mcamp: Aw - you gonna make me blush! Thanks!
SopranoSLP: When I attended some "Getting ready for grad school" events that my department put on, they were adament to apply to quite a few, like six or so if I remember correctly. The general criteria was to have 1-2 Mega Awesome Pie-in-the-Sky schools, 1-2 Super Fallback schools where you're almost assured to get in, and the rest in the middle somewhere.
I made a list of all those schools, but quickly came back down to earth. Due to my circumstances- really just scraping by day by day, daughter / day care, social supports, etc. - I couldn't afford anything but to take one, good shot at the school I was currently at.
Having more schools would probably decrease the amount of pressure I was putting on myself- but then again if I got in to any of those other schools then I would stress on how I would get over there and how to manage my life & families time. It sucked when everyone was finding out about their schools and I felt a total wallflower. Around selection time everyone is stressing out and on high alert; I think my jealousy came in when people find out, good or bad, and then can continue on with life and not have it in limbo. Not to say I didn't have a "B Plan" and a "C Plan" should I not have gotten accepted, but...
During another one of my classes we went over post BS life and what it means. Of course, everyone had questions about grad school- and the professor is one of the coolest and realest people I have ever met. She said that, really, once you have your C's then you're the same as everyone else with their C's. I got the feeling it's like if you went to a really prestigious high school, how much would that factor into getting into grad school? Eh- not much, they're looking to see if you finished XYZ with these grades and all this. Similarly, if you have your C's, you're qualified to work: you did X hours at Z place and ASHA told the world that you were gold.
However, if you plan on continuing to get your PhD or your education, then where you go for grad school may impact the selection panel. What you did and where would jump out on the application. After all, they're looking to add prestige and profile to their department.
But again, that's just what I was told. Who knows what they look for out in the world, let alone with specific panels in specific schools.
Hope this helps!