<p>I know it's all a trick by some smaller schools to lure in applicants, thus increasing their applicant pool, decreasing the acceptance rate, and appearing more selective, but should I bite? I've received a lot of emails/letters from schools like Tulane, Colorado School of Mines, Drexel, and U of Pacific and it's a tempting offer.</p>
<p>I mean, it's a free, easy application (and essay-less! Although I'm guessing essays would help anyways) and I have the stats for the schools and for good merit aid. I'm not particularly interested in any of the schools, though, so I'm worried that I'll waste my time that could otherwise be spent improving applications to my reach schools.</p>
<p>What they’re doing is two things. One is to increase applicant pool, and the other is to get good students to apply since, hey, it’s free.
But it does still cost some money. I mean, schools like Drexel are often worse than some state universities (especially in California), which, if you know you have a good chance of getting in, are already your backup… why take the time and money?
I’d say go for it if those schools are at your level, but don’t put in the extra work just to get more backup schools.</p>