<p>I personally don’t think it mattered. I was honest with all of these questions in my college applications (I applied to 15 colleges, so obviously I didn’t put down all of the other 14 - I tend to choose schools that I think fit the college’s “level” that I’m applying to, plus one safety/match - for example for Stanford I put down MIT, Harvard, Caltech, and Berkeley). I got into 12/15 with significant scholarships at the lower schools so I didn’t think it made a difference.</p>
<p>I think college admission officers use the information for admission purposes (figuring out what their major competitors are, for example) and sometimes really just to know a bit more about yourself. For example, let’s say Candidate A put down Anyville College and Sometown College, which are traditionally close rivals in academics. If Anyville sees that this potential applicant is also applying to Sometown, and Anyville judges that the applicant has a solid chance as well as getting into Sometown, Anyville might be tempted to offer a stronger FA/scholarship package to the applicant to entice him. In this case, being honest works out nicely for the applicant.</p>
<p>I personally don’t agree with the argument that by putting down a list, you’re “giving away” what you consider to be your potential. I think that if the admissions office is worth their salt, they would have easily figured out what schools you’re looking at based on your stats and be quite accurate with their prediction too. Moreover, I don’t agree with the “passion” argument (not putting down any other school to demonstrate passion). I honestly do not believe that adcoms would believe that you would only apply to their college but nowhere else.</p>
<p>Long story short - I don’t think it makes a big difference, but do what you will. It’s most probably something that won’t swing your decision at all.</p>