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<p>LOL i was thinking the same thing.</p>
<p>For those looking for a clear cut answer, I think it hurts your chances a little bit. My basis is from my own personal experience with Rice. I, honestly, put down all the schools I applied to and the only school that was of “less” academic quality than Rice was UT Austin. I had expressed quite a bit of interest in Rice and felt I was qualified for admissions but they ended up waitlisting me. Now I’m headed to Yale. :D</p>
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<p>Does anyone have information as to whether knowing the other colleges to which a student has applied might affect merit aid?</p>
<p>@Schokolade</p>
<p>On the Wofford college supplement, it specifically says “List the colleges and universities to which you will apply for admission and/or scholarship assistance” so I’m guessing that it affects it. Just double check for the colleges that you plan to apply to.</p>
<p>I don’t think listing other colleges you apply to effects your application decision. It is none of their business and just writing in 2 comparable schools should do the trick. If you list them all I consider that “doing the marketing research” for them. It truly is NOTB.</p>
<p>I would think that they are asking this information for purely statistical reasons. I doubt it will affect the admission committee’s decision.</p>
<p>I don’t think it will drastically affect anyone’s application but you never know. Any information we give them is pretty much fair game - whether we like it or not. Leaving the question blank is always an option, but I do agree that this is mostly for statistical reasons. </p>
<p>Also, in regards to the financial aid confusion, I think you’re right that they calculate the aid from the start, but if you’re good enough schools will fight for you if they want you badly enough. I’ve seen it happen! Its mostly done with scholarship money though, and done based on academic or athletic achievement and community involvment.</p>
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In some admission books it says that if a college knows they’re your top choice they figure you’re more likely to reach deeper in your pocket to attend so they go lighter on the aid (less merit, more loans in a FA package, etc). On the other hand if they think you have some other choices that are more favorably viewed and that you’re likely to get into, they will give a sweeter pkg in order to sway you. This latter is why you don’t want to list schools too far above them in desireability; few are going to attend a much lesser school that offers better aid unless money is a factor.</p>
<p>And while I don’t work in FA or admissions and can’t say first-hand this is true, it is true that FA is negotiable to some degree once admissions come out. This proves it isn’t set in stone, which means they use judgement to set it, which means there are factors they weigh. And it seems reasonable to conclude that one factor is how much you want them vs they want you, just like the admission books say.</p>
<p>Re financial aid - schools will adjust after the fact through negotiation, so I can’t see any reason why listing schools would help in this sense.</p>
<p>Re acceptance - just because one is applying to Harvard doesn’t mean they’ll actually get in. The only school I know that plays the “wait-list” game is Wash U St. Louis. I was wait-listed there, but accepted at Princeton at Columbia. They, however, did not ask for my application list. They probably just looked at my stats and said, “he’ll get in somewhere better. we’ll put him on the waitlist.” Also, wouldn’t schools want to get some people for whom they were a safety? By logic they are smarter and better students, right? So my guess is, if they try to only admit those who really WANT their school, they’ll look at stats and essays, not the application list.</p>
<p>Re interviews - all my interviewers asked where I was applying, and I told them. They even asked where my first choice was! While I didn’t lie, I answered slightly differently for each. For pton, I said “Princeton and if I get in, I’m going.” for the other Ivies, I said something more like, “well Princeton has been my first choice, but the more I learn about [insert school name here], including what you’ve just told me, the more interested I have become. It’s impossible to know what I think for sure until the decision is actually mine though.” Harvard rejected me, Cornell wait-listed me, and Columbia accepted me - all decisions that probably would have happened anyway (especially Harvard; I sent them Princeton’s essay, which was good, but somewhat irrelevant).</p>
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sure, they want those students, but at the same time many schools are worried about yield. If they have to accept 20 top kids to get one that eventually enrolls, they don’t look as selective. The answer is the waitlist. Look what happened to PrincetonWalnut; waitlist at WUSTL, in at 2 ivies. Had he NOT got into the ivies he would have written an anguished letter to WUSTL telling how it was always a top choice and practically begging to get off the waitlist; if WUSTL has room they’d take him and get their smart kid without having hurting their yield on the other ones that aren’t coming.</p>
<p>US News doesn’t consider yield anymore in its rankings, but its still a widely published number and people use it to make decisions; if 35% of the kids at A who are accepted end up enrolling but only 18% at B, people start to conclude there is something better about A. So yield still matters.</p>
<p>be honestwhen you answer the other schools question. the worst that could happen is that you don’t get the smiley face or check in the box or whatever the school does when the adcom thinks you are very interested in attending. You can overcome that in so many ways. visit or interview or contact the adcom and show genuine interest in the school. at most schools any one of those gets you the same smiley face and you can’t get more than one smiley face for showing interest </p>
<p>btw it is true that everywhere you send FAFSA will see the list of everywhere you send FAFSA, but that doesn’t happen until after January1 so your ED or EA schools probably don’t have that info when they are considering you.</p>
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<p>This is unrelated. Penn does this because ED applicants are bound to attend if accepted; this insure that those who break the ED agreement by applying to other schools aren’t rewarded with acceptances to those other schools.</p>
<p>I still assert that there are only two honest choices: 1) list all the schools to which you are going to apply, using a reasonably definition of ‘going to apply’ - the same that you might use if talking to a friend/parent/counselor or 2) indicate that you decline to reply.
(I wouldn’t just leave it blank as that does suggest that you aren’t applying elsewhere.)
If you choose to lie because you believe it will improve your chances, you are starting your college career with just that - a lie.</p>
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Two questions for you [ul][<em>]Do you also assert that one is obligated to answer any question put to them “honestly”, regardless of the motivation of the asker? If so, I bet the car salesmen must really drool when you come onto the lot![</em>]Do you assert that every question asked on the application, by every college, is motivated by complete unselfishness and has absolutely no ulterior motives?[/ul]</p>
<p>I did not assert that one is obligated to answer any question honestly.
I said that there were only two honest choices. There are only two honest choices. It matters not what the motivation of the asker is, and thus the motivation of the colleges is not relevant in determining what is and is not an honest response. </p>
<p>The question as to whether one must answer any question honestly is a separate issue. Most, myself included, would certainly agree that there are many circumstances in which an honest answer is not the ethical one.<br>
Generally, it is ethical to lie to prevent harm to the innocent. So, of course, those who hide the Frank family were justified in lying.
Generally, it is not ethical to lie purely for personal gain.
Where lying to a college in an application lies is best left ‘as an exercise for the reader’. Each will make his or her own choice.
More “exercises for the reader”:
Is it ethical to lie about ECs?
Is it ethical to lie about race?
Is it ethical to lie about anything else that might give you an edge?
Does it matter whether you can get caught?
Is it ethical to lie because you know somebody else lied?
Is it ethical to lie because you are unfairly disadvantaged?</p>