<p>The Grinnell supplement asks you to "Please list the other colleges and/or universities to which you have applied for admission." I know this is optional, but I am just really intrigued as to why Grinnell asks this question. Does anyone know why?</p>
<p>a number of colleges do this, and it is likely for their own information to understand who their “competition” is in terms of drawing applicants. Generally, I’ve heard that these schools don’t use to evaluate the candidates themselves or hold it against them if they’re applying to more selective schools. However, my kids always left this question blank on all their applications.</p>
<p>My son listed all 10 in alphabetical order. I told him he didn’t need to but he decided to put it out there. Most were more selective than Grinnell. I don’t know why they ask the question. SDonCC’s answer is probably a good guess. The fact that my son had more selective schools on his list didn’t stop Grinnell from accepting him and the fact that the other schools also accepted my son didn’t stop him from choosing Grinnell.</p>
<p>Some people may not agree, but I think that in addition to seeing who the competition is, colleges are really looking for “consistency” in the list. That is, that the student has given thought to the type of college experience they are looking for, rather than having a scattershot approach, with their application list.<br>
Alphabetical order is good.</p>
<p>Good point, 1bie792–My son’s schools were all consistent; intellectual, non-pretentious small LACs with reputations for “quirkiness”. He knew what he was looking for. In my time on CC, I’ve seen the same schools cluster on students’ lists; if Grinnell is on the list, it’s likely that Carleton, Macalester and Oberlin will be. My son’s other schools were Pomona, Reed, Lewis & Clark, Goucher, Haverford and Vassar. If a list is all the Ivy League schools, big state U and Grinnell, that might raise questions.</p>