<p>I am a prospective student for Fall 2011 admissions and Cornell is among my top choices for university. The only other Ivy I am equally in love with is Dartmouth...</p>
<p>Nevertheless, just as a way to shoot for the stars and see what I am capable of, I plan to apply to a lot of, most likely a majority, of the Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>A couple of my friends who applied to some of these schools last year told me that during their interviewer sessions, the interview questioned them of how many ivies they were applying to. They told me it was asked in a friendly manner, but the question still took them aback...of course no one wants to admit to the Upenn interviewer that he/she is also applying to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, etc...</p>
<p>Now a few of my friends warn me to AT MOST apply to 3 ivies because it "looks bad" if you apply to any more...</p>
<p>My question is, are the interviewers allowed to even ask this question? I wouldn't want to lie to them, I definitely wouldn't want to politely refuse to answer the question, but I also would prefer to not tell them I am applying to 5 or so other Ivy league schools.</p>
<p>What should I (and any other prospective applicant) do?</p>
<p>While I totally agree with the above post, Im going to elaborate a little.</p>
<p>Most of the time interviewers do not ask what other “ivies” you are applying to, but rather simply what other schools are you looking at. While the interviewer cannot discern between the truth and a fallacious response, the truth is always the best. But always be prepared to follow up your answer with a reason why the school you are interviewing for is unique and explain why it is on your list. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about what you school you get into so much. Once you matriculate, all of this college comparing and ranking and prestige will all go away. It happened to me.</p>
<p>How is it fair in any way to label me as a “prestige whoring prick” simply because I may be applying to a couple of Ivies? What you may not understand chendrix is that I am applying to an equal # of “non-prestigious” schools, by your account. However, what it comes down to is not prestige, but rather the fact that, with all due respect, Cornell and Dartmouth can offer me things that frankly, the University of Georgia, Georgia College & State University, etc… cannot. And I am also applying to plenty of great schools without the “ivy” title if that means anything.</p>
<p>Yes obviously I would always tell the truth to such a question. But I was just wondering how to approach it without possibly harming my chances of admission.</p>
<p>Since there are only 8, applying to 6/8 is prestige whoring.</p>
<p>I would make the not-so-bold claim that there is NOT A SINGLE SUBJECT in which all of the ivies are equally good, not even 6/8 are equally good. </p>
<p>So the only point of applying to 6/8 of the ivies would be to be able to say "I got into … "</p>
<p>What about econ? I’m actually asking the question, I’m not making any sort of argument here lol…</p>
<p>Well, I’ll probably be applying to HYP for the hell of it, and I will go if i get in to one of those. As for the other three, I plan on, if accepted, visiting all three to really find which one I fit in at the most…</p>
<p>Alum interviewer are volunteers - and they aren’t supposed to ask,but that doesn’t mean they don’t or won’t . They are really to answer any questions you have…but many think they are evaluating you - so: be prepared. be friendly. be vague. say you re applying to variety of colleges so that you have a reach, a match and a safety.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, don’t do what one kid did to me: I’m applying to Cornell cuz I got rejected ED from Columbia, and I heard that Cornell was easier to get into. way to show the love. (he didn’t get int Cornell either…)</p>
<p>@OP, why of course!
in addition, they ask you to rank the ivies your applying to in terms of prestige, and then by the likeliness of your acceptance, and finally, how much you like ea. school. </p>
<p>here’s a little tip: say that cornell is the most prestigious out of “the ivies” (the key is to use that phrase at least seven times during your interview) and say that it’s your favorite out of the eight. make sure you do your homework and memorize the eight ivies. </p>
<p>Interviews are pretty useless anyway…my Cornell interview was mediocre at best, while my Tufts/Georgetown interviews were borderline amazing. I only got into Cornell.</p>
<p>OP: if an alumni interviewer asks how many “ivies” you are applying to, they are either as unimaginative or naive as you seem to be. There are 8 “ivies”, only 3 of which are probably in the top 10 undergraduate schools in the nation. Ask college and university presidents and admissions officers and Williams, U. Chicago, MIT, Swarthmore, Stanford, etc. will more likely appear in their list of the elite than Brown, etc. BTW, Cornell is a great school.</p>
<p>“Alum interviewer are volunteers - and they aren’t supposed to ask,but that doesn’t mean they don’t or won’t . They are really to answer any questions you have…”</p>
<p>+`1, with one qualifier. My wife does alumni interviews (not for an Ivy), she was not told that she is not supposed to ask about other schools.</p>
<p>Wow! ^^ This person is on the Cornell thread complimenting Cornell in a very condescending way.
</p>
<p>BTW, Cornell IS a great school. </p>
<p>Applying to several Ivies is not uncommon. People want an Ivy league school on their vita. They think it opens doors. And in some cases it does.</p>
<p>Choosing a particular Ivy or two that is a fit for you seems more appropriate and intelligent than selecting them all. </p>
<p>So if you believe you are a fit for Cornell, make that evident. You should make that evident to all of the other schools you apply to. Then there should be no need to try to explain to your interviewer. He/she knows you are not only applying to "their " school for the prestige.</p>
<p>Alumni interviewers are not uneducated aliens. All of them were once applicants, and many of them applied to the same schools and faced the same sorts of pressures that you face today. Treat the interview as a sincere conversation with a well-wisher and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>… moreover, many of them have had kids, relatives and/or family friends go through the process recently, so in many cases they are not merely relying on distant memory.</p>
<p>@ivydoc: no, i am actually very well aware that the schools you named trump many of the ivies in terms of undergraduate education. here’s my comeback: i do not believe i am the type to attend an LAC, just not me. i AM applying to u. chicago, maybe stanford. and i do not believe i possess the superior mathematical/scientific skills OR interest to succeed much less be admitted to MIT.</p>
<p>FYI: members of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassadors Network (CAAAN), the folks who meet with applicants, are asked not to ask what other schools the applicant is applying to, unless the applicant brings it up (and from experience, it is the applicant who often brings it up).</p>
<p>You have every right to apply to as many highly ranked schools as you want to. Those schools are prestigious for a reason. It’s a crap shoot in getting into those schools. If you have the credential, then you need to apply to quite a few to maybe getting into one. By wanting to go to a highly regarded college is not being a prestigious whore, it just means that you want to get the best education possible. </p>
<p>Most colleges ask their interviewers not to ask what other schools candidates are applying to, it appears Cornell is no different, but it doesn’t mean interviewers won’t. Just because they ask it doesn’t mean you need to answer. I would just say that you are applying to many top schools like Cornell. Most interviewers with any social grace would stop at that point. If he/she should persist, then just rattle off few schools similar to Cornell - Duke, NW…At the end of day, interviewer’s input, especially on this matter, doesn’t count for much.</p>
<p>My daughter was asked by a Harvard interviewer (after she was deferred by Colombia ED) which school(s) did she apply ED/EA. She was still recovering from her rejection and was upset by the question. But she answered it with a straight face, “Rutgers.”</p>
<p>Thank you oldfort. That was by far the best advice I have heard yet on this thread. A question about your daughter’s answer, by answering Rutgers, was she implying that she had been accepted into Rutgers? (Because i assume she wouldn’t want to let the interviewer know she had been deferred from another Ivy)</p>
<p>D1 didn’t think it was any of interviewer’s business where she applied ED/EA, and if she had been accepted for ED to any school she wouldn’t have been there (Rutgers was EA, not ED). She said the look on the interviewer’s face was priceless. The interviewer kept on waiting for D1 to say more, but D1 just sat there (pretending Rutgers should be enough to impress the interviewer).</p>