pandaaaa

I think it really depends on what you want with your program and your relationship. I know of some couples that haven't taken each other into consideration (either from not being too serious, or being ok with a LDR for a few years), and I know some where being close to their SO was their priority in picking/choosing schools. MY SO and I fall more in the latter category, mainly because we don't want a long distance relationship (and eventual marriage), and because his program will be 8 years. He is applying to MD/PhD programs, and I'm applying the PhD programs (generally in the biomedical sciences). We are shooting to go to the same school/city/commutable area, and are planning on getting married 2-3 years into school. We first made separate lists of schools that we were interested in applying to. Luckily, there was already ~90% overlap school-wise. At first, the list was big, and we discussed schools separately (funding status for the MD/PhD, being in a location for me to do a postdoc when he's done, etc). We finalized our lists together, ruling out schools that wouldn't be a good fit for either of us. We ended up mostly applying to schools in large cities with multiple programs for us (NYC, Boston, etc). I think it helped that neither of us knew exactly what we wanted to do for our PhD work, so there wasn't one PI at one school that we were really hoping to work with. So neither of us were really upset to cross a school off of our list. We weren't sure if we should let schools know of our situation at first. Some of his apps actually asked him in the secondary if he is applying as a couple (Penn comes to mind), but he didn't mention it in others if it wasn't asked. When he started getting interview offers a few months ago, we weren't sure if I should include that info in my app somehow. I ended up calling coordinators of each program to ask them. Most were very understanding, and wanted me to include that info. Only a few told me not to mention it. My SO has mentioned our situation in all of his interviews, and everyone there has also been helpful. Most asked for me name/program, and said they'd keep an eye out. I'm just now starting to hear back from schools. I've received two interviews so far, both at schools where my SO interviewed, and I mentioned our situation in my PS. From applying as a couple so far, we get the sense that it's appropriate to mention your two-body problem. I think it would really depend on what types of programs you and your SO are applying to. My advice is to do whatever you want. Even though my SO and I have been together for 4 years and know that we want to get married, I still received judgement from a couple people about taking him into consideration (rude). Just be honest about what you want career-wise and relationship-wise with yourself and your SO. Best of luck!