<p>On several apps, i have been asked to list the other colleges i am applying to..</p>
<p>i don't know how this will affect my decision... but i was wondering if i had to list ALL the colleges i was applying to.. i was thinking of just listing the ones that were a match or a saftey to the one that i was applying to so they didn't feel that they were being used as a saftey. i am afraid if i put reaches that the college will think i don't really want to go to their school.</p>
<p>what should i do? thanks.</p>
<p>Be honest.</p>
<p>It is fine to list other colleges you are applying to on a college app and put colleges harder to get into than the one you're applying to. Don't worry about putting wrong thoughts into adcoms heads. And if you are going to be that paranoid, remember that it works both ways - if you list only colleges of the same or lesser difficulty to get into, they might wonder what is wrong with you that they are the hardest school you're applying to (a reach). I doubt they will think that but my point is that they can't read your mind and selectivity is not the primary consideration when choosing a first choice school so they can't assume that just because College A is harder to get into than College B is, that A is higher on someone's list. I hope that made sense.</p>
<p>What is NOT fine though is to go into an interview at Colllege B and talk about how wonderful College A is and how much you wanted to go there and are only applying to College B as a safety or in case you get rejected ED. So in an interview, while you should still mention other schools you are applying to if asked, be more careful with what you say and make sure you convey your excitement about just that school.</p>
<p>My thought was that they might be looking for some sort of theme among your colleges (e.g. all small, liberal art schools). It might not be good if their college stood out among your other picks or if your list was seemingly random, perhaps?</p>
<p>This one of the rare parts of the application where I think twisting the truth is acceptable. How should they know that you didn't decide to apply to Harvard the day after you sent in their application? </p>
<p>Frankly the most important part of this section is:
1. Do not put tons of schools that are harder to get into. If you are doing the application to Boston University, do not put that your other schools are Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Boston College, and Tufts.
2. Make sure the schools you list have something in common with the school you are applying to. If you are applying to a liberal arts college, hopefully your list doesnt consist of Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Texas, and Berkeley.</p>
<p>kcirsch, I read a post last year where someone wrote that they just had not finalized their list yet. I read that someone else wrote something similar, but also wrote that their working list to date was.... and then listed some schools that I suppose they were considering.</p>