<p>At what point do colleges think "he just threw us on app list for the hell of it," and reject you? I've "narrowed" my list down to 10 schools ... am I safe to assume the schools will think I actually want to go to each one?</p>
<p>If you’re subjecting yourself through the application process, I assume that your file readers of each school are looking for reasons to ACCEPT you – not reject you. No one assumes you’re only applying to them and them alone. You’re over-thinking things. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I remember reading an article though that went “inside” the admission process and showed us how decisions were made. I think Cornell rejected somebody who applied to 16/17 schools because of the mindset I mentioned above</p>
<p>How do they know you apply to 16/17 schools?</p>
<p>Maybe he mentioned it in his essay. Eeek.</p>
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<p>Sadly, not true. I was having this discussion at a college meeting just yesturday. At the large schools getting tens of thousands of applications, the ad coms will look for “any reason” not to accept you, and sometimes don’t even finish reviewing the applications. Schools could find reasons to accept almost anyone- the way they are able to make decisions is by having reasons to reject applicants.</p>