Applying to more than one program at the same school.

[cinemaman]

I apologize if this has been covered previously. I am generally interested in environmental and resource economics, but I feel like I would be happy in a regular Econ program or a forestry ( natural resorces - economics & policy) program. If a school has all three, is it bad to apply to all three? I am worried that they may see this as a lack of committment. Am I being paranoid? Will the individual departments even know that I have applied to other programs?

[johndiligent]

I was considering doing that, applying to two different program at the same school since they both seemed like good fits. I was strongly cautioned not to do so by my letter writers, who recommended that I decide which of the two was the best fit and apply there, bearing in mind that I could always meet with professors from the other program casually and informally if I felt they could contribute something to my project. They said that it usually indicates that the student is not committed to a specific area, hasn't thought through which would be the best fit, and is applying somewhat haphazardly. While that's probably not true in most cases, I wouldn't want to risk that implication.

[lily_]

I agree, I'd go for the department or program that you are a better fit for, and then see you if can do interdisciplinary work with pertinent professors from the other department. Although we're all a bit anxious to get into graduate school, you don't want to look too anxious and they might view that as someone who is trying simply to get in, and not totally committed to the subject matter. If you have a hard time deciding which program to go for, I would try to meet with, call, or e-mail faculty members you want to work with in both departments to see who would be best for you to work with. I can't stress that enough, getting an idea of how your adviser is in person is so important, because you're essentially yoked to them for at least five years, if not the rest of your career (in some fields, I'm not sure if it's the same for everything, but in mine at least it is).

Best of luck! I considered applying to two departments in the same schools as well and decided against it!

[NorthernStar]

I applied to two programs at the same school, and in hindsight, I'm glad I did, because one of them admitted me. However, if you are planning to apply to several different schools, and each application costs about 100$, you might want to follow the advice your prof gave you and just choose the better fit.

[Lantern]

Good question - I posted the same thing several months ago. I felt that I got some really good advice. Check it out:

There's even a link there for a previous thread that was similar.

I ended up not applying to both programs. My strongest reason was that I had emailed professors in both departments, and heard nothing back from the professors in the dept. that I decided not to apply to. I decided if they wouldn't respond to my emails, they wouldn't be likely to accept and fund me, so I didn't want to jeopardize my chance with the dept. that did acknowledge me.

Good luck, I don't think there's any one definitive answer to this one!

[bgav]

I applied to two programs at a school and was admitted to both. I think that it probably depends on the school.

[LadyL]

I applied to both neuro and psych programs at several schools because there was faculty overlap between those departments. One program did eventually ask me to choose one over the other but it was because they were planning on offering me admission and didn't want to compete with the other department.

[coyabean]

My experience:

I applied to two programs but with one research project -- I think that is key. Both departments said that would be fine. At the end I got a call for an interview from one department and then an email from the other a few days later wanting another copy of my GREs. The first dept had done the same thing before extending the interview so I was pretty sure that was what it was for. The prof even alluded to that. Then nothing. After my interview with the first dept. the prof from the other basically told me that they decided I had a good shot of being accepted and, thus, figured it best to conserve tight resources by offering the spot to someone else. :/ I mean, it ended up just fine but a rejection is a rejection.

I chose that school so I'll end up working with all these people.

In a larger school perhaps it would be less of an issue? In my experience it was clear that the departments were either in communication or the graduate school notified them of the potential duplication of interest.