According to business school professors Katherine Milkman and Jihae Shin (Wharton and University of Wisconsin, respectively), their research has shown that having a backup plan just increases the odds that you’ll need one. You’re more likely to achieve your dreams if you’re laser-focused on your goals rather than contemplating your fallback position.
That may be true for entrepreneurs, but it’s not an approach that I’d recommend for students applying to college.
Most students who apply to college should have at least one safety school, which I define as a school where you and your counselor agree that you are certain you will be admitted, that wouldn’t require you to take out staggering loans to attend, and that you actually would be happy to call your home for the next four years.
A safety school doesn’t necessarily have to feel like a backup plan. If the school you most want to attend is also a safety for you, do the jig and celebrate—you’re living the college applicant’s dream!
But for many students, those safety schools are backup plans. They aren’t as enticing as the other schools on their list, but if it came down to it, life would be good if they became a college freshman at their safety school next fall.
For other students, their safety school may be a community college. That’s a great option for lots of students, whether it’s to save money, to allow more time to feel academically and socially prepared for a four-year school, or even to enroll in a guaranteed transfer program with a school where they aren’t currently competitive for admission. If you’d like to consider one of these paths, here’s a past post with more advice.
Maybe you want your backup plan to be that you work, travel, or have another enriching experience for a year and then reapply. Maybe you’d learn a trade, or volunteer, or do a project that benefits you or others.
But whatever your backup plan is, please choose one. Verify with your counselor and your family that it will actually be an option.
I don’t care what your backup plan is, or whether or not it’s actually a fallback option for you (maybe your backup plan is one you’d be really excited to do). But if you enter the college admissions process without a backup plan and things don’t work out, you’re more likely to have that plan chosen for you by process of elimination. And the best backup plans are the ones that you choose for yourself.