<p>What is the best answer if you're asked about other schools during the interview. If you're also planning to apply to another school in the same city (or region), is that thought of as a negitive? D is interviewing in a couple of weeks at one of my favorites and this might come up. Thoughts on how that should be answered?
Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Depends on how assertive she wants to be. If she's interviewing at X one way to handle it is to smile and say "I'm just here today to talk about X". This could be risky, though :)</p>
<p>This is all part of the game of admissions. At the top schools they know everyone is applying to their competitors; given the odds on admission, you'd be nuts not to. So they're unlikely to ask except out of curiousity. It's the schools a little lower on the ladder that you have to worry about. WUSTL & Tufts, for example, are notorious for worrying about being safeties to kids applying to Ivies. So if you list a few Ivies and their school they'll reject you.</p>
<p>And to be honest, its really none of their business. They are supposed to be evaluating your D on her merits, not on where they think she might want to enroll, right? This isn't an advising session; so even though adcoms and well-informed alums can give good suggestions of other schools you might not have considered, the downside of how they might use your answer is too big to risk. So I'd give a strategic answer. Pick a few schools that are competitors, slightly above and below them in desireability. Match by type; if X is a LAC, pick some LACs. Have a safety such as your state school, too, because everyone expects a safety.</p>
<p>usually students don't finalize their list of schools until Nov. or Dec., so don't feel bad about "forgetting" to mention a couple to which you plan on applying. For instance, at an interview for Claremnont-McKenna, I wouldn't mention applying to Pomona (both are in the Claremont Consortium).</p>