<p>and if they do, how do i prevent it?</p>
<p>While I am not certain colleges can see your other college choices, I have heard that they can. </p>
<p>I am not sure if this helps, but I’ve been told that some students have listed their choices in alpha order for a bit mystery as to their top choices. I doubt if there is a way to prevent colleges from seeing your choices.</p>
<p>What does it matter? If they can, they can. It’s not like you’d change where you’re applying if they could.</p>
<p>You want colleges to see that you have applied to other schools. There is no sense in trying to prevent it.</p>
<p>Just list them in alphabetical order, that is what I always have done for my four kids!<br>
That way there isn’t anyone reading it who can pick out a first choice, second choice etc. </p>
<p>Although I really doubt that people in a financial aid office have the time to scrutinize where you are applying!</p>
<p>Every school that receives your FAFSA will see the entire list; there’s nothing you can do to prevent that. If you have one school that’s WAY above the others on your priority list, put it first. Otherwise, alphabetical.</p>
<p>I have decided to call the customer service number on the government’s website to ask this question. I have read so many different answers on cc to this question. Well, I called twice and I got 3 different responses. On my first call, the representative said nobody else could see the schools listed. I asked her if she could double check with a supervisor. She came back and said that they can see the schools listed. I decided to hang up, and call again. I got a different customer service representative on the line. She did not know the answer and immediately asked me to hold while she checked with a supervisor. She then told me that a school cannot see the other schools listed. A school only has access to that information if YOU give them your DRN number, or if you ask them to look up another school’s code. Who to believe?</p>
<p>I believe kelsmom or nikkil answered this once - yes, they could technically access that information but, as SLUmom said, the FA office has little time/motivation to do so!</p>
<p>Why is this a concern? Admissions apps commonly ask for this information - they would likely have more of an interest!</p>
<p>Anyone have current info or experience for this question?</p>
<p>I believe Kelsmom responded recently about this question. Yes, the colleges are there, but she said she doesn’t have the time or interest in looking at them.</p>
<p>Most schools are need blind for admissions meaning the admissions folks do not have your financial information when making admissions decisions. By the time financial aid is reviewing your application for financial aid, you have likely been accepted. Yes, schools do some preliminary financial aid work but they don’t typically communicate with the admissions office.</p>
<p>Yes. The financial aid office can see the schools and the info you entered on your FAFSA. Most colleges, in fact, nearly all colleges have separate fin aid and admissions offices. The info does not get cross checked as a rule simply because of the volume of applications that are received and have to be processed in a matter of minutes per app. Your app is usually reduced to a bunch of items on an index card, to be honest. </p>
<p>If you REALLY don;t want schools to see where else you have applied, you can file the FAFSA for each school, one by one, as the schools only see those schools for which you sent the FAFSA as a batch. So those of you who needed to submit twice, for instance, because you applied to too many schools to fit them all on the list, the ones you submit first do not see the next batch, nor does the next batch see the first.</p>
<p>Someone on another thread mentioned that her daughter’s colleges received both batches, but hopefully that’s the exception.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering!</p>