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Other graduate schools you're applying to.

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:22 am
by CarlBrannen
Stanford (among others) has an entry where you're to list the other graduate schools you're applying to. Why are they asking for this information and what are they planning to do with it?

Really, I don't see why I should put down something (after all, I wrote it publicly myself), but it seems that this is information that is none of their business.

Re: Other graduate schools you're applying to.

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:58 am
by WhoaNonstop
I've noticed this as well. I seem to find it on the more "high-ranked" schools. I've filled out the section myself. In particular, I doubt they'll use the section for you or against you, but who knows. I wouldn't worry about it too much regardless.

-Riley

Re: Other graduate schools you're applying to.

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:19 am
by CarlBrannen
WhoaNonstop wrote:I wouldn't worry about it too much regardless.
Yep.

It's just sort of the straw that broke the camel's back as far as applying for grad school. No, the worst part is going through my academic career and trying to figure out which textbooks were used for which classes. Wait, no, it's the part where they ask you if you've ever applied for grad school before and you're thinking, "well, I might have done that back around 1983 but I'm not really sure. It's not like I kept records." Or maybe it's the part where they ask you to list every job you've ever had.

Re: Other graduate schools you're applying to.

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 am
by schwiss
CarlBrannen wrote:
WhoaNonstop wrote:I wouldn't worry about it too much regardless.
Yep.

It's just sort of the straw that broke the camel's back as far as applying for grad school. No, the worst part is going through my academic career and trying to figure out which textbooks were used for which classes. Wait, no, it's the part where they ask you if you've ever applied for grad school before and you're thinking, "well, I might have done that back around 1983 but I'm not really sure. It's not like I kept records." Or maybe it's the part where they ask you to list every job you've ever had.
Do other schools than MIT have the course textbook listing thing?

Re: Other graduate schools you're applying to.

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:09 pm
by badphysicist
schwiss wrote:
CarlBrannen wrote:
WhoaNonstop wrote:I wouldn't worry about it too much regardless.
Yep.

It's just sort of the straw that broke the camel's back as far as applying for grad school. No, the worst part is going through my academic career and trying to figure out which textbooks were used for which classes. Wait, no, it's the part where they ask you if you've ever applied for grad school before and you're thinking, "well, I might have done that back around 1983 but I'm not really sure. It's not like I kept records." Or maybe it's the part where they ask you to list every job you've ever had.
Do other schools than MIT have the course textbook listing thing?

UC Berkeley does, but not as part of their online application. You're supposed to fill out a list of your undergrad classes with the books that you used. Supposedly they use this information for the qualifying exam. For me it's a little strange to ask about undergrad instead of highest tier of classes. Yes I took upper division undergrad mechanics but I also took graduate mechanics using Goldstein (thank god the prof. was good for that class).