<p>Perhaps another way to think about the OP’s original question is: under what scenarios is there a considerable downside to also applying to “extra” highly selective colleges? Say you’ve targeted a group of colleges that you think are a good fit for you (with a few ivies, a few other highly selectives, some safeties, etc.) why not also apply to the rest of the ivies anyway? </p>
<p>1.Many posters have already mentioned that writing additional apps and the time/effort involved will leave less time to focus on the apps that might matter most to you, and dilute the quality of those apps. In the previous discussion many were willing to ignore this assuming an applicant has unlimited time (and $ for app fees), so I’ll move on to some other downsides.</p>
<p>2.The number of schools applied to, and the mix of them, will affect the guidance counselor’s letter. This is IMO the big downside. While applying to more schools may be in the individual applicant’s interest, the GC has different goals, and (s)he needs to maximize the admissions success of all students at the school, both this year and in the future. If 5 kids who don’t care much about Dartmouth apply to all ivies, that mucks up the chances of that other kid from the HS who really wants Dartmouth standing out. I think of the analogy to prescribing antibiotics - the patient always wants to get it early, but docs have a public safety benefit to consider that if antibiotics are over-prescribed then drug resistant strains of the disease develop more quickly. If the GC strongly suggests applying to 8 schools and you insist on 15 against their advice, don’t you think it might affect the letter? </p>
<p>Even if you are not directly contradicting their advice, apply to “extra” schools can impact the letter. While you can dial up or down the emphasis on your various strengths for different schools, the GC is likely to write basically 1 version for all the schools, and I believe it is disquieting for adcoms if what you write and what the GC writes don’t resonate completely with each other. GCs may also have a harder time conveying you as someone who knows your strengths and where you are going if they feel you are taking a more scattershot approach to applications. And perhaps most importantly, GCs can’t signal you as “likely to enroll if accepted” if you apply to lots of schools.</p>
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<li> While I agree the admissions decisions are independent (e.g., Yale does not change their decision based on the decisions of other schools to admit you or not), I can easily see how knowing where else you have applied might affect their decision on whether or not to admit you. Mostly, I think this is a question of authenticity - does the range of places you apply to make sense given the person you claim to be on your application? If your essay to Yale talks about your commitment to community service with teaching math to inner city kids that you want to continue in college, it makes sense for you to apply to Columbia or Penn, but if you apply to Dartmouth is that still believable? If you say you are attracted to Princeton because of its size, focus on undergrad education and suburban location, is that believable if you’ve applied to every ivy plus U Chicago, Michigan, etc.?</li>
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<p>Also, I do think yield matters to them to some extent, and while they expect kids to apply to a reasonable range and number of colleges they might be less inclined to admit someone they thought was simply “fishing” by applying to all the ivies.</p>
<p>How do they know where else you have applied? I think they have some knowledge in some cases, though clearly it is imperfect and not universal. Some kids put this on facebook, some blab this to interviewers (alumni or school), some GCs might intimate this in letters. I also heard a financial aid expert mention that information about where else you are applying is conveyed with financial aid forms within the ivies, but I don’t know how true or widespread that is - maybe someone who knows better can chip in.</p>