Nothingtown

I haven't been rejected by any schools yet but the few to which I applied to have released their acceptances ... haha soo... not sure how to take this. False hope? yeup.. going with that.

I feel this on a deep level lmao

I would say that there isn't hard number that means "too many." However, there are some factors that could be impacted by high numbers of applications and then it might be too many:
Financial burden. Between re-sending GRE scores and the application fees themselves, my 10 schools cost me around $900. I got a scholarship to cover some of that, but I couldn't have afforded any more than the 10--and even that was pushing it. So if you can afford 20 schools, great! Go for it! But anyone who can't shouldn't push their financial limits.  Time constraints. Holy cow I can't even imagine how long it took  you to do 20 applications! I felt like I was drowning in 10 (and I have a full time job so that's part of it). Not dedicating enough time to each application could damage their quality. In addition, you might miss some of the little details that (in my experience) can be hard to track down--do they want official or unofficial GRE scores? Do they require you to put something special on your CV that the other schools don't ask for? Do they need official or unofficial transcripts?  Assuming you dedicated a lot of time and energy to your applications, I don't think you applied to an "exceedingly high" number in a bad way. But it is something to watch out for. Most students from my undergrad program applied to between 10-12. But what's "just enough" and "too much" is going to be relative for everyone

Thanks!! It's my first acceptance too, which takes off a load of anxiety!

Congrats!!!!! Saw that on the results page, that's a big one! High five

Accepted to U Chicago!

I mean, the forms typically say explicitly that your answer there will not have any bearing upon the final decision... but yes, as soon as I read @The_Last_Thylacine's post I also went 'Oh no'. ?

I would say that there isn't hard number that means "too many." However, there are some factors that could be impacted by high numbers of applications and then it might be too many:
Financial burden. Between re-sending GRE scores and the application fees themselves, my 10 schools cost me around $900. I got a scholarship to cover some of that, but I couldn't have afforded any more than the 10--and even that was pushing it. So if you can afford 20 schools, great! Go for it! But anyone who can't shouldn't push their financial limits.  Time constraints. Holy cow I can't even imagine how long it took  you to do 20 applications! I felt like I was drowning in 10 (and I have a full time job so that's part of it). Not dedicating enough time to each application could damage their quality. In addition, you might miss some of the little details that (in my experience) can be hard to track down--do they want official or unofficial GRE scores? Do they require you to put something special on your CV that the other schools don't ask for? Do they need official or unofficial transcripts?  Assuming you dedicated a lot of time and energy to your applications, I don't think you applied to an "exceedingly high" number in a bad way. But it is something to watch out for. Most students from my undergrad program applied to between 10-12. But what's "just enough" and "too much" is going to be relative for everyone

Oh man I didn't even think about how that would affect their decision. I mean I honestly hadn't heard of schools taking yield into consideration till I read this thread. Iirc the only schools who asked me that are pretty well ranked themselves so I hope it doesn't matter. Pretty much anything makes me nervous at this stage.

I would say that there isn't hard number that means "too many." However, there are some factors that could be impacted by high numbers of applications and then it might be too many:
Financial burden. Between re-sending GRE scores and the application fees themselves, my 10 schools cost me around $900. I got a scholarship to cover some of that, but I couldn't have afforded any more than the 10--and even that was pushing it. So if you can afford 20 schools, great! Go for it! But anyone who can't shouldn't push their financial limits.  Time constraints. Holy cow I can't even imagine how long it took  you to do 20 applications! I felt like I was drowning in 10 (and I have a full time job so that's part of it). Not dedicating enough time to each application could damage their quality. In addition, you might miss some of the little details that (in my experience) can be hard to track down--do they want official or unofficial GRE scores? Do they require you to put something special on your CV that the other schools don't ask for? Do they need official or unofficial transcripts?  Assuming you dedicated a lot of time and energy to your applications, I don't think you applied to an "exceedingly high" number in a bad way. But it is something to watch out for. Most students from my undergrad program applied to between 10-12. But what's "just enough" and "too much" is going to be relative for everyone

relax buddy it's some internet sarcasm world is a harsh place

Hi. I can tell you from experience on multiple different admissions committees that schools definitely engage in this practice. And, in my case, admissions committees in the same department, but made up of different faculty, make different decisions about whether to engage in this practice. (So, at least in my department, there is no policy about it, the admissions committee is made up of a rotating cast of 3-5 people, and whether we use the strategy "admit the best people and hope for the best" or "try to guess at who we have a decent chance of actually getting and admit them" is basically dependent on what those 3-5 people think.) As a practical matter, this is part of where good fit with the research interests of the faculty can help you if your file is strong (perhaps weirdly, it is also why being a less good fit can help you if your file is weaker). If you have a fantastic file and aren't a great fit for the department, you're likely going to get rejected because we don't want to take the chance on you given that you are going to get into places that are better fits for you. If you have a fantastic file and are a great fit, you're more likely to get accepted even with the worry that you'll go elsewhere, because we have more to offer you and there is more of a chance you will come (if, say, you got into our program and a higher ranked one that was a worse fit for you).

As @MtnDuck mentioned, Baylor does a "preview weekend." I got an email that I'm a finalist, and from what I can tell they invite 2x the number of people they plan to admit to the preview weekend, and decide from there. I expect it to be somewhat more informal than an interview, but still something where they're gauging if you're a good fit or not. I know a grad student at Baylor and if it would help anyone, I can ask them about the weekend and post here. 

Great! That's semi-good news at least. Thanks!

I'd imagine that the interviews are generally relaxed (though, not in a completely informal way), and are meant for you to get a sense of what the department is looking for at the same time that they are seeing if you seem like you'd fit in their dept. well. I had two interviews last year and in both I was asked briefly about my writing sample (why I chose the topic, if it was a specific issue that I wanted to pursue further, etc.) and about the broader philosophical questions/issues I was currently thinking about. Also, I was interviewed by faculty that I was specifically interested in working with (which may or may not always be the case) so I came prepared to ask them about their current work, because I was curious about the direction they were heading in and I wanted to see if their vision meshed with my own hopes. My two cents (however helpful they may be?): Just remember that they are very interested in the possibility of working with you—why else would they want to have an interview? So, I doubt it is bad to go in some degree of confidence: show an interest and be prepared to ask questions of them as well (this is your chance to interview them, too!)
On that note, here is a a list of potential questions to ask at visits and interviews. I recalled that this was posted to the forum last year (and the person who had posted it then had reposted it from someone from the year before..) so I thought (like them) i'd copy/paste it in case someones find it helpful...
Topics to ask grad schools:
(1) What is the climate for women/minorities like?
(2) Teacher accessibility
(3) Opportunities to teach (TA vs. teaching)
(4) Are grad students happy?
(5) Placement / prep for job market?
(6) Guaranteed 6th year of funding?
(7) How long does it take people to complete program?
(8) Teaching workload (how many students; grading help if a lot)
(9) Summer opportunities
(10) Transition from coursework to dissertation
(11) Opportunities to do Phil outside classroom
(12) Course selection
Questions to ask professors:
1. Are there opportunities to teach or only TA?
2. How does [school] prepare students for the job market?
3. What is financial support like beyond the fifth year?
4. How long does it take people to complete the program?
5. What is the teaching workload like? (How many students? Is there grading help (if a lot)? / How onerous is the teaching + grading load?)
6. What summer opportunities are available to students? What do students typically do over the summer?
7. How does [school] handle the transition from coursework to dissertation?
8. What opportunities are there to do philosophy outside f the classroom on campus? (E.g. reading groups, talks, philosophy society, school-sponsored philosophy conference, etc.)
9. How is the collection of the department library? How often is it updated?
10. Do all grad students /TAs get office space?
11. Links of the dept with professors in, e.g., linguistics, cognitive science, rhetoric, classics, etc.?
12. What do people typically do in winter and summer vacations?
13. People retiring in the next 2-3 years? New hirings planned in the next 1-2 years?
14. How many students is [professor] planning to take in the next few years?
15. Proto seminar- what is it like and what will it look like this fall semester?
16. Support for publishing in the initial years at _______ university?
17. Department fellowships which one can apply for later which can give time off teaching?
18. Your (professor's) current research interests and upcoming projects?
19. How often do the professors meet with students especially during the coursework stage?
20. Do professors come to reading groups and other department activity apart from colloquia?
21. What is the level of support available from the Department to attend conferences, workshops and seminars? How far does the stipend go in that area?
22. Is the funding 9 month or 12 month? What are the avenues for summer funding?
Questions to ask grad students:
1. How often do you meet with professors?
2. How often do you talk about philosophy with professors when you're not in meetings/classes? (To develop as a philosopher, it is very important to develop your in-person philosophy skills--thinking on your feet, asking good questions, responding to objections, etc.)
3. Do professors come to reading groups? (Or any departmental events that aren't colloquia?)
4. Do grad students ask questions at colloquia?
5. Do you feel comfortable talking in group settings? Have you felt comfortable talking in group settings since you first came? If not, when did you start feeling comfortable?
6. Do grad students share their work with one another/give feedback with one another?
7. How often are people around the department?
8. What do you like most about being here?
9. What do you like least about being here?
10. Do older grad students spend time around the department?
11. What kind of guidance do you get from your professors/advisor? (very important- you want faculty who really read your stuff carefully and make your papers better. if the faculty are mia or not very careful when they read your papers, you may not get this.)
12. Does the culture feel combative or one-up-y? Do you feel like you have to be "on" when you're in a philosophical setting?
13. Are the students here happy?
14. What are faculty and student working on in [area]? What is doing [area, e.g. metaphysics] like here?
Questions about climate:
1. Is there a MAP chapter? (You can usually find this out yourself)
1. If so, contact MAP coordinator
2. What is the climate like at [school]?
3. What has [school] done for women and minorities in philosophy?
4. What percentage of grad students are women?
5. Sexual harassment issues? [prob best to ask a grad student discretely]

Okay, that all sounds right to me! I definitely don't want to speculate that we are on a waitlist, but you never know. I agree that reaching out (especially this early) would seem really anxious. I'll keep you updated on what happens!