what is a good number of grad schools to apply to?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Just curious people's opinions and why they applied to however many schools they applied to... I've seen people on here who have applied to as little as 4 and as many as 23. Haha

Edited July 1, 2012 by JoeyBoy718

[fuzzylogician]

Here's a good place to start:

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Here's a good place to start:

ok

[fuzzylogician]

ok

You're welcome.

It's 8 for me, in case you're wondering. That's the number of schools that met the criteria:

(1) Has at least two researchers that could be potential advisors, preferably 3 or more.

(2) Fully funds its students.

(3) Is located in a place I am willing to live in.

Took some serious research to find these, as information isn't always easily accessible. Being able to conduct effective searches is key.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I like your criteria. That's probably around the number I would consider. Thanks for the other links too.

[TakeruK]

I also applied to 8 schools. Not all schools are created equal -- some will be much more competitive to get in than others. If you are applying to say, 10, schools, I'd apply to 5-6 schools where you believe you are competitive, 2-3 schools "above your league" and 1-2 schools below ("safety schools"). Having a range is good to make sure you don't over or underestimate your ability!

[ILuvPsych2013]

It depends on your field and how competitive it is to get in. In my field, we are advised to apply to approximately 15 schools.

[Hank Scorpio]

It also depends on what country you're in, apparently. Once thing I (and others) have observed from being on this forum is that Americans tends to apply to sometimes twice as many (or more) schools than Canadians.

[butterfingers2010]

I applied to a total of 5 schools-was accepted to 3, rejected from 1, and offered an interview at 1 but did not end up going as I had already received an acceptance to my dream school. : ) Then again I am a master's student, which is much less competitive than PhD programs. It's my understanding that those who apply to PhD programs should apply to a dozen, if not more. I suppose this could also vary depending on how comeptitive your field is and how competitive each individual program is. I think a good strategy is to apply to a variety of programs in terms of competitiveness. I applied to 2 schools I knew I had a great shot at, 1 that I probably had a shot at (the one I was offered the interview to) and 2 that were highly competitive, my dream school being 1 of them. I would also try to weight your strengths as a candidate and base your number of applications partly on that. If you have a lower GPA or do not have a lot of experience in your field, for example, I would apply to more schools, so as to increase your odds. On the other hand, if you're a highly desirable candidate, I don't see that there's any reason to overdo it. On the other hand, don't put all your eggs in one basket. I had a friend who only applied to 1 master's program and was not accepted. She had to wait another year to apply for grad programs again and was less than thrilled with another year of work at a job she wasn't happy with.

One other thing to consider is the quality of your applications. It is very difficult, if not impossible-to submit 20 quality applications. You will be able to reuse most of the material for your SOP, but you also need to customize your application to each school. With that said, you also need to be knowledgable about each program and how it fits in with your goals, or you will not be able to convey to the AdComs why it's a good fit for you.

[mandarin.orange]

I applied to 4 for my MS. For my PhD, I applied to 2, largely due to time constraints that app season and preferred geography. I was fully prepared with a backup plan to take time to regroup, continue (grudgingly) teaching, do a few research-oriented teacher workshops to build my CV, and then submit apps to a wider swath of schools.

To add to ButterFinger's post above, consider the expense and huge amount of time it's going to take if your # of schools hits double digits. Once upon a time, there was a thread about how much people had spent in app fees; there were some staggering figures in the thousands. Really consider how much of your financial resources you're willing to contribute, just to hit a magic #. I'll see if I can find the thread (if it's not already one of FuzzyLogician's links above).

Also consider: do you envision yourself in grad school next year, no matter what? Or are you willing to hold out for the dept you feel is the best fit, even if it takes a few tries? That will also affect # of apps.

[TakeruK]

That's what i wanna say (:

I also noticed this from talking to American friends at Canadian universities. The main reason, I think, is that there are far fewer schools in Canada! Schools in an area will sometimes tend to specialize too, to avoid overlap so that even 5 or 6 graduate school will likely cover all the top Canadian scholars in a field.

And for some Canadians applying to US schools, many will choose only the highest tier school they can reach when applying to the US and save safety schools for Canada since the whole process of moving countries is too much hassle for anything less than a "dream" or "really desired" school!

I think this is the case even for undergrad schools -- most Canadians I knew apply to 1-3 universities, usually in their home area or one of the big ones in Canada. In the US, there appears to be some stigma against going to a school in your home state though (or so the Americans in Canada told me!).

[Queen of Kale]

I've found in narrowing my choices and contacting professors that it's pretty hard to determine the difference between a "reach" and a more achievable goal. So I'm looking at my options less by rank (which has failed to correlate At All with the warmth or willingness to respond to emails) and more just as capturing a wide and representative swath of my chosen subfield. There's only maybe 20 schools that have what I'm interested in, I narrowed it down to seven by city, trying to maintain a mix of specialties and school characteristics, and then I included a "wild card" - a school I'm interested in but in a subfield outside my chosen interest. I know fit is the golden parameter but I thought if the universe was going to send me a message that I'd like to have an alternate route in place. As for the proportion of masters vs. phd, I'm literally just asking professors for preferences when I contact them. I want a phd but if my poi knows my background and recommends a masters I'd rather know now then after applying for a phd.

[stell4]

As many as you have the time, $$, and interest in. And maybe there should be something in there about your desperation level too.

I had a sub 3.0 gpa and have been out of the field for sometime. If I had to do it again I think I would apply to as many schools as I had time and $ for, maybe 15-ish. I applied to 7 schools for this fall and made it into 1 (thank god! my top choice too). Just the 7 took a lot of my time and $. I really should have put a lot more time into my app as well as contacting prof. I was at a point where I did not want to continue with my current career path at just about any cost and back to school is my best in to get back into science which is where I want to be.

[wildviolet]

I applied to four schools and was accepted to three. The last school was a wait-list, and I was basically the alternate if my potential advisor's first choice turned it down (which he or she did not). Luckily for me, I think the school I finally chose will be a perfect fit for me in many ways.

Some factors that affected my decision:

1. Location. I ruled out any schools that were located in places I would not want to live in for the next five years.

2. Reputation. I applied to top schools. I wasn't going to sacrifice five years of my life by attending grad school at a middle or lower tier university and then not being competitive for jobs.

3. Time and cost. Some schools require more; some less. I had to tailor my statement of purpose somewhat to meet the requirements of every school. I also had to spend time researching programs and contacting people.

Good luck.

[Usmivka]

I was trailing a partner, so the biggest factor to me was location. So I applied to one school. Had I not gotten in, I would have been perfectly content working as a bench jockey though. That said, if I hadn't had that constraint and was applying, I think the most important thing is who my potential adviser would be and how we clicked during pre-application meetings on campus or at conferences. Time and cost are more or less irrelevant in my field, eveyone gets stipends for the duration of the PhD.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Usmivka

[katerific]

Last year, I did 7.

Pros: Lots of options. Room to explore. Good to have alternatives and keep options open. Met a lot of awesome scientists.

Cons: Expensive. Time consuming. Rampant disappointment and unbridled self-loathing (note: I suck and so did my apps, so results may vary).

[Hank Scorpio]

Last year, I did 7.

Pros: Lots of options. Room to explore. Good to have alternatives and keep options open. Met a lot of awesome scientists.

Cons: Expensive. Time consuming. Rampant disappointment and unbridled self-loathing (note: I suck and so did my apps, so results may vary).

This made me laugh hard. Once again GC makes work more enjoyable.

[harrisce4]

Thanks for this thread! I am also wondering how many schools to apply to? I will be applying to MBA Programs NEXT fall, and I have about 4 "Reaches," 5 "Likelies," and 2 "Safeties." Of course, I hope to narrow this list down to 8-10 programs, but b-school is so competitive!

I've only visited about 3 of the schools that are on the list, so I need to start working on campus visits, and attending workshops to narrow it down.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Thanks for this thread! I am also wondering how many schools to apply to? I will be applying to MBA Programs NEXT fall, and I have about 4 "Reaches," 5 "Likelies," and 2 "Safeties." Of course, I hope to narrow this list down to 8-10 programs, but b-school is so competitive!

I've only visited about 3 of the schools that are on the list, so I need to start working on campus visits, and attending workshops to narrow it down.

You're welcome. I forgot I made this. Anyway, after a few months of deliberation, I think I'll only be applying to a few schools. Really there is only one school that I want to go to, so I'll be applying to that and maybe 3-4 backups. I'm fairly confident I'll get into at least one of them. I have good credentials.