Gap Year

Penn Post-Gap Year

Build on Your Experience

Seek out student groups and clubs that relate to your gap year experience. Whether you want to practice your language skills, engage with arts and culture, or continue your engagement with a particular country or region, Penn has student groups for practically everything.

Engage through your coursework. Search for classes through PennInTouch, reach out to faculty whose work aligns with your interests. Attend office hours – even if you're not taking a class with that particular professor!

Go Abroad Again

Penn Abroad offers not only traditional semester study abroad options, but also short-term abroad experiences including Penn Global Seminars (courses that integrate a travel component during breaks in the academic year) and the Global Research and Internship Program (8-12 week-long summer internship placements overseas).

Get Connected

Contact us to join the Penn Gap Year Returnees listserv. Penn Global hosts events throughout the year for gap year returnees to connect and meet each other. 

Become a Gap Year Ambassador and share your experience on our blog. Ambassadors share their gap year experiences on this website through their bios and allowing interested students to contact them. They also also invited to speak at events for prospective and admitted Penn students.

Share Your Story

Gap year returnees are invited to share their stories on the Penn Abroad Blog. You can also submit a blog post on our blog submissions page. Kept a blog during your gap year? Submit your best post and it could be cross-listed on our site. Penn Abroad is always looking for ways to highlight Penn's global community.

Gap Year Ambassador Interest Survey

Complete the following survey to take the next step. Once your information has been reviewed, you will be contacted with additional details. For questions please contact goabroad@upenn.edu.

Full Name
Penn School(s)

I agree to have my ambassador profile and email address listed on the Penn Abroad website so that other students can contact me about my experience.

Profile Information

Describe a way your time abroad related or prepared you for your coursework, major choice, and studies here ar Penn.
What is unique to your experience that others students should ask you about? (Example: being abroad for the first time, living in a homestay, coming to Penn after a gap year, learning a foreign language abroad)
What are 3 to 5 highlights from your experience abroad.
Upload up to 5 images of your time abroad, with at least one photo of you in your host destination.
Maximum 5 files.
100 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif jpg png svg.
By submitting this form along with any photographs or videos you are certifying that the submission is your own original work, and does not violate any intellectual property right (such as copyright, or other rights of publication or publicity) of any third party. You are granting the University of Pennsylvania full permission to use, display, copy, publish, distribute, and modify the submission(s) in any form, for any purpose, in any media without my further approval or compensation. Penn Abroad adheres to the following privacy policy.