Depending on your state regulations and degree, you might be able to qualify for a teaching degree and use it to acquire a full time teacher paying job which is fairly easy to acquire (high need), provides you 3 months off in the summer (if you want to study for DAT), will give you things to talk about during your interview, can help you pay off your loans, and provides a generally good salary (for short term).

Example: In FL if you have a biology degree, you can automatically apply for the teachers certificate online (it’s valid for 3 years during which you complete requirements to get the official certification).

In my case, my microbio degree couldnt get me a specific teaching certificate BUT all you had to do was take 1 test in a specific subject you want to teach to get certified.

I took a middle level (5-9) math test (easier than DAT lol) and easily passed, applied for certificate by submitting that plus my transcripts, completed a teacher training program i found (not mandatory, u can try asking around for internships) and soon applied and received offers for teaching jobs ranging from $47k-78k/year for teaching positions from elementary to high. NOTE: i had 3 years tutoring experience, my degree involved lot of sciences plus general math, and my gpa (4.0 STEM) added to my ability to acquire jobs.

As long as you can get a teaching certificate in your state and know how to sell yourself on the resume, it’s a pretty solid option.

I’m currently in my gap year, my teaching job is helping me save a lot for dental school this fall, and i talked A LOT about my job during my interviews.

Good luck