Schools look at where you apply?

Question

I applied to like 10 schools because I'm a weird candidate. I have no clue if I'm gonna get into zero of them or nine of them. Should I tell them that I'm only applying to a couple, so they think I really want to go to their school?> Also, these aren't great schools. Average ones like Miami, Katz, Arizona, pepperdine, Cinci, TCU...

aaudetat · Answer

I'm not a fan of lying....in a way it's none of their business, but I just think that not giving the true answer to a direct question is asking for trouble.

A lot of admission consultants recommend applying to 6 to 8 schools, so you're not completely out of line with what they ask. 

If the schools that you apply to are all in a similar range, I don't think you'll run into trouble. Just make sure you explain why each school is right for you. You don't need to say that each one is your number one, but you do need to make the case that you are interested.

johnnyx9 · Answer

I agree w/ aaudetat that it's none of their business. I think a polite way of getting this point across without being rude is you could say something like, "I applied to a handful of schools," or "I've narrowed my search down to several schools that I think would be a good fit. While the schools are not all similar in terms of their teaching models and overall approach, there are very specific things about each that appeal to me."

As with any question in an interview, if you don't feel like answering it, or are not able to think of an answer on your feet, you can just talk about something else. For instance if they say, "Tell me about a time when you faced something that was nearly impossible to overcome." This seems like a real stumper, but you can always address a question by deflecting it and then talking about something else. For instance you could say, "Well no situation is coming immediately to mind that I would characterize as "nearly impossible," but there was an instance at work a couple of years back where I was pushed to my limits by an impending deadline for a project that......."

I think in general with interviews its good to keep in mind that the questions are most asked just to facilitate conversation and see how you think, so if you're smoothly evading questions it's not a bad thing, this is a valuable skill to have. It would be nice if you could answer every question asked of you in as direct a way as possible, but if something comes up that you're not comfortable answering, it's better to skillfully evade the question than to stammer or to totally blank and not say anything.

kwam · Answer

Do you think that Kellogg and GSB for instance could be handle? I mean they have very different "profile" right? Could Harvard and Stanford also be in someones narrow list?

For instance: in my case I made a list and narrowed down around 15 schools, and I will still narrow it down to the magic 8 number, expecting to apply to 4 in R1 and 4 in R2, but I still have 1y programs "living" altogether with 2ys in this first list, as well as europeans schools and US ones, would that hurt me? 

I know that it may sound: ok this guy just do not know what he wants, what is kind of true, but still I am deciding.

johnnyx9 · Answer

If a an interviewer thinks, "Hm, this person is applying to very different schools, he must be an idiot," then that interviewer is dumb for drawing such a conclusion.

For instance if someone applies to Wharton and Fuqua, they're considering two very different schools, one is very quantitative and very competitive (in terms of how the students interact), while the other is less quantitative and more collaborative. But there may be very specific things about each school that appeals to the person, and it's totally valid for them to apply to both schools.

I guess to answer your question, I'm sure if you told an ad-com that you were applying to INSEAD as well as Haas they would probably think, "That doesn't make sense," so it's best not to tell them where you're applying unless they ask in such a way that there is no subtle way to avoid the question. 

Only each individual applicant understands the pro's and con's of the different schools that they're applying to. As many of us don't know exactly what we want to do after school, it's totall legitimate to pick schools that are very different.

kwam · Answer

Johnny, I totally agree with you, however some applications ask at some point to what schools we are applying for. 

Imagine this situation: I am applying for these programs: GSB, Columbia, Wharton, Kellogg and INSEAD. Kellogg and INSEAD are outsiders, correct? Should I inform in all applications all the schools? Or better would you inform? Why?

johnnyx9 · Answer

Well not to sound unethical or whatever, but if I were you I would just list a few schools that are similar to each other. I mean for all you know, at the last second you might end up scrapping half your applications. 

I think there are only two reasons schools ask you what other schools you are applying to: (1) They want to make some assumption about how you think based on the schools you chose, and (2) They like to to know for their recruiting purposes, which schools are their "competition."

I think number two is more likely, I doubt they put too much thought into number one, but like I said, if they want to make wild assumptions about how a person thinks based on the schools you decide to apply to, I don't see any harm in doing to the same thing to this section of the application as you do to every other section: Tell them what they want to hear.

IHATEMELGIBSON1 · Answer

Well. I know that Arizona, Katz, TCU, Miami, Denver are the best ones of the bunch. Got an interview to Arizona, Denver, Miami and have no clue which one I would pick if I got into all. I guess if I get into all of them I underestimated what a solid gmat score can do to balance a low gpa with many mitigating factors

Schools look at where you apply?

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