<p>Just saw yet another application that asks students to list the other colleges to which they are applying - and then says it will have no bearing on the admission decision - if that's true, why do they ask? Seems like a rude personal question - is it really any of their business where else a student is applying? Why do they say it will have no bearing when it's pretty clear it must have bearing or they wouldn't waste the space to ask.</p>
<p>so play it to your advantage. List colleges they see as their peers and just slightly better.</p>
<p>BTW they may be telling the truth is some Clintonian sense; maybe it has no bearing on admission but has a big impact on how the financial aid pkg. Again, its your best interest to follow the advice in the previous paragraph.</p>
<p>Some schools (think Tufts) seem very sensitive about being used as a safety, which I assume is why they'd ask.</p>
<p>If you're applying to BU (because I know they have that question): Almost everyone applies to BU either as their safety or their reach. BU accepts as much of the latter group they can to raise money (BU's aid policy is notoriously not need-based), and all of the former group to raise their stats. They ask where else you're applying because if you're applying to lots of schools better, and they think you have a reasonable chance of getting in, they're more likely to throw money at you in the form of University/Trustee Scholarships and other similar programs, whereas if they know that you want to be at BU more than they want you to come, they're more likely to see you as a revenue source.</p>
<p>Most universities, however, probably do the opposite of what BU does. :P So be warned.</p>
<p>They probably use it mostly for marketing data; to see who are their overlaps and 'competition'.</p>
<p>You know how your friends and parents ask where you're applying to?</p>
<p>It's kind of like that.</p>
<p>Play it straight. They'll see what other schools you're sending your SAT scores to anyway. If people put the time they spend trying to game the system into writing stronger applications, they'd be better off.</p>
<p>As to how they use it, I would guess that it's pretty simple: they want to check out their competition. Some schools, like Tufts, want to ensure that you're not using them as a Safety.</p>
<p>When you look at the Fiske guide or the Princeton Review guide, you will see information that includes the other colleges that applicants to the given college tend to apply to. It sometimes tell you where the applicants prefer to go in that group. Neat info, huh? I like it as it gives you leads to other schools when you are looking to put together a college list. But to get that info, they need to ask. Thedad. I don't think the SAT info includes all of the colleges that get the scores, but the FAFSA does reveal up to 6 colleges on each form filed.</p>
<p>has anyone ever not listed any other colleges? what kind of response did you get? did it hurt you at all?</p>
<p>TheDad, how do colleges see what other schools you sent your SAT scores to? It's an electronic download from the CollegeBoard server for most colleges these days.</p>
<p>Nikkor, Jamimom corrected me. It's the FASFA stuff where they see it all. My bad.</p>
<p>Of course, the FinAid people are <em>really</em> interested in who the competition is and whether or not they should try to "buy" you and, if so, for how much.</p>