<p>Can colleges even see which other schools you’re applying to? I assumed the common app would hide that information. </p>
<p>Personally, I applied to way more schools than most applicants, and the only schools that waitlisted or rejected me were my high matches/reaches. I got merit aid at all the schools where my scores put me in the top 25%.</p>
<p>Oh and OP, Harvard and Yale wouldn’t care if you applied to both of them (the cross applicant rate is probably well above 80%). They don’t consider level of interest in admissions.</p>