Determining whether to disclose or withhold information on applying to other MBA programs when prompted by your application or interviewer is a tricky situation that many applicants run into. This is an important question for the admissions committee in order to gather information on where their school ranks on your list and how serious you are about finding the right program to fit your goals. If you aren't careful in preparing for this question, there are two ways you can end up shooting yourself in the foot:
Issue 1: Listing a group of schools that do not align with your career goalsCommunicating the logic behind your school selection process is a key part of your application process. Choosing to apply to a particular MBA program should be a well thought out exercise that goes beyond the prestige of a school's brand name. It's part of the reason why most schools ask you why you are applying to their program in essays and interviews. Therefore, it raises a number of red flags if the adcom asks about other programs you are applying to and you give them a random list of schools that aren't strongly associated with the reasons of why you are pursuing your MBA.
For example let's say you want an MBA at Fuqua (Duke) to pursue a career in sustainability. It would make sense for you to list Michigan Ross and Cornell Johnson as other schools you are applying to because they have the top sustainability programs in the country. However, if that list included other schools like Columbia, Darden, or NYU Stern (which are GREAT programs by the way but aren't typically recognized for their sustainability offerings) then the adcom could question your motives and seriousness about their program and your goals. It may appear to them that you haven't done your homework on MBA programs that best fit your sustainability objectives or that you aren't really sure about what you want out of an MBA program in the first place.
Issue 2: Positioning a program as a backup optionMBA programs really care about yield and are hesitant on giving out offers to strong candidates that have a good chance of getting into other higher tier programs. What some applicants aren't aware of is that listing a group of other schools that are clearly ranked above the program that they are applying to will give off the impression that this is a backup school. Many mid-tier schools are often positioned as backup schools for strong candidates and are given the cold shoulder. They will be sensitive to your response to this question. If there seems to be a large gap in rankings and prestige between the school that you are targeting and other schools on your list, then you better have a really good reason to be including those other schools on your list (for example, remaining in a specific geography or focusing on a certain niche of expertise).
While you have the option to plead the fifth when this question of what other schools you are apply to comes up, our advice is to provide only a small, carefully selected list of three to four schools - some higher, some lower. This will answer the question while limiting your exposure. Also, in your response, try to use schools that are within the same tier and recognized as peer programs. Reducing the gap will help alleviate fears a program might have as being a back up.
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