<p>At my interview, I told my interviewer that I was applying to two other schools and at the time, I was. Since then I have decided to only apply to their school and I don't know if it's important to inform them that I'm not applying to the others.
I just could see them not admitting me because they think I possibly could be accepted at the other two schools, right? </p>
<p>I just don't know if it's important to tell them or not... What do you think? Will it interfere in their decision?</p>
<p>Not important. In fact - at the college level we’re not even allowed to ask that question any more so even if it comes out we don’t put it on the report. I certainly don’t write them on the Exeter interview forms.</p>
<p>Don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>I’m more worried that you only applied to a single school. It is a good idea to have options given how hard it is to get into any of them.</p>
<p>I disagree. This is not college, and we all know that schools take into account (as best they can) a student’s likelihood of accepting their offer of admission.</p>
<p>It also very much depends on which three schools we’re talking about. If you withdrew your applications to two less competitive schools in order to focus only on, say Exeter, then it probably matters less. But if you withdrew applications to Exeter and Andover and decided instead to apply only to a lesser known & less competitive school because you decided it was a better “fit” for you, then, yes, you should absolutely tell that school about your decision! </p>
<p>It’s not so much telling them that you’ve withdrawn other applications as telling them that you’ve realized that THEY are your No. 1 choice. If you can tell them why, that’s even better. Every school wants to know why you chose them over all the other schools out there. If you can answer that question sincerely, that can only help your application.</p>
<p>By the way, though, I DO agree with Exie that applying to only one school is a very risky gambit, unless you have very good reason to be confident about your likelihood of admission. The better known school all get applications from many more qualified applicants than they actually have space for. So just because you’re qualified doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be chosen. Just look at the acceptance results from any prior year here on CC - applicants who are qualified to get into Andover (and get accepted there!) get denied at Exeter. Does that mean Exeter found them not to be qualified? Probably not. Exeter just had to make a decision between MANY qualified candidates.</p>
<p>I don’t think it will influence their decision. I think it’s a question which often helps to break the ice with applicants, as it’s a question everyone likes to ask students. </p>
<p>At this point in the process, you’ve submitted the application. In the Fall, when the schools are interviewing many, many candidates, the schools don’t know if they’ll be dropped from applicants’ lists or not. For example, as student who visits and interviews at 16 schools will be likely to drop 6 to 10 schools (at least) from her list. Whereas a student who has only two schools on her list, and a good local option, may be testing the waters but not end up applying this year.</p>
<p>You’re at a different point in the process. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>Schools might take into account likelihood - but it’s a weak guess at best since they can’t know what is going on in the admissions offices of their competitors. They have an idea of what “profiles” are likely to fit a specific school, but that’s it. Someone who might have been snatched up one year, won’t make the cut another because the decisions are highly depending on who is in the admissions pool at each school that specific year. For instance - student A was competitive on paper and would have been selected if student B hadn’t also chosen to apply that same year.</p>
<p>Even if urban girl tells a school they’re her top choice its not going to make a difference unless she’s already highly ranked. And there’s no way to know that even if she has top stats and hooks. Many other applicants are saying that and mean it. I know too many students who tried that and found themselves with no choices.</p>
<p>It might help ONLY when the student if full pay. And even then it’s a high risk venture.</p>
<p>It’s better to demure on that question, imho. People get their hopes up and then get them dashed. And the school isn’t going to be impressed that they’re her only choice. They’re going to think it’s presumptious and not smart decision making.</p>
<p>In the case of BS alum - I think the system works differently. There’s an assumption that legacy kids will follow the parent. I can say that while other schools did not ask my daughter where she was applying, upon discovering I was an Exeter grad several asked why she was looking elsewhere. She told them “That’s my mother school, I’m looking for my own fit and Exeter isn’t it.” I confirmed that she was “driving the process, I was just driving the rental car.” I do think that made quite a bit of difference for them to know they were in the running - even at Andover. But again - legacy kids are a special circumstance because there are a lot of other factors at play.</p>