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Posted

I actually made a spreadsheet to keep track of progress/cost...

Here is the breakdown of cost to date:

Total Cost: $2000 (9 schools this year, 4 last year)

Average Cost of Everything per Application: $150

Transcripts - $360 ($43 per set of official transcripts, thankfully some take scanned copies!)

Application Fees - $607.25 (roughly $50 per school)

GRE - $885 for shitty scores.. (test taken five times + $115 in fees), I groan because my highest score combo was 550V/600Q, barely good enough for anything.

Misc... $20 (mailing costs, forms, etc...)

LOR gifts $150 (total, roughly $30 per person)... the cost may actually be more. I generally do a combo of things. I make handmade cards both when the applications are submitted and when I receive news of my status, plus I usually give one nice item like an orchid or a bottle of wine once everything is done (decisions made, fellowships awarded, etc...). In some instances this cost also includes shipping...

Posted

Ugh, money.

GRE once ($140)

17 GRE scores ($23 each)

14 transcripts ($3 each)

9 fees ($35-$105)

Lots of mailing (~$62)

So apparently I spent about $1215 on all this. It's much less than originally planned, when I had 19 schools instead of 10.

Posted

these are rounded numbers including my GRE stuff and 13 applications...

1200 for GRE prep.

180 for GRE scores

360 for transcripts

150 for mailing additional documents via fed-ex (damn you Fed-Ex for claiming my writing sample was not a letter but a package!!!)

900 for application fees

about 2790 dollars...give or take.

That's some nice air miles that I added onto my United Card. Thank God they sent it to me before the application process.

Posted

$685 in application fees

$40 in GRE prep books

$160 + $138 in GRE fees

$81 in transcripts

= $1104 at least

- not taking into account several school visits and things like that! :)

Posted

I applied to 6 schools ....

application fees: about 625$

sending GRE scores: 115 $

grad school transcripts: 20 $

sending grad school transcripts: 100 $

Total: 860$

I had 800$ put away just for grad school applications. I foolishly imagined that it would be plenty enough to apply to a bunch of schools. silly me!

Posted

I refuse to calculate my costs after looking at this thread. I don't want to know, I like the little bit of sanity I have left.

Posted

I spent $325.

For those hitting 4 figures, I am very curious to know...WHY? Why 10 schools? Why 12? What precluded you from narrowing it down to, say, 3 or 4?

Genuinely curious about this.

Posted (edited)

I spent $325.

For those hitting 4 figures, I am very curious to know...WHY? Why 10 schools? Why 12? What precluded you from narrowing it down to, say, 3 or 4?

Genuinely curious about this.

Speaking for myself, it's sort of a confidence/not wanting to have any regrets kind of thing. I want to give myself the best possible chance of getting in somewhere, and I don't want to regret that I didn't apply to more schools if I don't get in anywhere. One of my recommenders advised me to apply to 7 to 8 schools - a couple top-tier, middle, and "safety" schools. I ended up applying to 11 - two of those weren't really planned but they had no application fees so I went ahead. That probably doesn't sound like a good reason to apply somewhere, but there it goes.

Edit: Oops, I forgot to mention that when I applied to MA programs a couple years ago, I only applied to three, and got in one, but to be honest, I'm somewhat less sanguine about my chances this time.

Edited by wtncffts
Posted

Sigh... 12 schools: (in USD/CAD since they are about equal now)

Application Fees: $961.00

GRE (General + Math Subject + Score Reports): $603.00

Transcripts and Postage: $224.00

Total: $1788.00

Posted

I spent $325.

For those hitting 4 figures, I am very curious to know...WHY? Why 10 schools? Why 12? What precluded you from narrowing it down to, say, 3 or 4?

Genuinely curious about this.

Why upwards of 10-15 schools for some people...mainly because of how competitive certain field are. You need a couple safety schools for "just in case", and maybe you want to shoot for the moon and apply to a HYP to see if you might squeeze in. Sure, maybe there are 3-4 where you know you'd love to go; however, while you may know where you really want to go, you have to figure that with so many applicants (they doubled last year and it figures not to drop much this year) and fewer spaces because of budget cuts you need other places to apply to to increase your odds of acceptances.

Posted

I only applied to one school because I couldn't afford to apply to fall-back institutions. I spent about $300 for the total process.

$80-GRE (half-price waiver)

$50-Application fee

$35-Transcripts/Postage (3 institutions @ 2 transcripts per)

$100-Campus Visit (travel cost & other expenses)

$20-Thank you cards/postage for campus visit and recommendation writers (who got a little pack of chocolate, too)

$30-Portfolio supplies (cds, labels, stationary, postage, etc.)

$5- Clear nail polish (To stop biting my nails from the stress) :P

Acceptance to my #1 school- Priceless

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

6 schools

$505 in application fees

$115 to ETS (so irritating...$115 dollars to put a few numbers on a few CD roms)

$75 in transcripts/postage

$695

I got of easy compared to a lot of you, but I had already taken the GRE previously. The GRE is a flat out racket. Thanks to MIT at least for realizing this and not requiring the GRE.

Posted

3 Schools

Application Fees: $130

GRE Test & Additional Scores: $206

GRE Prep Book: $20

Transcripts: $40

Thank you gifts (2 bottles of Merlot): $20

Total: $416

Ended up paying extra for a set of GRE Scores and transcripts because I didn't want to apply to that school anymore. So potentially, I could have saved $33.

Posted

I don't remember paying anything. My application fee was waived and it didn't cost anything to send my GRE score and transcripts. I guess I paid $75 to take the GRE itself, I applied for assistance for paying the fee and I got a certificate for half of the cost.

Posted (edited)

5 Schools -

$627 total

Application Fees - $345 (one school was $100, the rest were lower)

GRE and sending scores - $200 (I think - can't really remember how much it cost to send additional scores)

Transcripts - $12 for 6 transcripts (1 for me!)

Travel - $60 in gas to attend an APSIA Grad School Fair.

Not too bad. No worse than I was expecting.

Edited by curiouslyidling
Posted

To apply to 9 programs:

Application Fees: ~$500

GRE tests/score reports: $350

Transcripts: ~$90

So about $940... *sigh* I did get 3 fee waivers...I tried...

Posted

Let's see. Applied to 9 schools:

App Fees: ~ $700

ETS: ~ $400

Misc : ~ $25

Which gives me a grand total of approximately $1,125 (not including the worth of psychological damages). I sure hope my future rejection letters are at least printed on gold bars..

Posted

applied to 4 schools:

app fees: 315 $;

gre: 23*3 = 69 $ (one of the schools does not require gre);

toefl: 225$;

transcript: about 52$;

mailing: about 19$.

total: 680$. + a lot of time wasted on checking mails and result posts.

Posted

Oh geez. I've been keeping track in one of my many grad school spread sheets...

Applied to 9 schools.

App fees - $535

GRE - $140

Sending GRE scores - $207 (I wish I had picked my schools earlier so that I could take advantage of having 4 schools sent the scores for free!!)

Sending transcripts - $74

For a grand total of.. $956.

a little over $100 per school. blah! :(

Posted

Applied to 6 schools:

Application fees: 430 USD

GRE: 276 USD (180 for registration + 50 for rescheduling + 46 for 2 extra reports)

TOEFL: 231 USD (185 for registration + 46 for 2 extra reports)

Transcripts: 50 USD

Mailing Hard Copy Materials: 180 USD

Total: 1167 USD.. Hope it worths

Posted

Total Spent: $1,500.47 for 7 schools.

That's not including the four quarters of classes I took at $1,100/quarter to get back into the game after a three-years' absence from school.

If I'm not accepted, I think it will be very difficult for anyone to convince me that getting out of bed will be worth it. That's a lot of money for a dream.

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