<p>Are they genuinely curious, or just looking to see if any rival schools or schools that they don’t like are on the list. Also, if you perhaps applied to a few more schools than most people, would that look bad as well?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think that an alumnus interviewer asking that question may just be curious vs an admissions rep who may be trying to determine how likely you would accept an offer of admission. I would recommend answering the alumnus with other schools that you are applying to that are similar in selectivity and feel (for example, other Urban Ivy Leagues or other small, rural LACs) You don’t want to make it sound like the alumnus’ alma mater is your saftey!</p>
<p>My UChicago interviewer asked me why I was applying to UChicago, and when I gave him an answer that wasn’t connected to U of C’s economics department or international prestige (I’m an international, and believe me, that’s rare where I’m from), the conversation segued into a discussion of UChicago’s distinct identity and he asked me if I’d found any other schools with a similar feel in my college research. So I told him about a few of the schools I was applying to and the criteria I’d used in selecting them. I think he was both curious and maybe trying to gauge my level of interest in UChicago–the types of schools someone’s applying to can tell you a lot about what that person is looking for in a school; is it just prestige? Strong natural sciences? Urban setting? And from that interviewers can sometimes infer how serious you are about their school.</p>
<p>^ That sounds very much like my UChicago interview. I told my interviewer the biggest non-academic thing I look for in a college was snow (yes really), and she asked me why I applied to Davidson College.</p>
<p>I would go ahead and name a couple of rivals and a safety. I wouldn’t name any that make his college seem like a safety and by no means do you have to name them all. Or you can ask him to name all the other high school seniors that are applying for admission. :)</p>
<p>It’s a tricky question, and often asked as much to see how you respond, as to what you answer. The question is a good candidate for deflection. You absolutely don’t want to spend much time taking about any college other than the one to which you’re interviewing.</p>
<p>Give a brief and serious answer, and always bring any followup questions back to why you’re interested in the college to which you’re interviewing.</p>
<p>glido’s response above is (I think) the perfect strategy.</p>