High school students have your entire lives ahead of you. You’re in charge of the outcomes. Attending college just adds plenty of (potentially attractive) options.
Depending on your career goals, there are thousands of jobs that you’ll need a college degree to secure. There are countless benefits, both professional and personal, to experiencing four years of learning and growth at the right college. And no matter what your dreams, career or otherwise, chances are that working hard and caring about your future—two characteristics that help you get into and succeed in college—will be integral parts of those paths.
But there are very few life outcomes that are predicated on attending a prestigious college. An admissions decision from one school alone doesn’t have the power to eliminate potential outcomes for you. That’s why you’d have a hard time finding unfulfilled adults who could legitimately blame their circumstances on the fact that their dream school didn’t say “yes” when they were seventeen.
You’re in charge of your own outcomes. And attending the right college—prestigious or not—will give you more tools to create the outcomes you want.