This study investigated the effect of personal identity and social comparison on college graduation. First-year college students completed an online survey measuring exploration and commitment to personal identity and perceptions of the prototypical student. Those who perceived the typical student as favorable but dissimilar to themselves had the lowest probability of graduating within 6 years if they were also not committed to a personal identity. Among students with a clearly established identity, comparison with the typical student was unrelated to graduation. The results suggest that commitment to a personal identity protects students against the potentially deleterious effects of social comparison.