Anyone else regretting not applying to more schools?

[MoJuiced]

I applied to 11. I wouldn't call a single one of them a back up plan either. I do not wish I had applied to more; I only wish my portfolio was stronger (even though I worked myself crazy for six months working on it). There's a distinct possibility I'll be doing this again next year.

 

All I need is one! C'mon somebody! Accept me!

[Kleene]

I feel like I should have applied to one or two more schools. I felt like I was asking professors and other references for too much by asking for more letters though. 

I felt exactly the same.

[sharanbngr]

Two or three more schools more schools would have done the trick. In retrospect, I have applied to more schools in the Goldilocks zone although I do already have to a fair number of them. Truth be told I was actually really unsure that I would get in anywhere while applying. I am regretting that attitude now

Edited February 19, 2014 by sharanbngr

[hugthepenguin]

Since this is my second year applying for phd programs, I think I'm actually regretting not applying to less programs. I had a much clearer idea of what my interests and target schools were, the rest I applied at the absolute insistence of my mentor who said I'd be screwing myself over if I applied to only a few schools. Haven't heard anything from those schools I added to my list for that reason, only from the ones I had a genuine interest in.

[kijewels]

I'm dreadfully regretting that I didn't apply to more schools!! I applied for Education Ph.D programs and only to four schools. =( I didn't get any results yet, so I'm just dying. 

[Cking86]

Wasn't until last month did I notice that I didn't apply anywhere warm :-/ 

[DyslexicBibliophile]

YES! I applied to a total of 13 schools and I'm now regretting not applying to: U of Oregon, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, U of Colorado - Boulder, and so on . . . I've seen some people in this thread cite money as the reason they didn't apply to more schools, but I don't have that excuse - I'm a McNair Scholar so my applications fees were waived for most of the schools I wanted to apply to. I was just too lazy, and too tired.

[PsycD]

Wasn't until last month did I notice that I didn't apply anywhere warm :-/ 

 

I also regretting not placing more consideration on geography and climate.  Although, if not accepted anywhere, I will most certainly use both as a factor in my relocation to anyplace that is NOT Northern Virginia.

[Porshyen]

I feel like I should have applied to one or two more schools. I felt like I was asking professors and other references for too much by asking for more letters though. 

That was something I was particularly worried about and why I did not apply to more schools, even though that is an aspect of a professor's job. I ended up applying to only four and even that small number cost me more than a pretty penny. I wish I had applied to a couple more programs, though.

[PsycD]

I'm starting to regret applying at all. 

[smpalesh]

I definitely wish I had applied to more schools.  I only applied to 2 and I am just waiting on my rejection letter from top choice (acceptance emails have already gone out to other people ).  So now I only have one more chance and I am feeling really dumb for only applying to 2.

[Kleene]

I have a really awesome offer now. I am still waiting for two results to come in. One of those is an inferred rejection. The other is possibly an admission. If that is an admission, I would be a very hard decision. At the moment I am glad I have no more than two offers to decide between!

[meep15]

That was something I was particularly worried about and why I did not apply to more schools, even though that is an aspect of a professor's job. I ended up applying to only four and even that small number cost me more than a pretty penny. I wish I had applied to a couple more programs, though.

 

I know it's an aspect of professor's jobs, but I still worried about it.

[Mogriff]

I only applied to one...honestly I wasn't planning on applying at all this year, but I found a program that fits my interests really well and offers all admitted students funding (no funding is a deal-breaker for me since I already have too many loans). I'm really nervous that I will be rejected, but I'm just hoping that doesn't happen. 

[krishnalynn]

It was about $800-$900 in total for application fees, transcripts (most required 2 copies and copies were $20 each and I have gone to four post-secondary institutions), etc. This was for 3 universities. Along with asking professors for hand mailing the letters of recommendations (required). If I get an across the board rejection, I'm going to dread spending $1000+ again for more applications AND burdening my LOR senders AGAIN. 

Edited February 21, 2014 by kristinalynn

[Smitten Pears]

Comfort yourself with the fact that those two schools have notoriously irritating applications to fill out. UMich took forever. My friend who applied to UT said that he'd rather have another catheter put in than apply there again.

 

Ha ha, "UT"... "catheter"......... lol.

[thenewgirl10]

Ha ha, "UT"... "catheter"......... lol.

Ha. Giggling at my desk.

[Nikos Evangelos]

I hesitate to say which of my apps was easily the most annoying, hands-down, since it's still pending and this is my real face you see to the left. But DAMN, it was annoying. Half-meg limits on documents! Doesn't allow a CV (how am I supposed to describe 26 years of work experience without one, pray tell?) but expects individual fill-ins of each employer. Just picking the department was a 20-minute struggle (because rather than a standard drop-down it has a bizarre bug where the provided list keeps jumping before you can click your option). Also, a radio button I inadvertantly clicked could not be erased! This option was not offered. Instead it demanded that the rest of the entry be filled in, no matter what. Finally (on deadline day) I gave up and filled in a fake third undergraduate school called There Is No Third School.

 

Berkeley featured the nicest application software. The rejection letter was also very polite.

[allysekn]

I only applied to 6 schools (5 PhD, 1 MA), BUT the school I panickedly added to the list at the last minute, after only just finding out the program existed, is my one PhD acceptance. I am soooo glad I did because that last-minute add turned out to be a great fit. However, I do sort of wish I had expanded my search to departments close to my discipline...

[disba]

I feel like I should have applied to one or two more schools. I felt like I was asking professors and other references for too much by asking for more letters though. 

 

This is the exact reason I didn't apply to more! I only applied to 3, but now in hindsight I probably should have just avoided my politeness and asked them to submit their letters to a few more schools. I talked to a professor (who I know in a different capacity, more casual) from my alma mater and she told me that she gets mad when she is asked to submit letters for more than 4 places and it reflects in her letters. So I didn't want to run that risk, in case it was a University trend, since both my referees are from the same University.

[babycakes]

I was going to apply to a lot, but it's only a masters (in teaching/education nevertheless), I'm pretty qualified (so relatively confident), and I realized that I didn't want to pay for another application for an expensive out of state, middle tier safety school I wouldn't be interested in attending anyways so even though I asked for 6 LORs, I told them last minute to forget one of em. I already got into UVA (#22 accord to US News) and two other programs are ranked lower so I'm feeling pretty confident.

[PhDerp]

I regret applying to so many schools...

 

I was only interested in 4 based on their location, then only 2 after looking into their programs a bit more. But I paid for 8 (5 longshots, 1 safety, and the 2 I care about) because my advisor pushed me to do it. It's just a drag because I could've really used that money... >_<

 

Needless to say, I didn't get into the longshots. Maybe I wouldn't be complaining if I did. But I don't think I would really be as happy at one of them anyway!

 

 

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I already had a guaranteed funded master's program and that I didn't expect to pursue my PhD until after I got my master's, since I'm not really involved in research yet. So I didn't think I'd get in anywhere, and only wanted to apply to schools that could get me where I want to be! I recognize that this makes my situation weird for a few reasons!

Edited March 10, 2014 by PhDerp

[starofdawn]

This is the exact reason I didn't apply to more! I only applied to 3, but now in hindsight I probably should have just avoided my politeness and asked them to submit their letters to a few more schools. I talked to a professor (who I know in a different capacity, more casual) from my alma mater and she told me that she gets mad when she is asked to submit letters for more than 4 places and it reflects in her letters. So I didn't want to run that risk, in case it was a University trend, since both my referees are from the same University.

 

... more than 4?!... holy moley. I figured most people applied to at least 5 schools.

[Terra]

... more than 4?!... holy moley. I figured most people applied to at least 5 schools.

My dad, a long-time graduate program coordinator, advised me to apply to four - one longshot, two practical, and one safety. I should have applied to more, and I'm really kicking myself for not doing submitting just a couple more applications (or maybe just applying to more realistic schools).

[PhDerp]

Anyone else regretting taking the advice of people who might have known what was up once, but are now out-of-the-loop?