Before
moving forward, consider your back-up!
When students begin to compile the list of colleges
which they will apply to, it’s important to put focused thought and effort into
choosing a back-up or “safety” school. This begs the question, “What exactly is
a safety school?”
I like to use a three-pronged approach to deciding
if a college should be considered a good back-up or safety school.
1) Acceptability
- When looking at a school’s requirements for admission, you can see that you
not only meet them, but exceed each one. For example the college might require
scores on the SAT that are in the 1100 range, but yours approach 1400. They ask
for 3 years of high school science preparation and you have 4, plus you’re
enrolled in and excelling in a college science course while a high school
student. When meeting with students I often joke that this prong should be
called the Jimmy
Neutron prong, as in the college would consider you among their top
students when looking at your application. For many students the local
community college is a viable option to fulfill this criterion – but not for
all (see #3, below).
2) Affordability
– While I understand, on a deep and personal level, that college is just plain
expensive, a safety or back-up school’s cost should be at a level that you can
afford. Putting together student loans, grants and scholarships, savings and/or
gifts, and even a college-sponsored payment plan, you can manage the bill for
this school.
3) Affability
– (admittedly named as such to have a tidy 3-pronged list) This is a school you
would be happy attending. You like the campus, the location, the clubs
and athletics, and the majors offered. If your heart’s desire is to live on
campus then many community colleges become disqualified at prong 3 because they
may not offer on-campus dormitories.
Measuring colleges against all three of these considerations
takes some time and effort. I might suggest that you should put in more work
pursuing a clear back-up school than any other school on your list – it might
turn out to be your home for at least a year therefore you should be as sure as
you can be that you’ll be successful at it, able to afford it, and, of course, happy
with it!
