<p>some colleges (Rennsalaer is one) ask for what other colleges you are applying to. I find this annoyingly nosy and a little creepy. Why do they want to know? Do colleges... say... contact each other? Bascially, wat is the intent here?</p>
<p>A lot of colleges ask that question on their applications. You don't have to answer it, or at least you don't have to tell them every single school you apply to. They use it to figure out what schools they have cross applicants with.</p>
<p>It is helpful for colleges to know this, for several reasons.</p>
<p>First of all, it may help them know how to best market the place to you, and to get you the information you need. Your concerns (and their relative strengths and weaknesses that they want to address) might be very different depending on whether your choice set consists of publics, liberal arts school, or technically-oriented schools. </p>
<p>It can also help them know who their peers are in the eyes of applicants. And it helps them figure out some trends--which of our competitors are "hot" schools right now? Who are our top competitors in different regions? </p>
<p>It can be helpful at the applicant level (giving them some hints about your preferences or concerns) and at the aggregate level (what's their relative market position with other schools out there).</p>
<p>thanks hoedown,
so it won't really affect an applicant's chances right?</p>
<p>it could, ie tufts syndrome, where they think you're overqualified for them and defer/waitlist you because they think you're going to a more selective college anyway</p>
<p>answer it to your advantage. List schools they see as competitors, some they're preferred to and some that are slightly preferred to them. As gxing points out, if they think you're more interested in other schools or have the stats to get into a school they lose a lot of kids to, then they may very well reject you because of that.</p>
<p>leave it blank.</p>