring a profession to merely a struggle for status.”

'A gap year is not a linear and guaranteed equation'

Özgür Akoğlan stated that while taking a gap year might be the right option for some students, its psychological and academic costs should also be taken into account. He said, “However, a gap year is not a linear and guaranteed equation, as is often perceived from the outside, merely 'solving more questions for another year and multiplying the ranking.' The social isolation created by staying at home while peers step into a new life, deepening motivation losses over time, and exam-moment anxiety increased by the pressure of 'I must succeed this time,' all require serious psychological resilience. Furthermore, systemic obstacles, such as the 50% reduction in Secondary Education Achievement Score (OBP) for those already placed in a program, lead to starting the new year with a direct score disadvantage.”

Starting university doesn't close the door to other options

Emphasizing that being placed in a program does not irreversibly determine a student's career path, Özgür Akoğlan said, “The fundamental truth overlooked here is this: entering the university gate does not eliminate all other options; on the contrary, it opens new transition corridors. Today's higher education structure offers dynamic alternatives such as horizontal transfer with central scores or general grade point average, double major (ÇAP), minor, and international exchange programs.”

'University can develop a student's competency capital early'

Instead of consuming time in repetitive exam stress, becoming part of the university ecosystem enables the student to move beyond multiple-choice test patterns and build their competency capital early through project management, foreign languages, club organizations, and sectoral connections,” he stated.

The department name on the diploma alone does not determine a career

Akoğlan, pointing out that the business world has also changed significantly in recent years, continued as follows: 

“One of the most critical realities is the transforming career dynamics of the modern business world. In today's employment market, a large majority of individuals build careers in interdisciplinary fields without being directly tied to the label of their undergraduate diplomas. Professional success is no longer solely determined by the title on a university diploma, but by the candidate's acquired transferable skills, problem-solving ability, foreign language proficiency, digital literacy, and sectoral adaptability.”

Families should evaluate the situation together instead of making comparisons

Akoğlan stated that the attitude of families after placement can directly influence the student's decision-making process, saying, “At this critical threshold, the role of families is to listen to the disappointment felt by young people without belittling it, and to keep them away from the trap of comparison. The uncertainties of the next year and the concrete internal transfer opportunities offered by the current placement should be laid out on the table as a transparent, pressure-free overview; and the young person should be made to feel that the ultimate responsibility belongs to them.”

'Sometimes the right path emerges as you walk'

Emphasizing that university choices should not be seen as the sole and unchangeable decision determining the rest of one's life, Expert Psychological Counselor Özgür Akoğlan concluded his words as follows:

“Career and life are too vast to be confined to a single exam paper. Sometimes, the most strategic success is not to halt life to wait for perfect conditions to form, but to show the courage to step on the existing ground and build the path as you walk.”