<p>Is there any evidence that schools will reject you if they think you’re using them as a safety, or that they’ll give you a smaller aid package if they think they’re your first-choice school? I’ve heard these ideas before but they really don’t make a lot of sense to me – yield really isn’t that big an issue schools outside the Top 20, and I can’t see them playing roulette by low-balling financial aid for a candidate they’d really like to see attend.</p>
<p>Colleges ask this question because they want to know who they’re competing against and who they’re losing top students to. That’s a fair question, and honest answers are helpful to the school and to future applicants. D1 chose School A over School B, and when I ran into School B’s rep at an event the following year, he asked why she chose A. I really don’t think there are any conspiracies to increase their USNWR ranking or cheat prospective students out of merit aid. They just want to do better at their job.</p>