maybe I'm being paranoid...

<p>sigh.......ok. It's my senior year, my friends seem to be having so much fun(our class mascot is senior royalty lol), and here I am worrying about colleges. (and with good reason)</p>

<p>You see, my list is quite top-heavy......perhaps that's an understatement. I'm applying to 10 schools, and with the exception of one school, all schools are the types of schools that you will never know what to expect, even with good credentials, until you recieve your acceptance letter. This list includes 5 Ivies.</p>

<p>I know it's not the smartest thing to do, but under my family circumstances, I must proceed with this. I was just wondering, though, do these colleges (at least among the Ivies) know what schools I am applying to? And if they do, would they think "look at this kid's list. how arrogant!" trust me, I am not arrogant, and I am bracing my self for rejection from at least half of them. But I at least want to have a fair shot. Could my extremely top-heavy list affect admissions decisions?</p>

<p>Gah, I've got so much going on in school and I have barely started my applications. I take forever writing essays..........God help me. </p>

<p>ANY advice, whether it's the answer to the question or just general, would be appreciated. Thanks so much...</p>

<p>I don't see any reason why that would affect your chances, unless you go out of your way to tell, for example, Cornell, that you're also applying to Harvard.</p>

<p>You sound unhappy about applying to top-tier schools. Do you think that you are unqualified, or do you not actually want to go to these schools? Or, do you think that you can get in but are just worried?</p>

<p>My point is, I hope you are applying to top-tier schools for the right reasons. A fancy name isn't everything. There are so many other important factors, like location, strength of specific academic departments, student life (dorms, clubs), overall attitudes, and student resources.</p>

<p>If for some reason your parents are forcing you to apply to top schools but you are unsure if you actually want to attend a top school, I highly suggest you do your own research (by looking at websites or visiting schools) to find what you believe are matches for you. Then, you can at least apply at schools that you want in addition to the top-tier schools that you may not want.</p>

<p>I apologize if I've misunderstood your situation; please feel free to correct my interpretation and I'd be happy to give more input.</p>

<p>I'm in the same boat as you, my list is also very top heavy and I do expect rejections from atleast half of them.... Whichever one i do get accepted to ill go to (since i like all of them for the most part)</p>

<p>Well, I do want to go to those schools...... I'm just reading posts in CC and news elsewhere and everyone seems so much more qualified than I am. Maybe it's an issue of my confidence. My test scores and grades are good (SAT 2270 & World History 790, Math IIC 790, Physics (re-take) 800; UW GPA 3.9-ish)
My real weakness is my EC's. I've done a lot but I am not extremely strong in one area, nor have I done any research stuff due to limited opportunities (I live in a third-world country).
I guess my essay writing skills aren't that great either, so I have trouble sleeping these days. Anyways, thank you to those who have replied.</p>

<p>The college only share ED applicant info. For RD, no one knows where you've applied unless you tell them during an interview. (They aren't supposed to ask, but kids sometimes volunteer info.)</p>

<p>If you have a top-heavy list, make sure you've included at least two safeties. You could be accepted into all the Ivies - or none. Every year there are a few cases on CC of kids not getting into ANY of their colleges. You don't want to be one of those kids.</p>

<p>"The college only share ED applicant info. For RD, no one knows where you've applied unless you tell them during an interview. (They aren't supposed to ask, but kids sometimes volunteer info.)"</p>

<p>That was the kind of answer I was looking for. Thank you Momwaitingfornew!!</p>

<p>
[Quote]
...my list is quite top-heavy......perhaps that's an understatement. I'm applying to 10 schools, and with the exception of one school, all schools are the types of schools that you will never know what to expect, even with good credentials, until you recieve your acceptance letter. This list includes 5 Ivies.</p>

<p>... and I am bracing my self for rejection from at least half of them.

[/Quote]
</p>

<p>You are contradicting yourself. Your first say you could potentially be rejected by 9 out of 10. Then you say that you could accepted by about 5.
I'd caution you that chance of getting into anyone is independent of others. If you estimate that your chance is about 20% in each of them, even if you apply to 10 of them you still have a 20% chance. So better look for safety schools. Even then you can't be sure. See the thread
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258298%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258298&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>