<p>I was hoping the knowledgeable people on this forum may comment on the validity of something my guidance counselor said. So my guidance counselor says a trap some top students fall into when applying for colleges is applying to too many Ivy League schools. According to her, Ivies DO communicate about prospective students and if they see a student applying to a lot of them, they may assume he/she is only interested in their "brand name" and his/her chances at admissions are diminished. Is this true?? Being a top student, I wanted to apply to 4 or 5 Ivy League schools, but this is making me rethink my plans. If this is true, what do you think is the max number of Ivies you can apply to and not fall into this trap? Thanks!</p>
<p>Apply to as many schools as you like; the schools don’t know where else you’re applying. They aren’t really supposed to discuss inidvidual applicants with each other. But if a student committed a crime or cheated the adcoms or something, a school might contact your counselor and the other schools you’re applying to. Also, a school will know of another place you apply if you get accepted to both places, but one financial aid package is better.</p>
<p>And, no, you’re chances are diminished when you apply to more places. You never know where you’ll get accepted or rejected.</p>
<p>In 1991, the Ivies + MIT signed a non-collusion agreement, reached w/the Justice Dept to end discussions of Fin Aid offers to cross admitted students. This, plus a little thing called FERPA prevents them from discussing candidates. Your GC is mistaken.</p>
<p>Also, they are fully aware that realistic candidates to their schools will likely be heavily courted by others and likely to be applying to a wide range of schools, including other peer schools. It’s “meh” to them.</p>
<p>Apply to as many Ivies as you want – just realize all of them are a reach for (just about) everybody. So apply to matches and safeties as well. And love your safety.</p>
<p>There is no such trap.</p>
<p>However, perhaps your GC is trying to scare you into not focusing too heavily on highly selective schools, which is not bad advice. Apply to as many Ivy schools as you wish, but tackle them only after you have already applied to your safeties and matches. Build you list from the bottom up. Save the long-shots for last.</p>