Applying to too many schools: Bad for Recommenders?

[escondido41]

I have a few schools I am interested in applying (4-5), but find myself screening them for no other reason than that it might be too bothersome for my recommenders to keep making recommendation letters so I am trying to narrow it down to 3.  But in the greater scheme of things, is this really a good reason to limit my options/chances?  Would asking a recommender for 5 letters be too much or is this typical?  My recommenders would be professors and work related, so the latter would not necessarily be used to churning these things out.

[Bernt]

It's common for students to apply to 8+ schools. 5 is not too many, and 3 is too few in my opinion.

Recommenders probably won't write a unique letter for each program, they'll just make slight changes to customize it. If you're worried about applying to too many programs and its burden on your LOR writers, ask them if 5 is too many.