<p>so here is what i'm doing... i'm following the advice of Tuna FIsh though a lot of other people have left good advice... i listed about 7 schools, though not all of the schools i'm applying to. a couple of these schools are schools in the same region and about the same "tier", one of which is a little lower, the other a little higher. Also included are other small liberal arts colleges that I am looking at, one in CA and one further up north, I also listed an ivy (which im looking at b/c i'm legacy there) because they would know i was lying if i didnt list it (based on my stats) and also to "scare" them a little and hopefully give me a merit scholarship or something to get me to come ... the one thing i'm not doing though, which im not sure if i should do is list Stanford (which i'm applying SCEA) on the list? It is definately my super reach school but i dont want to tell them i'm applying there....they have no way of finding out the other colleges i'm applying to and they are just doing this to try and figure out if its my safety school (which it kinda is but i dont want them to know that)</p>
<p>Oh well.. i will ask my counselor tomorrow if what i'm doing sounds good</p>
<p>thanks for all the responses though! they've been very helpful</p>
<p>Admissions officers don't think of things to list on apps that don't help them make decisions or that they don't consider important. </p>
<p>I was recently asked during an interview where the interviewer's college ranked on my list. I answered honestly, and it was between second and fourth but undecided in that range. I told him I really hadn't decided but there were other colleges above his. I believe I also told him the colleges to which I had already been accepted. He said to my rankings, "I can live with that" and I am still expecting, based on what he said, to be admitted.</p>
<p>Carpe - Admissions officers are not looking out for YOUR best interest, they are trying to manage multiple demands from ensuring enough football players to ensuring enough people who can pay to increasing yield and USNWR rankings. Their questions may help them achieve their objectives but that doesn't mean they are in your best interest or even fair/appropriate.</p>
<p>I think how you approach this question might vary depending upon the school who's asking it. While I'm sure there are some schools that might feel that if you're applying to more elite schools then you might not have an interest to attend their school if you got into the more elite ones; however, Rice asks this question on their app and I encourage you to answer truthfully. Last year when my son applied to Rice he put down all the schools he was applying to, including peer schools (such as Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon), and others such as Stanford, Princeton and Cornell. Not only was he accepted to Rice, but they awarded him a 3/4 tuition scholarship -- I guess to woo him away from the other schools. So, sometimes it's in your best interest to be truthful.</p>
<p>As I said on the other thread, Pepperdine says " list up to seven colleges you are applying to, most recent first", ( there are several boxes to fill) then why you are applying to them ( with a text box). We intend to list a few UC's and say they are a great value.</p>
<p>i came across this question on a Grinnell form i think (might be wrong). i think asking this question was very inappropriate. going to take tunafish's advice. lots of interesting insight from everyone though.</p>
<p>List whatever you like down there - its not being dishonest at all giving a half-truth, because it is completely your own choice and your own personal freedom to do so. According to those college-rules stated before, they aren't technically allowed to require such, so fill in that box with anything.</p>
<p>If the adcom has a problem with it, clearly they are the one who are mental idiots.</p>
<p>Here's an informational question: how many of the colleges that ask this question DO NOT have an ED (early decision) admission program? I think this question is very rare from colleges that don't do ED, but it is, of course, legitimate from a college accepts ED applications, even according to NACAC principles of good practice. </p>
<p>Some replies above have mentioned which colleges ask what other colleges you are applying to. Which colleges have asked you? Do they offer an ED admission option?</p>
<p>we did alphabetical order. Then I got a little paranoid about the fact that the FAFSA also gets your list and it seems to me that there is again disclosure of the list to financial aid officers..again, we did alphabetical order. </p>
<p>When my son was asked to rank his colleges by an alum interviewer in order of preference, he gave his list to the interviewer, and quite rightly said that the alum's college was a Reach, and therefore he could not count on admission, but that he only applied to schools he knew he could be happy attending. Alum can't help themselves..they know it isn't kosher but they frequently ask about your list...as it is information about you. Your job is to not let them draw the wrong conclusions. There is nothing wrong with saying in April you will compare offers, waitlists and deal with rejections but that College X is clearly superior in Y and Z arenas. All colleges have some distinctive strengths.</p>
<p>Has anyone been accepted into a school where they left it blank on their app? Or a school that for their app you omitted a few of the schools? To your knowledge, were they need-blind or need-aware school?</p>
<p>I would think that a true answer of "I'd rather not say" would be acceptable at any college in the land. Many of the most desired colleges don't ask this question at all--this question seems to be characteristic of low-yield colleges.</p>
<p>I'm unsure about the ethnicity questions as well; I've been hearing discrimination/quota stories towards Asians, regarding Ivy/MIT. If I fill it in, I might be excluded in any existing quotas, but if I don't, they might think that I'm hiding something or infer my ethnicity from my last name anyways. Should I leave it blank, or fill it in?</p>
<p>I'd have to say that it is quite harmless to take the Common Application at its word and treat the ethnicity question as OPTIONAL. The legal background is that the federal government in the United States has regulations requiring colleges to ask, but it doesn't have any regulations requiring students to tell--and it would be especially constitutionally suspect to require students to tell at a public university, so you can be sure that is NOT required. Fill out the form, or not, as you wish.</p>