Do colleges know what other colleges you've applied to?

I'm applying to multiple colleges this year and was wondering if each school knows about the others on my list. Does this affect how they view my application?

In general, colleges and universities do not specifically see the other schools you've applied to. While The Common Application does ask you to choose colleges to where you're planning to send your application materials, it doesn't actually send that list out to all the schools you're applying to and is primarily used for organizing your applications.

Nevertheless, colleges might infer a bit about your other applications based on your actions. For instance, if you're applying Early Decision or Early Action to a school, they'll know that you're at least very interested in them since these plans often require a higher level of commitment. Similarly, if you mark that you're applying to a specific major or program that is unique to a certain group of schools, they could make educated guesses about your other choices.

However, it's important to note that admissions committees are primarily concerned with evaluating your fit for their community and academic program based on your accomplishments, interests, and potential. Data from other universities typically doesn't play a significant role in this review process. So, the best way for you to approach this is to focus on presenting a strong and authentic application to each school independently.