I apologize if this question has an obvious answer. I assume they want to have a high yield and therefore it might help them to know if you are target much more competitive schools . .However truthfully I have no idea.
Hi, this has been touched on a few times that I remember, here is one link but I am sure there are others:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1517754-interview-questions.html
Also, this related thread about letting schools know if they are your top choice:
Thank you. I wonder if anyone has an idea of why this question is important to AOs?
It might not be so important. AO’s want to find traction with these kids and it’s a question that a 13 or 14 year old could conceivably speak fluidly about. There isn’t always a big reason behind everything. I think ultimately they want to try to get the child speaking so they can get a sense of who they are. It’s sort of speed dating. They don’t have much time with the kids and sometimes the waiting rooms are full.
I knew I would find it eventually! Here is the thread I was thinking of (including info from an AO who is no longer active on the boards)
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/598565-the-what-other-schools-are-you-looking-at-question-p1.html
From DD’s experience, I got the impression that they wanted to know what other schools she was interested in to determine the likelihood of acceptance.
And many AOs don’t ask this. At least that was our experience. One or two asked my son where else he was applying but I think that was probably also because he was open about the fact that he was applying to both boarding and day schools. And I don’t think any AOs asked my daughter this question. At any rate, there’s certainly no need to answer. If your child can get comfortable with it, you can actually use the question to pivot to something positive – “I’m still narrowing down the list of schools that I’ll ultimately apply to, but one thing that I’ve decided is really important to me is [x]. It seems to me like [this school] is really strong at [x], is that how you see it too?”
Many do ask this on the application and if so you have to answer with something. During the interview phase it is still early.
I do think this is more about yield than anything else – but we also had an interesting experience with this. Before we visited one NE school, I had been advised by another parent that we shouldn’t share where else we were looking-- because this particular school apparently liked being identified as a kid’s top choice. I didn’t censor my kid, and when she was asked in her interview, she listed ALL the schools we were looking at! LOL The AO said “With your background and interests, you might also want to consider one more.” The school she suggested wasn’t even on our radar at that point, but it eventually landed on our list, became her first choice, and is the perfect fit for her. AOs have seen a lot of kids, know a lot of schools, and usually give good advice!
Target schools list reveals what the student wants from boarding schools in general, hints why she is applying to the school, and helps in finding if the school can give what she wants.