<p>What about kids who are applying to some top LACs like Amherst and Swarthmore, and also some Ivies in the same areas? I do worry that the admissions officers at these schools might look at my D and think she's only using them as a backup, when she is very interested in the smaller schools as well. I just wish this information was kept private. Also, what about the Common App? Do those schools see what other schools the app is going to?</p>
<p>first, cptofthehouse, thank you for your thoughtful reply. you certainly make a reasonable case and i hope that you are correct in what you say. it just seems that the colleges have so many advantages over the applicants and that it is not always a fair process...</p>
<p>newmom, i agree with what you said about top LAC's worrying about being used as a back-up... or for that matter, 2nd tier LAC's worrying about being the back-up for Amherst and Swarthmore. as for the common app, i don't think colleges can see where you are sending it...</p>
<p>Newmom, many of the kids in my sons' highschool apply to Amherst, Swarthmore and the other "little ivys" along with the Ivys. More of them get into the LACs, than the more selective ivies, and it is tied for the less selective ivies. </p>
<p>Those schools are so selective, that I doubt that they worry about the more selective schools their applicants have applied to, since most of their applicants have that overlap. Now what if a student applies to Williams, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Amherst, Tufts and......Dickinson. (You can replace Dickinson with the name of any other LAC that is of that selectivity level) Does it look obvious who is the safety? You know like the old Sesame Street "which one is not like the others?" And say the student has the stats where you wouldn't want to bet a dime that she would not get accepted to any of the 5 selective schools, heck, you wouldn't be surprised if she were accepted to HPY. You would think Dickinson would be insulted about being the saftey, right? Well 5 years worth of data, that I perused on kids' apps at that school, showed this kind of pattern a lot and it was confirmed by the adcoms, that it is not at all uncommon at our school. And even if you apply for financial aid so the schools can see this, it is so rare that such a student is rejected by the Dickinson, that the counselor who has been there for many years, cannot remember it happening. She has no hangup about putting 6 such schools on one FAFSA form. If it bothers you alot, you can submit with the 5 "buddy" schools and then submit a separate one for Dickinson; that would alleviate worries. Now, I will tell you that I have heard that schools need some serious demonstrated interest for consideration, and the LACs are the neediest of all. The same counselor was adament that my son visit Goucher, Wheaton, Skidmore, IThaca as she felt that his chances would be hurt if he did not. He got into one he visited, two that he did not visit, and was rejected by one he did not visit--Skidmore, which I believe was the most selective of the bunch. He was accepted to other more selective schools that were not LACs. Anecdotal, and can't come up with a thing about that. Oh, and he told all of the LACs that asked, where he had applied LAC wise. So they definitiely knew about the others.</p>
<p>The counselor also told me that where you can get turned down, is if you need a lot of aid and are not a top candidate at a school that is not need blind. You are just not a good financial deal for them as they can "buy" , say 6 other kids who only need about $5K for instance, if you need close to a full ride. If you are at the top of the applicant pool for such a school, you would likely get sweetners added to your financial aid, because experience has taught these schools, that the top choices would likely give a pretty standard package as you are a run of a mill applicant there, and you just might jump for a very generous, small loan, research/internship package with nice job that gives you even more than your need as FAFSA or Profile comes up with. These type of schools have the leeway to do this, and they do. A school like Dickinson would be hurting for top applicants if they knocked out every one who has applied to more selective schools and is a good candidate for such schools. In fact, it would be rare to find someone with Amherst numbers to have a school like Dickinson as his most selective school.</p>