<p>Question - if the syndrome does not exist (as some say) why do schools ask where else one is applying?</p>
<p>What is the point then?</p>
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<p>If there are interviews involved, they just want to make sure they don’t schedule interviews at the same time as other schools.</p>
<p>^My Harvard interviewers asked DURING my interview what other schools I was applying to. It could be just more for the interviewers to get a general idea of how the applicant would fit in rather than a consideration of potential interest (I peeked at one lady’s notepad and she hadn’t jotted down any school names). Of course, I could see it working against people if they rattle off a list of 20 schools, but other than that there shouldn’t be much harm.</p>
<p>Harvard, at least, won’t waitlist you because they think you’re overqualified.</p>
<p>We sat through two Beloit Open House presentations where the admissions director said, to paraphrase: we don’t accept all our A-student applicants; we’re looking for “fit”. Both times it sounded more like “we’re looking for love”, for students’ demonstrated interest in attending Beloit and weeding out those pesky “safety school” candidates. Beloit does tend to be an A/A- student’s “safety”, and town of Beloit can be a rude surprise for accepted students who’ve not visited campus beforehand.</p>
<p>We did the exact same thing as jandgdad. My older son applied to 10 schools - 3 safeties, 5 ivies, and 2 others. The ONLY reason he applied to so many were that the 7 that were not safeties were up for grabs. This had nothing to do with ego. The stress in late March was not fun either.</p>
<p>As for Tufts syndrome, my son got into Tufts, along with 2 ives and his safeties, and was waitlisted at another ivy. So Tufts syndrome did not apply to that school. However, it may have applied to one of the other schools where he was rejected. It was a small LAC. They made it clear that they expected visits, and wanted interviews completed before Dec.1. Since he didn’t decide to apply until the last minute, he never got to interview. Although he visited in the Winter, it is likely that his lack of initial interest sealed it for him. No regrets, though, since he got in to his first choice school.</p>
<p>My son got semi-tufted (waitlisted) from one college he applied to…an east coast LAC for which he was well above the 75th percentile on his stats. It was actually sort of weird–as if the adcoms had an uncanny sense that he wasn’t actually interested in the school. We hadn’t visited, and he didn’t exactly kill himself on the common app supplement.</p>
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<p>I don’t consider ten to be “so many.”</p>
<p>From around six to about ten seems very reasonable to me.</p>
<p>Re: interviews - Tufts specifically tells its alumni interviewers NOT to ask students about where they are applying. They consider the question overly intrusive. :-)</p>
<p>Why do they ask? According to two DOA’s I’ve heard asked it’s because they want to know who their competition is in a larger sense. Not where an individual student is specifically applying, but where students who look at their school are looking in general.</p>
<p>My guess is that more alumni interviewers who ask do it out of curiosity and pride in their institution. They want to be able to tell you why their school is better than its competitors.</p>
<p>I think the yield is exaggerated. Why would a school reject a couple brilliant students (who may very well attend) to boost their yield <1%?</p>
<p>Plus, students rarely select their school on yield. Some schools have low yields because of their poor financial aid or isolated campus, not at all pertaining to academics.</p>
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<p>Huh? 10 char.</p>
<p>^ Didn’t get that either. I think schools depend on their applicants being competent enough not to schedule two interviews at the same time.</p>
<p>Demonstrating interest is not going to guarantee acceptance anywhere, but failing to show interest is likely to lead to the wait list, for a qualified applicant at many LAC’s.</p>
<p>The interviewer can’t be concerned about schedule conflicts if he/she asks what other colleges, during your interview.</p>
<p>No college asked D1 what other schools, on their supps or in interviews. They did ask her what she was looking for or valued in a college choice- and I had warned her to match herself, at that point.</p>
<p>My son didn’t answer the question on one application as to the other colleges to which he was applying. It was not flagged on the common app as an omitted answer that prevented the application from being complete, so the college apparently expected that some students would omit it.</p>
<p>In my opinion, that is an overly intrusive question. If I were an applicant I would feel like asking in reply, “Which other students are you considering?” Of course, I would never say that.</p>
<p>I think interviewers may ask what other schools you’re applying to just because they’re curious.</p>
<p>I have to agree and disagree with some previous posts on a couple of items.</p>
<p>First, I think that the common app and the internet have had a HUGE change on the application process over the last generation of high school students. Back when I graduated HS in '81, applying to 8 or 10 colleges, while it was done, was a little bit masochistic. Who wants to fill out 10 different applications, with (potentially) 10 different essays, differing sets of recommendations, fees, etc.? It took a lot of work to apply to numerous schools. I started the process for 3 that I remember-Stevens, CalTech and Princeton. I finished the app for SIT (two pages) and submitted it-went for a tour and interview and really liked the campus. I don’t recall the application to Princeton, but I must have submitted it because I went for an interview at an alums residence (and came away thinking, if this is how I’m gonna turn out-well-off but boring beyond hell-I don’t want to go here). I had started the application to CalTech (somewhere around 16 pages) when Stevens came in with an acceptance and good money. That ended my search. Remember that the search and application process was much more compressed-I started looking at schools and did all my applications senior year of HS.</p>
<p>I have to agree with lvvcsf and disagree with jandjdad on tripletime on the idea of applying to 10 schools, with 5 of them being ivy or ivyish. I’m sorry, if you can’t find a discernable difference between, say, Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and UPenn, then you’re really not looking hard enough, or you are looking for admissions trophies (to borrow a qoute from mikemac). </p>
<p>The amount of resources available today-school websites, virtual tours, online interviews, a plethora of ratings guides, common app, CC, naviance, etc.-make it easier for students to come up with a list of schools that meet their needs and are a good fit. Applying to 10 or 12 schools is not only possible, it’s common. The schools know this, and I see no problem with a school waitlisting qualified applicants. Why give a slot to a student when you’re number 8 on the student’s list?</p>
<p>Friend of ours who interviews for an Ivy told me that the reason he is supposed to ask what other colleges the student is applying for is to determine which schools are overlaps. It is data gathering, nothing to do with each individual student. There is no reason not to answer the question, just refrain from editorializing.</p>
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Of course there are differences between these schools, but they have a lot in common–and one big thing, which is a lot of high-achieving students, something that many kids consider a major factor in college choice. As a result, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to apply to all of those schools, and several more highly selective ones–because almost nobody can be sure of getting in to any of them. This is what my kids did, and they weren’t trophy hunting (they both withdrew all other apps after getting into the early choice). Believe it or not, there are kids (including both of mine) who would be happy attending Brown or Columbia, despite the big differences between them. (Neither would apply to Dartmouth or Cornell, though.)</p>