How many is "too many"?

[emmm]

I applied to 6 programs and not one of my profs complained about having to send too many letters. I'm sure if I'd applied to more, they would have sent more letters just as graciously. All of my LOR writers knew how important applying to grad school was to me, and they were all very generous with their time. In addition to writing letters, they also provided support and encouragement to a degree that I was not expecting and really appreciated. When I interviewed, most of the other applicants I poke with seemed to be applying to even more programs. The ones who were applying to 6 or less all seemed to have geographical limitations to where they could apply.

[OldGrad2012]

What is POIs stands for. I new to these forum. I am applying to 6-8 schools, but my list could be shorter. By safety schools, do you mean less competitive schools?

[fuzzylogician]

What is POIs stands for. I new to these forum. I am applying to 6-8 schools, but my list could be shorter. By safety schools, do you mean less competitive schools?

POI: person of interest. You'll also occasionally see people referring to a PI, which would be 'principal investigator' - the person who heads a certain (funded) project, mostly in the lab sciences.

Safety schools would be schools that are lower ranked or less prestigious, indeed.

[Sigaba]

Safety schools would be schools that are lower ranked or less prestigious, indeed.

IMO, a safety school is not necessarily less prestigious. It is school you know will admit you.

[orst11]

Options are good. Options are your friend!

I think every person that I asked for recommendations has stated this, so it's a good tip.

Like a lot of the posters, I think a lot this depends on your field. I am aiming for 6-7. I chose this based on what I can afford, the schools I would be willing to attend, and number of various other factors. One thing, I have read here and have had people tell me is you don't want to get to the end of the process regretting you hadn't applied to school x or school y. So as LifeAfterLiberalArts notes, options are good when you have to make a decision in April.