Applications that ask where else you're applying..

[Gvh]

Hey all,

I know this may seem trivial, but what is the catch with certain schools asking which other programs you're applying to?

I mean, does it hurt/look good to admit you're applying to more prestigious/less prestigious departments..?

What about leaving these areas blank?

Just thought I'd put it out there to see if anyone had any ideas and/or concerns! =)

[orst11]

Some would say that the question is so academics can discuss with colleagues at other universities who gets who, but the majority of the time they just are curious for the universities' purpose in how to better market itself towards candidates.

Also, most universities know that most candidates apply to a range of programs, so it really probably wouldn't hurt unless one school you were applying to was say in the top 25 while another wasn't even in the top 100.

Typically, this is not a required field in the application, so you can just leave it blank if you wanted to. Just you may get questions later on asking why you declined an offer and where you decided to go.

[Gvh]

Thanks Orst11, that makes sense. I suppose it comes to no surprise how political this candidate selection system can be.

[George2248]

But the main question is, does hurts or help to tell them which other programs you are applying?

I am just finishing my app in Berkeley and they ask this question. Does it look good or bad to say that I am planning to apply on Illinois, Cornell, WUSTL, USC and Columbia??

Also they ask I have applied to any other program, I have not already but I will so I am not so sure whether to tell them or not?

[orst11]

Does it help the applicant? That's a difficult question to answer and i am unsure how it really helps the applicant truthfully. I think listing certain schools shows how realistic your expectations are and how competitive you are as an applicant but not listing them I don't think will cost you when it comes to them deciding on your application.

Also, some schools request this information because various schools have similar admission time lines, and this gives them an idea when to have decisions done by to get higher quality students.

[gellert]

From what I hear, in psychology at least, a lot of why they ask this is because they want to see how focused your research interests really are. For example, are you applying to schools that have people who do work similar to theirs (say, in moral decision making)? Or are you applying to schools seemingly at random/because of name and reputation, or mostly to (for example) sensation/perception researchers and they're the odd ball out (and thus possibly your safety school)?

[Gvh]

Yeah that could be a good point. I mean, say you're applying to Harvard, but then list a bunch of schools that aren't Ivys, they may not take you seriously as a candidate, or perhaps shrug you off as a "oh, well we don't have to take her as she will probably get into one of the less prestigious programs listed".

Ironically, HGSE requires you to either fill in other schools or say you're not applying anywhere else, without the option to leave it blank. I'm considering doing the latter, but meh, it's not too reassuring.

[George2248]

What about the list I just gave to Berkeley??

USC, COLUMBIA, ILLINOIS, CORNELL and WUSTL

What would that tell them?

[fuzzylogician]

In short, no adcom expects applicants to apply only to their school and no one is offended by not being someone's only choice (also by an applicant who chooses to accept another offer, but never mind that for now). Therefore, the fact of simply naming other schools does not hurt applicants. More precisely:

- Mostly, schools use information about where else their applicants applied to for internal reasons like learning who their competition is.

- If your school selections show glaring inconsistencies - e.g., applying to schools that are known to be weak in the field you're proposing to study, failing to apply to several obvious choices for no apparent reason, applying to schools with widely opposing views of your field (opposing theories, methodologies, etc.) - some people might interpret your choices as a sign of immaturity or unfamiliarity with your field. On the other hand, if your choices are consistent and logical--which is the case in the vast majority of cases--they will support you as a well-prepared candidate, or at the very least they not hurt you in any way.

[orst11]

I think it would say really that you are applying to other competitive programs as well, but I also would consider what gellert and fuzzylogician noted about just making sure your research interests matches with these programs. Again really the whole application is about focus, now that I mention it maybe I should focus on mine some and starting getting apps sent.

[George2248]

On 9/7/2011 at 3:34 PM, orst11 said:

I think it would say really that you are applying to other competitive programs as well, but I also would consider what gellert and fuzzylogician noted about just making sure your research interests matches with these programs. Again really the whole application is about focus, now that I mention it maybe I should focus on mine some and starting getting apps sent.

Is this about "research interest" that important to a MEng. Since it is not a PHD that I am applying to and there is no research mentions in any of the requirements for this programs. I see that many people in the forums are really concern about research interests, research experience, etc.... but actually I have none research experience I dont think that is a problem for the kind of programs I wanted to apply.

[fallingup77]

This might sound bad, but could it be beneficial to list schools even if you don't really plan to apply there? I have a couple safety schools that I wouldn't want to list and a couple schools that are stronger and pretty good fits for my research that I'm not going to apply to. Just a thought.

[orst11]

This might sound bad, but could it be beneficial to list schools even if you don't really plan to apply there? I have a couple safety schools that I wouldn't want to list and a couple schools that are stronger and pretty good fits for my research that I'm not going to apply to. Just a thought.

You would be surprised to learn that the academic world is quite small and some professors at one school may know a former classmate who teaches at one of these schools listed, where you aren't really applying. Most the time people will just consider okay they decided not to apply or they didn't finish the app but my question is this even considered ethical in your eyes. To me that strategy is dishonest and I would just advise you not to list the schools that you don't want to.

[fuzzylogician]

This might sound bad, but could it be beneficial to list schools even if you don't really plan to apply there? I have a couple safety schools that I wouldn't want to list and a couple schools that are stronger and pretty good fits for my research that I'm not going to apply to. Just a thought.

I think the first half of your suggestion could be beneficial: if you're applying to e.g. 8 school, listing the 4 best-fitting ones sounds fine to me. As far as I remember, most apps had limited space for this question anyway. Listing school you're not planning to apply to at all, on the other hand, can backfire, as orst11 mentions, and I agree that it smells of dishonesty. If there is one particular place that's a great fit where you can't apply for whatever reason, I might consider listing it anyway; maybe things will change. But making this a strategy would be wrong.