How many schools are you planning on Applying to?

[Coffe-ology]

As we are gearing up for the fall 2011 application season I was just wondering how many programs people are applying to?

I am applying to all PhD programs as Im finishing up my MA this year and plan on applying to between 8 and 12

[Phalène]

That sounds very expensive. Are you sure you need to apply to so many?

I wanted to work with a particular scholar (who only works with one new student a year). So I applied to his school and one other (the one at which I had completed my MA). Luckily, Awesome Prof (now Awesome Supervisor) wanted to work with me and I was set. I think if you have really good 'fit' with a program or prof, you don't need to worry about applying to as many schools. At the very least it will save you some money, lol!

[Coffe-ology]

That sounds very expensive. Are you sure you need to apply to so many?

I wanted to work with a particular scholar (who only works with one new student a year). So I applied to his school and one other (the one at which I had completed my MA). Luckily, Awesome Prof (now Awesome Supervisor) wanted to work with me and I was set. I think if you have really good 'fit' with a program or prof, you don't need to worry about applying to as many schools. At the very least it will save you some money, lol!

I qualify for a fee waiver at every school so 'm not paying the app fees so the price isnt that bad just the GRE scores really. I focusing in soc of ed and there aren't alot of places with that or even enough faculty interested in it ( most places have 1-2)

My list use to be 17 schools!!!!!

[barilicious]

As we are gearing up for the fall 2011 application season I was just wondering how many programs people are applying to?

I am applying to all PhD programs as Im finishing up my MA this year and plan on applying to between 8 and 12

My list started off with 39 schools. I now have it down to 18. I am hoping to get it down to around 10 when I start applying. I, personally, don't think you have too many, as I would like to apply to as many schools as I think I will fit well, and then see what happens throughout the process. I rather not put all my eggs in one basket - as that seems to be a disastrous thing to do when applying to grad schools.

[captiv8ed]

I think your list is the right size. This will be another tough admissions year I am sure.

I applied to 7. I was going to apply to 10 but it felt too overwhelming and expensive for me. I have a family to consider and had definite geographic preferences. I got accepted to 3 of my choices. The one that I had pegged as one of my top choices didn't really feel like a good fit after I visited. So I am glad I had a couple of others to look at as well.

[focused]

I personally think 12 is a little high because you may start to sacrifice the ability to customize each application. Of course, this depends on how much time you have. I was working 12+ hours per day at my current job, so I think the final few applications would have suffered if I tried to apply to 11 or 12. For what it's worth, I applied to 8, which I think was a good (but definitely max) number.

I think you should consider how well you fit at each of the programs to which you're planning to apply. If based on your subfields (and even more specific interests), you think you're an excellent fit at several of them and a fairly good fit at several more, then I don't think there is a need to apply to 12. If you have unique interests that only somewhat fit at most of the schools, then you may be better off applying to the upper end of your 8 to 12 range.

[myrrh]

Welcome all newbies!

I applied to 13 schools for 2010 fall term. Looking back, I think it's kinda too many. The school list was so long that I didn't have enough time to tailor every SoP or personal history statement for each of them. In the end I did it, but not as in a manner as thorough as I wanted to. BTW, I even had no school course to take nor full-time job to do, thus I put all my time on application stuffs, but 13 schools are still too many for me.

Plus, I applied to so many institutions partially because I was not familiar with higher education system in the States, and I had no idea about which school would like me. In short, I didn't know for what kind of school I'm good enough for admission. I think the OP might have more resource than I do and he/ she can find out where should he/ she applied to more easily.

If the OP has a school list of about 12 institutions, I will recommend his/ her talking with some professor and gathering information about all those schools, perhaps he/ she will find it easy to pick up some of those schools to apply to.

BTW, here's a thread for you guys in this subforum:

Don't forget to check out it!

[Coffe-ology]

I have talked to at least one professor and a grad student at half the schools so far. working my way through the other half.

[Lauren35]

That sounds very expensive. Are you sure you need to apply to so many?

I wanted to work with a particular scholar (who only works with one new student a year). So I applied to his school and one other (the one at which I had completed my MA). Luckily, Awesome Prof (now Awesome Supervisor) wanted to work with me and I was set. I think if you have really good 'fit' with a program or prof, you don't need to worry about applying to as many schools. At the very least it will save you some money, lol!

If anyone is concerned about the money for applications then grad school is probably not for them... it's a very expensive endeavor on it's own

Edited May 8, 2010 by Lauren35

[Phalène]

If anyone is concerned about the money for applications then grad school is probably not for them... it's a very expensive endeavor on it's own

Not for me. I firmly believe that if a school isn't willing to fully fund you, including all tuition and living expenses, it's not worth going to. I've had no problems getting these demands met by the schools that wanted me.

[socnerd]

Not for me. I firmly believe that if a school isn't willing to fully fund you, including all tuition and living expenses, it's not worth going to. I've had no problems getting these demands met by the schools that wanted me.

Funny, I guess some graduate students have the ultimate sense of entitlement. Not that we should give our talents away for free, but you'd never see anyone else in any walk of life making such an audacious claim.

[2010international]

Funny, I guess some graduate students have the ultimate sense of entitlement. Not that we should give our talents away for free, but you'd never see anyone else in any walk of life making such an audacious claim.

That's a pretty hostile comment there. I don't think this is either so very audacious (ie. asking to be paid for working - is it really so audacious?) or illustrative of a sense of 'entitlement'. I would say it's a very practical way of going about things - since funding grad school for 5 (or even 2 or 3) years would be a major undertaking. I personally would not have considered a PhD at all if I had to pay for it, just because the kinds of employment I can get afterward don't guarantee that I could pay off my debts. I would hate to leave school with debt sitting on my head for 10 years. Not to mention the fact that one would be accruing this debt while working really hard. That seems like a loose loose situation to me.

One way of looking at grad school is as a (low paying) job, if seen in this way the comment makes perfect sense.

[Katzenmusik]

I planned to apply to 12, then knocked one off my list at the last minute for a total of 11. It was too many. The schools that rejected my application are definitely the ones with the worst fit, which I would have removed from my list if I had tried to narrow it a bit. In addition, I should have stuck to MA programs only, since I have no prior experience in this field. I had a feeling I'd be rejected from the ones that did reject me, but I wasted lots of time and a few hundred bucks anyway, just to see what would happen. The adcoms obviously could tell my interests and experiences weren't a great match with their program.

Also, with the increase in quantity, you start to lose quality on each application. Twelve is do-able. But you'll find yourself frantically ordering documents, trying to coordinate a long list with all your letter of rec writers, and slapping together statements of purpose at the last minute. Often transcripts and other docs are lost en route to the ad com, meaning you have to re-order things again and again. It's easy to get disorganized with so many moving parts.

[Subang]

I only applied to three schools for Fall 2010 admission. Looking back, that was probably not enough. I got really lucky and got into my top choice with funding, but it was pretty scary there for a bit. I guess it is for everyone, regardless of how many schools you apply to. However, that being said, I think that it wasn't so much luck as much as it was the fact that I was extremely focused on those three applications. I researched every single aspect of the schools and added to my SoP other departments, programs, facilities, etc. that might be regarded as a possible benefit to my work and research if accepted. I did my homework and I think my SoP showed that. That is the benefit of only applying to three schools.

[Coffe-ology]

I only applied to three schools for Fall 2010 admission. Looking back, that was probably not enough. I got really lucky and got into my top choice with funding, but it was pretty scary there for a bit. I guess it is for everyone, regardless of how many schools you apply to. However, that being said, I think that it wasn't so much luck as much as it was the fact that I was extremely focused on those three applications. I researched every single aspect of the schools and added to my SoP other departments, programs, facilities, etc. that might be regarded as a possible benefit to my work and research if accepted. I did my homework and I think my SoP showed that. That is the benefit of only applying to three schools.

I am now down to 9 schools maybe I will get down to 7. I am working on the SOPs for my top 4 schools first.

[jacib]

I am now down to 9 schools maybe I will get down to 7. I am working on the SOPs for my top 4 schools first.

I applied to ten schools (5 sociology PhDs, 3 religion masters programs that did not allow me to apply directly to the PhD, 2 religion programs direct to PhD), but if I were applying only to sociology, depending on how well I knew my odds, I'd probably apply to more than 5 less than 10. Basically for me, I emailed every one who could possibly fit my interest and then that was my list. I think I applied basically to the maximum number of programs that could possibly except me (except I only found out later that Michigan might have been a good match). The thing is though: email people. Some schools you think you'd fit in great with might think your subsubfields are too different. Some other schools might be really encouraging and you get a good feeling about them. Just because a professor is encouraging is no guarantee, mind you. One prof told me, "You're exactly the kind of student we're looking for for this PhD program" but I didn't get in. That's okay, it happens. The program I did get into, my future adviser scolded me for not emailing her first (I didn't email her because I knew we were a good match). In the fall, contact professors who might want you. Ask them if your interests match and if they take on students. If they are, ask them follow up questions about their research etc, the university etc. Try to build a conversation.

[Roll Right]

I applied to ten schools (5 sociology PhDs, 3 religion masters programs that did not allow me to apply directly to the PhD, 2 religion programs direct to PhD), but if I were applying only to sociology, depending on how well I knew my odds, I'd probably apply to more than 5 less than 10. Basically for me, I emailed every one who could possibly fit my interest and then that was my list. I think I applied basically to the maximum number of programs that could possibly except me (except I only found out later that Michigan might have been a good match). The thing is though: email people. Some schools you think you'd fit in great with might think your subsubfields are too different. Some other schools might be really encouraging and you get a good feeling about them. Just because a professor is encouraging is no guarantee, mind you. One prof told me, "You're exactly the kind of student we're looking for for this PhD program" but I didn't get in. That's okay, it happens. The program I did get into, my future adviser scolded me for not emailing her first (I didn't email her because I knew we were a good match). In the fall, contact professors who might want you. Ask them if your interests match and if they take on students. If they are, ask them follow up questions about their research etc, the university etc. Try to build a conversation.

I'll be applying to about 7. PhD's ought to fully fund students, otherwise the education isn't worth the money in a material sense. Of course it's worth it in a personal, self-betterment kind of way. I wouldn't go to a PhD without full funding.

[jacib]

I'll be applying to about 7. PhD's ought to fully fund students, otherwise the education isn't worth the money in a material sense. Of course it's worth it in a personal, self-betterment kind of way. I wouldn't go to a PhD without full funding.

My school told me that, all told, they were going to put quite a bit over a quarter of a million dollars into my education. Tuition+insurance+stipend=more than 50k a year for five years. That doesn't even include summer language grants, etc or that my housing is slightly subsidized. Needless to say, I couldn't afford even a fraction of that.