<p>I'm completing my Oberlin application, and in one of the forms it says:</p>
<p>"List the names of other institutions to which you have made or expect to make applications for admission." </p>
<p>I'm wondering, how honest should I be here? I'm applying to a large number of schools, so will it hurt my application if I include them all on there? For instance maybe they'll think that I don't show strong enough interest since I'm applying to so many other schools. </p>
<p>This question is also on the application of one of my safety schools. Will listing the names of the top-tier "reach" schools I am also applying to affect the admissions decision?</p>
<p>It definitely can help with financial/merit aid negotiations later, however. For instance, if one can say I was accepted at Curtis but would prefer to come here, if you can match their full tuition grant, etc.</p>
<p>Are you applying to a large number of schools with auditions? I don’t know what you mean by “large,” but I do know that auditioning at too many schools is pretty stressful and maybe even counterproductive. Just a thought.</p>
<p>There are lots of ways of letting a school know that you are very interested in attending. if you can let them know that you are truly interested, have researched the school, visited, and really looked into it, then I think that counterbalances a list of other applications.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this varies with other instruments and majors but it seemed to me like the top players of my son’s instrument (Jazz Double Bass) were all applying to the same set of schools…with some variation depending on what part of the country they were in. So it was not like Oberlin was surprised by our son’s list.</p>
<p>My S’s college guidance counselor told him to leave it blank, if my memory serves me correctly. She was excellent and never gave us bad advice. With that being said, during the time of the college process, we all tend to read too much in to every little thing…analyze everything. Most of the time it only causes stress and serves little purpose.</p>
<p>We’ve just been through the trial lesson, application and pre-screen stage and my D has been asked every variation of the “where else did you apply” question and I really think that it’s just a matter of teachers and admissions people keeping up on applying trends. One school on her potential list was a very unusual choice if you didn’t know that a certain teacher had just taken a job there. Some other teachers knew about this and others didn’t but everyone stopped and asked about the school in detail and their interest just seemed like professional curiosity. I wouldn’t make too much out of it.</p>
<p>My kids have always answered that question honestly on all their applications, and each kid was accepted to every school to which they applied (except one kid who didn’t get into Stanford but did get into MIT). And each kid earned major scholarships and grants to each school. My point being: I really don’t think it hurts to tell where you’re applying. I believe it can only help. (Unless you’re breaking a rule. For example, some schools dictate that you may only apply early action to their school, and no other. You don’t want to get caught on that one!)</p>
<p>My impression is that one’s answers may serve two major purposes. First, like jb1966 said (above), the schools can glean information from applicants’ answers – what are the major trends, which other schools are currently seen as their ‘competition’ or as similar in some way to their own school, etc. Second, I suspect, just based on my own kids’ experiences, that these lists may be used at times in making scholarship decisions. I believe a lot of schools are savvy to scholarship availability at competing schools. They can therefore offer to match or exceed offers from those other schools to lure National Merit Finalists or top musical talents, or what have you. I say this because so many of my kids’ different schools offered very similar scholarship amounts to a particular kid, or rather, the amounts they offered brought the Cost of Attendance down to a similar number across the board for all of their schools, no matter what the original Cost of Attendance – coincidence? Maybe not. AND, several of my kids’ schools even went so far as to mention that they would match such-and-such a school if money were an issue, without any mention from us that the kid was even applying to such-and-such a school! (outside of the answer to that question, that is) So, yeah, I think it can even help to tell the truth on this one.</p>
<p>Daughter gets asked this at each audition with no further comment… until her Hartt audition two weeks back. The interviewer started reading her list of schools and started singing “one of the things is not like the others” from Sesame Street. Then he asked daughter why she was applying to one school on her list because he had seen all the others on other applications and was not familiar with their bass professors (which is odd because both the classical and jazz profs at this school are well-known in bass circles). It threw my daughter for a second but she was able to answer his question.</p>