<p>As one of those semi-deluded students, I can attest to hmom5’s opinion. School make it seem like you may have a better chance with good recs, essays and ECs. In addition, the common application made it much easier to apply “for the heck of it”. Now that there’s no need to re-write your personal information countless times and you can just apply with a single click, it’s certainly easier and somewhat painless to apply to more reach schools (disregarding the application fee, of course). I know I applied to several school where I had little to no chance of being accepted just to see if maybe, for some reason, I’d be the exception.</p>
<p>It may sound silly or cynical, but in the end, it gave me much more options to choose from.</p>
<p>Are the schools winning here as well? I mean, it obviously raises prestige and they probably make some money with all those lost application fees, but I would think it really messes up their predictions for the number of students that will matriculate. I understand they accept two times as many students as they have room for…</p>