<p>I often wondered if schools kept admission applications and used them later for any purpose. I just spoke to my S who is a college sophomore. He said he met with a Dean about being nominated for potential scholarships. The Dean told him he had a copy of his admission application which he was using for information for scholarship nominations. "I even know what your favorite toy was when you were a kid."</p>
<p>I'm glad I made sure he spent a lot of time on his application now. Maybe it will pay off!</p>
<p>Policies vary from school to school, but in general, parts of the application are sent along to either the registrar or the student's college (within a large university). Other parts (recommendations and admission officer notes, for example) are kept in the admission office for a certain number of years after which they're destroyed.</p>
<p>I have always assumed that parts or all of the applications are kept on file forever. Thus, I advise students to never ever lie on their applications because 20 years later when their old college roommate (now elected official) wants to appoint them to a sensitive cabinet level position they wouldn't want an FBI background check to turn up untruths in their college application!</p>
<p>Supposedly, at my school, everything written by the student is saved, at least until graduation. Everything written by anyone else (recommendations, transcripts) is disposed of after enrollment.</p>