<p>How long do they keep them, and what is the purpose for keeping them?</p>
<p>Why are there 3 threads on the same topic, in close succession?</p>
<p>I dug up old threads on the same topic, and asked some questions. 
Basically I’m interested in why colleges keep rejected applications</p>
<p>Someone seems very, very paranoid… What exactly did you say on your application that you’re so worried about? :)</p>
<p>How long? </p>
<p>I have no idea.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>I suspect, so if/when someone sues them over being rejected they have their own set of files with notes.</p>
<p>I think you’re being overly suspicious, Sherlock/matok. I’m trying to decide whether I should take a gap year to apply again, so this is important. (And at this point in time, pretty urgent. So I don’t blame you for mistaking my urgency for paranoia)</p>
<p>I’m just picking on you. If I were you I’d call a few schools you’re interested in and just straight up ask them. I doubt all schools have the same policy, so you’d be much better off asking someone who actually works for the school than asking on here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion. </p>
<p>My problem is, I did not have the foresight to backup my applications onto an external storage, and after I got hit by a virus a few days ago my dad had to reformat my hard drive. So all my applications from last year are gone. I have to rewrite my resumes and descriptions of ECs and estimate the hours (and essays ARGH) all over again, so if I reapply I’m pretty sure there’ll be discrepancies which may be misconstrued as dishonesty. So before anyone else suspects me of some wrongdoing, I am actually trying to do the honest thing here.</p>
<p>A more serious answer: They have to keep them on file to analyze what they did that year for their info on how to treat next year’s class and to create the Common Data Set.</p>
<p>SOME schools keep old applications because some of the candidates might apply for transfer admissions and they could use some of the old materials.</p>
<p>Each school is different, some don’t keep them, others only keep them if you ask, others keep for 1 (maybe more??) years.</p>
<p>To prevent you having to redo applications, especially essays, why don’t you ask some of the colleges to which you applied if they would mind sending you a copy of your application materials? If they agreed it would save a lot of time.</p>
<p>Data should never be thrown away. It can be very useful to the sociology, economics and other sorts of studies on education.</p>
<p>bump, does anyone know what i should do? would they really compare line by line of my resume and accuse me of cheating if i have discrepancies?</p>
<p>I highly doubt that they would do that (they know you’re only human, especially if the numbers are close), but maybe contact them just to be safe.</p>
<p>Why would you be worried about discrepancies?? If there were differences, like maybe you didn’t take an AP test senior year, you should be able to explain them rather easily.</p>
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<p>This really sounds like a good idea! I think I will do that. Are colleges usually agreeable to this? Anyone with past experience?</p>