<p>I left the section blank on the application..because its none of their business where else I applied. And only in one interview did an adcom ask and I said "Oh Harvard, Yale, Hogwarts,,,the usual..." and we laughed. the adcom didnt ask again. (Harvard and Yale being so out of my stats that it's obviously a joke...) I don't think they really care where else you are applying ..they evaluate you on the criteria you present. It's a dumb question...don't comply.</p>
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some people try to read to much into it. When you get letters from the financial aid office asking for more documentation, etc., it is NOT a clue you've been accepted.
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<p>Mike is correct because schools are required to verify a percentage of the financial aid information given to them. Who the school choses to collect information from is a random process.</p>
<p>In some cases colleges want to see who they are up against among their competition and I believe they go to great lengths to maintain their position of being #1, which is of course their perspective. In my son's case he was applying to a very specific program in top schools in the field who admit a small number of students. Since there are so few they do compete for the top students and we were told they "don't want to lose a star applicant to the competition." In my son's case I think it was very useful information for the 1st and 2nd choice not only in the admissions process but since finances were an issue for us (we told son to tell both schools this in his interview) if they wanted him the financial package they offered would have to be more or at least as attractive as what the other school put together. Even though admissions is seperate from financial aid, in a small program that vies for top students in many cases they are able to go to bat for you. In our case it was all about the top school wanting him because of his talent, in another case it may be one school wants the applicant because they want to distribute their geographic representation, or any other reason that is important to them as they select the incoming class. So listing the names of other schools you are applying to may also help them in their quest to comptete in whichever ways they do with other schools and departments.</p>
<p>When I toured Claremont McKenna, I asked the tour guide what I should do. He actually told me to lie. He suggested I put Pitzer, and maybe a CSU or two. True, he doesn't work in the admissions office, but it shows one college's perspective.</p>