<p>It seems that if a college looked closely enough at an application to see that they were the reach or safety choice, they may be less inclined to issue an acceptance. If this is true, can colleges tell what those colleges are other than from self-reporting? Does the list of colleges come up when ACT/SAT scores are sent?</p>
<p>I believe the only way a college knows who else you applied to is if you tell them. Some colleges ask that question on their applications, some don’t.</p>
<p>If you have your FAFSA sent to a college, they see the other colleges that were listed too.</p>
<p>^^^^thanks Calreader. I did not know that about FAFSA.</p>
<p>Thanks again, Calreader. Is there a way to avoid this? Maybe sending to three groups on three separate days?</p>
<p>It’s a funny thing. There seems to be a lot of paranoia about “Tufts syndrome,” but particularly for the LACs outside the top 30 (which tend to be the safeties and tend to offer merit aid) having the college know where else you are applying might be a good thing.</p>
<p>You can’t assume that a school automatically thinks that if they know you are applying to a "better’ school that they can’t “land” you. It may be that if they want you, but for whatever reason think you won’t pick them, they might offer more merit a or a better FA packet than they might have otherwise.</p>
<p>It might work against you; it might work for you; it might not matter at all. As such, its probably not worth worrying about.</p>
<p>Good point. My other concern though is that a reach school could identify itself as such.</p>
<p>“My other concern though is that a reach school could identify itself as such.”
HUH? What do you think would then be likely to happen? The “Reach” school would throw the application in the “circular file” without a further glance because someone with lower stats had the audacity to apply? </p>
<p>It is important for the STUDENT to know which are “reach” schools and which are match or safety schools for him, not the other way around, so they do not end up applying to too many “reaches” and not include a few “fall-back” safety schools in their list of colleges.</p>
<p>And any school is a “reach” if it accepts fewer than about 30% of all applicants AND/ OR if a students stats are NOT in the 75% of accepted students at that school.</p>
<p>I’m quite sure American knew they were my son’s safety, that’s why they offered him so much money. I don’t think this is an issue worth worrying about.</p>
<p>BTW looking through our school’s Naviance data, there’s only one school I’ve found that seems to suffer from Tufts syndrome, and it isn’t Tufts.</p>
<p>^^ let me guess- Wash U?</p>
<p>Calreader why do you assume that individual colleges see the list of colleges on an FAFSA? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that before? I’m pretty sure that isn’t true.</p>
<p>Menlo Park Mom- If one or two schools are far ahead of the pack (they are reaches), the school might conclude that the student feels the school is really a reach, and, therefore, maybe out of their league.</p>
<p>“It seems that if a college looked closely enough at an application to see that they were the reach or safety choice, they may be less inclined to issue an acceptance.”</p>
<p>You are mixing up 2 entirely different scenarios.
Any student is less likely to be accepted at a “reach” school because there are more many times more qualified applicants than there are openings, AND the college usually chooses the statistically more or most “qualified” students. </p>
<p>A high scoring-overqualified student [ relative to the makeup of current students] may be rejected by his “safety” because the admissions committee there assumes the student has applied to other “more selective” colleges, and is much more likely, based on past experiences with similar hi stat students, to not accept an offer of admission at their college, UNLESS the student has shown strong interest in the college, either by visiting, applying for early acceptance, contacting the college rep on his own, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Nope it wasn’t Wash U. It was Emory. (I’m told that they like people to visit and that’s probably what did in all the top students who applied, not one got in.)</p>
<p>I suspect many of the top students that get unexpected rejections from safer colleges probably put insufficient effort into their applications.</p>
<p>" one or two schools are far ahead of the pack (they are reaches), the school might conclude that the student feels the school is really a reach, and, therefore, maybe out of their league. "
Ok, you are trying to “read into the minds” of admissions reps too much, and it will not do you any good, believe me. At many “reaches” ,the admissions committees frankly don’t CARE WHY a student applies there, or it is of very little importance. Bottom line, if a student’s stats do not fall statistically within the 75% of accepted students at a “reach” college, then, unless the parents have donated millions of dollars, or the student is an Olympic athletic, or has done something else that is extraordinary as well as difficult to achieve, that student will most probably be rejected, because he is not as "qualified’ as another student with higher stats, grades, etc. To be accepted at a statistical “reach”, a “hookless” student [ no legacy, no DA, no URM, no recruited athlete, etc.] has to somehow “stand out” from the thousands of other applicants - they have to have a compelling story that catches the eye of an admissions rep or reader.</p>
<p>“it was Emory. (I’m told that they like people to visit and that’s probably what did in all the top students who applied, not one got in”
sounds like Emory has taken a page from Wash U’s play book- which has worked well for them. In recent years Wash U has wanted students to ‘show them the LOVE’, either by applying ED, OR at a minimum, visiting.</p>
<p>momofthreeboys, I’ve been told by college enrollment managers that they see it, and some have also said that they infer that the first college listed is the one the student is most interested in. For that reason, I think it’s a good idea to list the colleges in alphabetical order.</p>
<p>What leads you to be pretty sure that this isn’t true? Have you been hearing the opposite message from the admission and financial aid officers you’ve asked?</p>
<p>I thought someone on CC called FAFSA & got two different answers! Yes, they can see what other schools you are applying to & no they can’t. I remember reading that.</p>
<p>There is a regular poster here on CC who works in financial aid and has verified that schools can see the names of the other schools FAFSA was sent to.</p>
<p>I bet highly selective schools don’t need or use this information. But some schools (less selective) may be using it as one of the many factors they include in their models that predict whether a student is likely to come to their school.</p>