<p>Some applications I've been filling out have that question. It's optional. Should I fill it out? Does it even matter?</p>
<p>It matters. Trust me. BIG TIME.</p>
<p>I have two views on this issue. One view is that it is an excellent question. It forces the applicant to THINK long and hard about where they are applying BEFORE they apply and then to disclose those schools ahead of time. It helps cut down on the willy nilly applications.</p>
<p>It gives the school a chance to see how this applicant is thinking…if there is a pattern and some logic to what they are doing. And perhaps what the competition is for this student. They can gauge if the student will attend or not. In this view of the world, I would also ask a student to rank the colleges by preference…and be consistent, such as on the common app, where it cant be changed to fit each school.</p>
<p>On the OTHER hand, it can be used by the college in an unjust manner and penalize a student for applying to too many colleges or to colleges that are big competitors or whatever. A student can also lie on the form and either put down elite schools and then not follow through, or they can put down lower ranked schools to make that college think they are number one on the list when they are not.</p>
<p>In one sense its none of their business. But in another sense its very much their business. Too many kids apply to colleges with NO intention of attending that college even if they are accepted. That hurts kids who TRULY want to attend that college above all others. 30 40 years ago this was unheard of. You applied to 3 colleges at most and MOST of the time, you got in if you were anywhere NEAR the usual scores they accepted, with the singular exception of HYP and maybe Stanford. But now…the acceptance rates are ridiculous. 20 years ago, WUSTL had acceptance rates of around 40%, now its like 19%. They are a HOT school…with good reason I might add…but too many kids apply to that school with no real knowledge who they are, what they do best, and if they are a good fit or not…its all about the ‘prestige’ of being accepted there…and then turn it down for Cornell or somewhere else…ditto for many other schools.</p>
<p>What we need to see is kids applying ONLY to schools where they have a serious interest. 2 reach, 2 match, 2 safety…or 3 safety schools, for example. The colleges can then see, from the kids scores, the situation. They can deduce, “well, we are clearly one of their reach schools…and if we accept them, they will very likely come here…” Or, “we are a safety school for this kid…but maybe with some scholarship money, the honors program, we can recruit them…perhaps a phone call and some warm and fuzzy recruiting efforts, we can show them why we are an excellent fit for them and how we can change their lives…”</p>
<p>Or a college can see, “this kid is all over the map and just applying willy nilly and not really examining the schools very carefully and thus are not likely to attend if we accept them…so lets wait list them or reject them.”</p>
<p>This was recently discussed. Friedokra pretty much nailed it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4679853[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4679853</a></p>
<p>In my experience, most adcoms really do want to see a good match between applicants and their college. My Chicago interviewer, for example, spent a good portion of the interview talking to me about the relative merits of Chicago, Duke, Davidson, and Wake Forest (all schools to which I had applied and listed).</p>
<p>Precisely my point. Though I am not sure that applying to 2 reach, 2 match and 2 safety is viewed in a disfavorable light. If you apply to Carleton and Ohio State and Arkansas and Reed it might raise eyebrows…because they have NOTHING in common. No pattern or logic on any level.</p>
<p>But if you apply to 4 or 5 small colleges and one big in state college, they can see what you are doing and it makes perfect sense…to cover your bases.</p>
<p>Or 4 or 5 big state schools, and then Davidson or Washington and Lee, they might say…what is this kid doing?</p>
<p>There are also different levels of a college’s competition. One is, simply where they see kids applying who also apply there…and in the example you gave of BC, clearly BC is the safety school among the Ivy applicants. Nothing wrong with that…but it doesnt mean that BC is at the same level in attracting the same students. BC is a superb school, I might add. Another level of competition is really, where they see kids actually attending, and in that sense, I think BC has to pare down that list a bit…or consider geographical influences, which is huge for some kids.</p>
<p>Check this previous thread from the Parents Forum: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=395415[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=395415</a> </p>
<p>Note that by NACAC rules a college can’t ask you for your preference-ordered list of other colleges unless you are applying somewhere ED (in which case your ED college should be taken to be your first-choice college).</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, on WHICH colleges’ applications are you seeing that question? There are definitely colleges that don’t ask that question at all.</p>
<p>I understand the reasons colleges ask that question, but I still don’t think they should. First, the colleges on the list are likely to change as kids’ thoughts on specific schools become more developed and concrete, but mostly because although there are inferences a college may draw from that list (we’re the first choice, we’re not the first choice, the kid wants a bigger school, the kid wants a smaller school, etc.), those inferences may very well be dead wrong. They don’t know what factors that particular kid is juggling, they may just THINK they know.</p>
<p>How about calling (anonymously) each college to ask? You may find out if answering helps or hurts your case. I can see how it could help at some schools. Applying to, e.g., Carleton, Oberlin, Reed and Swarthmore, would show that you feel strongly about the kind of school you want to attend, that your idea of “fit” is consistent, thus potentially increasing your chances of acceptance at each. But this would apply only at the tail end of the acceptance process, if you were right on the edge of accept/reject; other factors would weigh much more heavily.</p>
<p>If an applicant has real good stats ( equal to or better than what the school usually accepts students with ), I would find it hard to think that they would reject a kid because he left the "what other schools ? " section blank…</p>
<p>I filled out the Northeastern Supplement the other day and it asked for that. I decided to put down two of the other schools that I was applying to, but definitely not filling all six spots provided.</p>
<p>I put BC and Lehigh, figuring that they were all fairly similar. I don’t think that it would be considered “prestige seeking” in my opinion; especially since NEU is probably my first choice.</p>
<p>It’s possible to Google up who asks this question: </p>
<p><a href=“Google Search”>Google Search; </p>
<p>Some colleges just like to know what colleges they have to compete with to gain enrolled students.</p>
<p>Well, I think what they say and what they do are two different things.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what would raise eyebrows in that?</p>
<p>Applying to such different kinds of schools could be a flag that the student might not fit well, not knowing what kind of school s/he wants.</p>
<p>Warblersrule,
I don’t see the question asked on the UChicago app. Were you asked during an alum interview or with a admissions counselor interview?</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what admissions folks would make of DS’s list. Coast-to-coast and in-between, tiny to enormous, not some of the usual suspects. However, when he talks about why each school is there, it makes perfect sense.</p>
<p>
Question #6 under supplementary information.</p>
<p><a href=“http://web.archive.org/web/20041119163754/collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/pdfs/0506freshapp.pdf[/url]”>http://web.archive.org/web/20041119163754/collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/pdfs/0506freshapp.pdf</a></p>
<p>I applied three years ago. It seems that question is no longer on the application. :)</p>