Counselor rec mentions iTunes U podcasts of OTHER colleges: BAD!?!

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi everyone! My counselor showed me bits of his recommendation the other day and I was flattered to say the least -- great guy! However, in discussing my intellectual interests, he mentioned how I've got all these iTunes U podcasts on my iPod, naming Stanford, MIT and Harvard. He also wrote about how I attended lectures at Columbia open to the public at any chance I got while visiting New York.</p>

<p>I'm grateful for the work he's put into this, although remain a bit worried. Would colleges frown upon this showing my interest in a number of different schools, hinting at the other schools I'm applying to? Is mention of another school aside from that to which you're applying on a Common App rec taboo (showing lack of interest in that particular school?)</p>

<p>Thanks for reading guys!</p>

2

<p>I’m sure your guidance counselor knows what he’s doing when it comes to applying to college. Colleges know that you are applying to more than one school. As long as he didn’t write about just one college, or emphasize that you liked a certain college more than the others, you should be okay (I think)</p>

3

<p>What about the colleges not mentioned though? :S How would Harvard, say, take it that it mentions Yale’s Open Yale Courses. Likewise how would Yale take it that it mentions Harvard’s podcast?</p>

4

<p>I think they would chalk it up to you taking a strong interest in academics.</p>

5

<p>I don’t think an adcom at school A would feel so deeply offended by a podcast from school B that they would refuse you admission if the rest of your application was good.</p>

<p>Or I’m screwed for Stanford, b/c I took courses at UC Berkeley :D</p>

6

<p>Don’t worry. Admissions personnel at all those schools not only understand, but hope, you’re interested in more than one school.</p>

7

<p>

I think you’re just finding things to worry about here. Look, Harvard knows that they are going to turn down a lot of strong applicants. So does Yale. Neither is surprised that applicants don’t apply to just them and not the other. Why do you imagine they’d be upset to learn you had listened to podcasts from the other?</p>

<p>And as far as taking advantage of learning resources, it is a remarkable stretch to imagine adcoms are so parochial that they would hold it against a student who tried learning from any resources available rather than relying on just those from a college they had not even applied to yet.</p>

8

<p>lol, I certainly hope they don’t penalize you for taking an interest in academics outside school.</p>