highhopes
People have various opinions/guesses about this. Some people say it's because they want to know if they're your safety school. Others say they want to see that the schools your picking make sense (that you're picking schools based on fit). I think a lot of people have decided to selectively answer this question if it's really clear that it's a safety school.
I don't know how they feel about seeing a school like Duke with so many people using KF as a backup to Duke.
Thanks a lot. I feel that I have selected a range of schools considering my background (military applicant w/ engineering degree), career goals (desire switch to management consulting), and post-MBA geographic preference (Southeast US). However, KF may look at my list (HBS, Kellogg, Darden, Duke, KF) and be put off. On the other hand, they may be more inclined to "sweeten the pot" by offering fellowships and/or other aid. I really have no good intuition on this.