Multiple students note that taking time off was not as difficult as might be expected.

“Harvard makes it really easy,” says Claire E. Kim ’12, who took off the fall semester of her junior year to work on a congressional campaign in New Hampshire.

According to Kim, Harvard has been very supportive of her and other students when they desire to temporarily leave school.

She adds that she knows a lot of other students who have taken time off school for a variety of reasons.

“It’s generally pretty common at Harvard,” Kim says, explaining that she knows many other students who have chosen to take time off in order to recuperate from large workloads.

Yu says that he is appreciative of the time-off policies Harvard offers its students.

“I could come back in 30 years now and still be able to attend the school, whereas had I taken time off before school, I would have to matriculate within one year or forfeit my spot,” Yu writes.

Hawley agrees with these sentiments, saying that arranging her time off was a relatively simple process, requiring her to speak with her Resident Dean and make arrangements for housing.

“It’s very easy to just get up and go,” Hawley says. “Harvard is very supportive.”

A POSSIBLE DOWNSIDE

But students say taking time off can also come with the disadvantage of being unable to graduate alongside their freshman class.

“Yeah, I miss my friends who have graduated,” Hawley says, adding that she was also annoyed to have been abroad for the election of President Obama.

But Hawley says that this should not deter those who are considering taking a break from college.

“Overall the advantages did outweigh the disadvantages,” she says. She adds that the timing of her year off was particularly important in minimizing the downsides, because when she returned as a junior, her former classmates were still on campus, albeit as seniors.

Kim says that she would not miss out on sharing her class’s senior experiences, such as senior bar and the other perks of senior spring.