<p>I’m planning to apply ED2 to a top liberal arts college this fall. Should I be worried if a number of other people in my town are applying ED1? None of us go to the same schools, but do colleges look at hometown or just state/school? Should I be planning sabotage…?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I don’t know that colleges are overly concerned about the hometowns, but certainly they will compare your profile against the profiles over others from the same secondary school. Sabotage is something I wouldn’t recommend – if you’re caught, it absolutely skews how the adcoms will evaluate your character.</p>
<p>Depending on the college, some are interested in creating a diverse student body. As an example, Pomona College, one of the very best liberal arts colleges in the country, is committed to creating an educational climate where diversity is a part of their mission. Besides attempting to expand the numbers of historically underrepresented students (and faculty), it prides itself on being represented by most all of the U.S. states and dozens of countries. They are not the only LAC who aims to create this type of environment, so yes, it’s conceivable that a large number of applicants applying ED (or RD) from the same town may have an effect on the adcom’s thinking.</p>
<p>Right, no I wasn’t seriously thinking about sabotage. </p>
<p>I understand colleges are attempting to expand URM’s and geographical diversity, but I thought that my be limited to the international, national, and state levels only. Then of course, they look at applicants from the same schools. For example, I’m wondering whether applying from Worcester, MA along with 5 other kids from Worcester hurts my chances more than being the sole applicant from Needham, MA. I’d be the only kid from Worcester attending my secondary school, so I wouldn’t be in the same school as the hypothetical 5 other kids would be. Hope this sort of clears things up and any more input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>FreeFree, I understand what you’re saying. A lot depends on the specific college, as well as your high school. College adcoms who have a good, established history with a given high school/community may not care much about taking multiple students from the same H.S. or locale. On the other hand, if a college doesn’t have a good feel for the reputation/profile of a H.S., a student may not be able to realize the value from having the H.S.'s reputation preceding his application. </p>
<p>There’s not much you can control either way, so if you have an interest, apply to the school. Apply ED only if it is the No. 1 school on your list, period. If not, apply RD to keep your options open. An axiom in any competition (and sometimes college admissions can be competitive) is that you should only worry about preparing yourself to do your best and not worry about your competition. Give the application process your best effort… and that’s as good as you can do. Good luck!</p>