<p>Boston University asks what other schools you are applying to. Do you have to put them because I don't want BU to think they are a safety if most of my other schools are better. Would it be better not to put any schools down?</p>
<p>Please let me know</p>
<p>Here’s my FAQ on the subject: </p>
<p>APPLICATIONS TO OTHER COLLEGES </p>
<p>You could quote chapter and verse from the Statement of Principles of Good Practice of the National Association for College Admission Counseling:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/ABOUTNACAC/POLICIES/Documents/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/ABOUTNACAC/POLICIES/Documents/SPGP.pdf</a> </p>
<p>and once you have done that, you could say, based on whatever is the truth, “Not wanting this to be construed as a statement of my order of preference, I am applying to”</p>
<p>a) “other colleges that appear to offer some of the same features as your college”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>b) “a varied list of colleges to ensure that I carefully consider what is the best fit between me and each college”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>c) “small liberal arts colleges with a focus on undergraduate teaching” (or whatever summary characteristic applies to all colleges on your list)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>d) “a list of colleges developed according to policies of my high school counseling office”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>e) “[actual list] but this list should not be taken to be in preference order”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>f) “a list of colleges that I would rather not mention here, so that we take extra care to follow NACAC principles of good practice.”</p>
<p>Your own creativity can probably come up with some more choices. I do NOT see this question on many of the college application forms I have downloaded from the Web this year.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/ABOUTNACAC/POLICIES/Documents/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/ABOUTNACAC/POLICIES/Documents/SPGP.pdf</a> </p>
<p>One student mentioned that a college that he was applying to online allowed only fifty characters in its online form for listing other colleges that he was applying to. That would allow for lots of fun possibilities, such as</p>
<p>Q: To what other colleges are you applying? </p>
<p>A: [in online form:] I am applying to other colleges that share some of the great characteristics of your college, for example </p>
<p>To sum up, if you are applying early decision somewhere, OF COURSE that college is your first choice, and you plainly signal to that college that it is your first choice by applying for a binding early decision program. But if you are applying for nonbinding early action, for rolling admission, or for regular action admission, no college should care much where else you are applying, and you are certainly not obligated to tell the college where else you are applying, especially not in a rank-ordered list.</p>
<p>It’s usually optional, I wouldn’t answer it.</p>
<p>One of my supplements asked for a list. I forget which college it was, but I remember that I just put my current list of colleges in alphabetical order. Needless to say my list has gone through heavy revisions since then, and I’m not applying to half of those on my original list.</p>
<p>Leave it blank, or cleverly avoid the question as per NSM’s suggestions.</p>
<p>However, if you’re applying for finaid, the point is moot, as colleges will see what other schools you’re applying to regardless.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s by no means clear that the college admission office will see any information from your FAFSA form of that kind.</p>
<p>Edit to last post: tokenadult, not NSM (sorry!).</p>
<p>And I guess I’m mistaken–I thought FAFSA made that information available. Sorry OP.</p>
<p>I’m honored to be confused with Northstarmom. I’ve learned a lot from NSM over the years.</p>
<p>alright thanks everyone</p>