<p>When I noticed that the GWU supplement was out, I looked at it and saw that they have a box asking applicants to list all of the other colleges they're applying to. I thought that was weird. Why do they want to know??</p>
absent
August 5, 2009, 4:04pm
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<p>For statistical purposes or to see who their main competitors are. You do not have to answer the question at all, though.</p>
<p>However, you may want to read some of the posts in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/553624-what-other-schools-you-applying.html[/url] ”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/553624-what-other-schools-you-applying.html</a> , especially the ones by admission officers:</p>
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If I were filling out an application for college today, and I came across that question, I would probably respond with criteria instead of names: universities with strong liberal arts programs and proximity to an urban center. </p>
<p>I’m also going to recommend a radical course of action: call the schools and ask, “Will I be penalized if I choose to not to answer this question or to answer without giving away specifics?” If the question makes you uncomfortable, and a school needs to know, that tells you something useful. If you feel uncomfortable even asking that question, ask your guidance counselor to call and ask. I suspect, however, that most of these institutions won’t mind if you opt out of the question and simply leave it blank. I’m glad we don’t ask our applicants this question.
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deanflagel:
The answer is that the your answer can, but does not always, matter. This can work in two ways:</p>
<p>Some colleges think that if you’re going to get into their competitors, especially competitors to which that they routinely lose students, they shouldn’t admit you at all. This is pretty rare, but not impossible. More often they see that you’re applying to comparable schools and have to take their chances, or that you’re applying to schools that won’t take you anyhow, so they really don’t care.
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I’ve only spoken about this to one Adcom at one school, and the purpose of the question was presented as an opportunity to better understand who their competition is. They don’t even touch the data until after the process - the implication being that the answer has no effect on admissions decision. I have no way of checking the veracity of this, or of knowing if this is consistent at other schools, but I believe the Adcom to which I spoke.
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