<p>My son is applying to a number of schools as a theatre/musical theatre/voice major. It seems that a lot of the kids are applying to the same programs at the same schools as we are seeing the same people at the auditions. Everyone seems to be very upfront about where else the students are applying. Now when my older son and daughter were applying that seemed to be a sticky question. None of my kids had any compunction in answering the question at all. </p>
<p>At my son's highschool, the college counselor advises answering the question with a few similar schools; a comprehensive list is not necesssary. I can tell you that if you are applying for financial aid, the FAFSA will show up to 6 schools on a form, so the colleges can get a looky see that way as well. Also if you come from a school that has rapport with some of the adcoms, the information is sometimes "leaked" by your counselor.</p>
<p>I do not advocate lying--it does not reflect well on you at all if you are caught, and could cost you your admissions. No one likes liars. How on earth can anyone trust you if you are so willing to lie about something like this that a number of kids answer without a blink of the eye?</p>
<p>I beleive that the Ivys do share information regarding ED as theyare committed not to go after another's schools enrolled student.</p>
<p>Under Columbia's Ivy Group Plan it states:</p>
<p>A. The College Board-approved Early Decision Plan, which is offered by Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, requires a prior commitment to matriculate. </p>
<p>Financial aid awards for those qualifying for financial assistance will normally be announced in full detail at the same time as the admissions decisions. An applicant receiving admission and an adequate financial aid award under the Early Decision Plan will be required to accept that offer of admission and withdraw all applications to other colleges and universities. All the Ivy institutions will honor any required commitment to matriculate which has been made to another college under this Plan.</p>
<p>You are talking about a world of academia that is pretty small where adcoms all know each other. You must also remember that the Ivy League schools also meet regularly at a variety of levels to discuss topics which range from the purely academic to the purely athletic and from fundamental educational philosophy to procedures in admissions.</p>
<p>In the event of financial aid, they will ask for a for the financial aid package of the school whose package you want them to meet or beat.</p>
<p>Silver, that is not true. The ivies do not share admissions information in a systematic way, though leaks do occur. And, yes, you certainly do not have to disclose that info if you do not want to do so. But to out and out lie is a different story. You can demur, or just say that you prefer not to say.</p>
<p>cangel, the Harvard interviewer wants to know point blank whether you are abiding by the early admission rules, particularly with regard to schools where the fact of an applicant's early admission application may not otherwise be knowable to Harvard. Second point. Believe it or not, some schools, for their own peculiar reasons, don't really care that you did not rank them one, two, or three in order of preference. They will admit you if they want you and if they think they can make you an offer you can't refuse, or they conclude that you are unlikely to get into your more preferred schools. Now your order of preference may matter to schools afflicted with the URochester/Emory/Tufts syndrome. I really do have information to back up what I'm saying, whether or not it appears credible.</p>
<p>Zuma, that's exactly what I'm saying - Harvard is unlikely to reject you, if they really want you, just because you rank them 2nd in an interview. They may well be fishing for people abusing the EA system, kids going to the interviews should be telling the truth first and foremost, and be aware of and abiding by the EA/ED rules - if you are smart enough to go to Harvard, you should be wise enough to abide by the rules and confident enough to tell the truth.
Not listing every single school you are applying to comes in with schools less selective than the absolute top (HYPSM) - let's say you have 3 safeties, but you are interviewing at your very favorite safety, you might mention those three schools plus a reach or match, and say the favorite safety is one of your favorite schools, you've told the truth, let them read between the lines. The schools hold so many of the cards, I hate to see kids give them even more leverage, but as you pointed out, at the most selective level, it probably really doesn't matter, as long as the child is HONEST.
Another situation where it might matter is interviewing at a selective LAC, and listing all Ivies, or all big unis plus the LAC - they might question whether you've done your homework, and understand LACs - again, lying is not acceptable, maybe that person DOES need to go do more homework, or at least have a clear idea of why that school appeals when others do not (a good answer to that question, like a particular prof or program, would make a good impression).</p>
<p>Yes, I'm sure the selective schools share out ED lists somehow, at some point, there has to be teeth to the system. Kids must be honest, whether you feel the system is fair or not - play by the rules or face the consequences. Identifying people abusing the system is different from rejecting someone because they didn't list your school first.</p>
<p>The ED Acceptance List is shared. Any SSNs on that list are automatically dropped from consideration from those colleges that check that list. It is still considered appropriate to withdraw your application.</p>
<p>I know that I am the sort of person that feels uncomfortable giving info like what other colleges are being considered, and ranking the choices. My kids have had no problem with the info and answer the questions readily. Though I do not believe that colleges have any systematic mechanism in place to take this info into consideration, I do have a whisper of suspicion that the info could slightly affect a given adcom person's decision as a tip factor. But I have absolutely no info that supports this, in fact, it is too the contrary. Every kid I know who has not been accepted to a less selective school over a much more selective school has been pretty obvious about interest in that school. And it shows. Kids are a lot more transparent than they think they are.</p>
<p>I have noticed that ever since son submitted the ED app to one Ivy, the contact from the other Ivies has ceased...with the exception of Cornell. Cornell still sends the big envelopes about once a week.</p>
<p>When the colleges receive the SAT scores from the College Board, is the list of schools where the scores are being sent included (as is the case for the student's copy)?</p>