app. asks me to list my top 4 schools I'm applying to....its my 4th...be honest?

[md152]

I hate this question. This school is a great school, probably my 4th choice if I get in everywhere I am applying to.

 

Should I just be completely honest , or strategize.  Like, put it as my number two and a similar but slightly more competitive/renowned as my number 1.

 

 

[nugget]

Does it specifically ask you to rank them? If not, just list the 4 and state that they are listed in no particular order. If you want to elaborate or offer an explanation, you can state that  they will be ordered after you find out more details (like funding, TA or RA opportunities, etc).

[md152]

Yes. It wants your top four, ranked.

[oceanlover]

i would personally lie and put it as my top, or top 1 or 2 as you mentioned.  otherwise its pretty much telling the admissions committee that "your my last choice and i would only really go to you if i don't get in anywhere else."  just like a job interview or any other application, that obviously is a very big turn off.  i believe that when applying to a school you should make every effort to make them believe they are your top choice, otherwise why would they want to spend the time and money considering you if they think you are going to reject them in the long run?

[juilletmercredi]

If they are seriously asking this question they are basically begging for people to play with the truth a little bit.  So if they have the audacity to ask (which IMO shouldn't have any bearing on whether or not they decide to admit you), then yes, rank them 1 or 2.

[danieleWrites]

I agree with juillet. This is a stupid question to ask anyone. It's the King Lear question. This question did not end well for Lear.

[Loric]

I'd seriously consider having nothing to do with that school..

[md152]

Well, I'd hate to throw away a good opportunity over an unfair question.

Any other stratagies?

Like say this schooll was ranked 50th in the country. Maybe put a similar school, that's ranked close to 25 as number one, put this school as number two and a similar school ranked around 50 as my number three.

[fuzzylogician]

I'd seriously consider having nothing to do with that school..

 

Schools don't always get to choose the application software or the questions that are put on it. I would not drop a school just because of this question. 

 

OP -- I'd rank this school as #1 or perhaps #2 but no lower. Put similar schools in the other three spots, ones that this program would think of as serious competitors. So, programs with a similar focus, similar rank (in your subfield!), etc. Presumably these are the types of programs you would be applying to anyway. It shows consistency, and that you you've done your legwork and know where the right programs for you are. 

[TakeruK]

I also agree that this question is not a good reason to avoid that school. Like fuzzy said, some applications just have this as a standard question. Also, it might even be possible that your department won't even see the answer to this question, and instead, the information is simply collated by the Graduate School for statistical/planning purposes. 

 

I also think that this is a legitimate question and that it's okay to answer honestly. You should be prepared to answer this question in a face to face meeting/interview or a phone call. One prof that I had talked to a few months before applying asked me where his school/department ranked on my list of considerations. I hesitated and he explained that he understands it's a tough question but they like to know so that they can plan the number of offers to give out as well as identify their top competitors. This can help them assign a likelihood of you accepting their offer, based on your application and other places you are applying.

 

For example, if you are applying to a mid-tier program with an average profile and put all top ranking programs ahead of theirs, then they might figure they have a good chance to getting you if they make an offer. But if you are a superstar and you are showing that you applied to top programs as well as their middle ranked program, they might figure there is a lower chance of you getting an offer. So, if they want to have 5 new students for Fall 2014, and the top 5 choices in their applicant pool show very high likelihoods of going elsewhere, they would know that they probably want to initially make something like 15 offers in order to get 5 acceptances. On the other hand, if they guess that almost all of their applicants will go to their school, they might want to be more cautious and just make 10 offers at first, to avoid having too many students!

 

Ultimately, I think it would be ridiculous for a school to reject a great applicant because they were not that applicant's top choice. I do not think they have any incentive to do so, except for maybe saving money in flying out a prospective student that has no desire to actually attend the school and just want a free trip! So, it's my opinion that your answer here would not affect your admission decision so why not be honest. On the other hand, one could also argue that there's no real disadvantage to a white lie and put this school as #1 or #2 instead of #4 either. In the end, I would say that do what you feel better about and don't worry about how this would impact your chances, since I don't think it has any real effect.

[nugget]

I don't think it's wise to rank them number one because if they accept you they will be expecting you to take their offer. Number 2, on the other hand... that's your decision to make.