Why You Should Have a Good Reason to Pick Your Safety School

“Yeah, that’s fine!” said my student the instant I suggested a new safety school to put on her list.

That’s when I stopped her, looked her in the eye, and asked, “Why would you want to go there?” She looked at me like I was insane.

“You just said it was a good idea, what are you talking about?”

“Imagine a scenario where you didn’t get into any of your reach schools, you didn’t get into any of your target schools, and now you’re ‘stuck’ with one of your safety schools. You’re disappointed, I am disappointed, your parents are probably disappointed, and everyone is sad. At that point, wouldn’t it be great to be able to say, ‘but I get to go to this safety school where I can do this very exciting thing!’ So again, why do you want to go to that college?”

She didn’t know at first, but we figured it out. It’s easy to dismiss talking about safety schools because most of us like to focus on success. We like to imagine ourselves at a reach school surrounded by incredibly talented people and accomplishing wonderful things.

The truth is, though, that the scenario I described can happen and that’s exactly why we have safety schools. So I always start the college lists by talking about those and focusing on what is it about each school that a student would find truly exciting. It might have nothing to do with academics—maybe it’s located near the best mountain biking in the world, or it might boast one of the premier theater companies in American colleges, or it could be, “I will be close to family and that’s very important to me.” Whatever it is, it’s important to have a reason.

Finding a good reason to go to a college has a benefit at the other end of the college list as well. Most selective colleges ask some form of the question, why do you want to come to our school? And the answer to that can’t be because it’s pretty, or because it has a good reputation; ideally, you answer the question by identifying unique programs or characteristics of the school that match your needs, passions, or requirements.

So as you focus on refining your college list this summer, think about a reason to go to each and write it down. When you are doing that, think about what you would like to get out of all aspects of your college experience. I like to think of it in three areas: academic experience, social life, and environment. If your safety school isn't going to give you the academic experience you were hoping for, then at least it should give you an environment or a social life that you're really looking forward to.