How many schools are you applying to?

[traumerei]

Ugh...I'm applying to 6 schools and I'm already feeling the pain in my wallet. I'm wondering if I'm not the only person to be doing this? What do you guys think is a fair number?

[alf10087]

I'm applying to 6 too, thinking about 7 sometimes when I panic and want to improve my odds.

In my case the investment is bigger. As an international student, I had to travel to the US for the GRE, and have to pay for Credential Evaluation Services, which adds $250 for the package, $30 for each university and $70 for every DHL package sent to the US.

Visa is having a party on my credit card debts.

[sherpa07]

I was originally applying to 9, but a professor told me most people apply to 12-14... I think she may have been confusing PhD applications with MPP/MA/MS applications, but regardless, I took her advice and am now applying to 12. Keep in mind, though, that I'm in a program that allows me to get fee waivers, so this isn't expensive at all. Otherwise, I probably would have kept it to 9.

[ridofme]

I'm applying to 7 or 8. This is what I think you have to consider:

1) How important is it to you to be in grad school next year? I.e., if you aren't satisfied with your admissions results, would you be OK with having to wait another year to apply again?

2) How important is money? Would you be willing to go to a private school unfunded? I, most likely, am not. Therefore I am applying to some dream/reach schools, but also to some schools whose stats I exceed, and therefore where I have a better shot at receiving funding (assuming I am accepted, of course!).

3) How many schools would you actually be willing to go to? If you really would only consider top tier schools, then there's no point in applying to regional safeties to increase the chances of getting admits. Even within the top tier, I imagine there are some people who would only consider HKS/WWS/GPPI, and wouldn't really be happy at Harris/GWU/SIPA. But if you could see yourself at the latter schools, especially when taking funding opportunities into consideration, then of course it's worth applying. This is one reason that I eliminated schools like Maxwell and Sanford - however great the programs might be, I knew that I could never get myself to move to Syracuse or Durham. Why waste the application fee?

Edited November 11, 2012 by ridofme

[elohelay]

I'm only applying to 3 - DU, American U, and GWU. Reaching for the stars? Definitely.

I agree with Decaf - there's no point in applying to safeties when you can't imagine yourself at that school/city, no matter how prestigious.

[Thelongshot]

I'm applying to 8 schools: Cornell (CIPA), Columbia (SIPA), Chicago (Harris), Georgetown (GSFS), Harvard (KSG), Penn (Fels) USC (Price), UCLA (Luskin)

[PolyWonk]

I'm applying to 9. My advisors/recommenders didn't seem to think it was too many, but it's starting to become really difficult. But their support makes me feel like it's an okay number.

1 is an AMAZING fit. 4 Great fit. 5 Good fit.

That's what was most important to me, as I'm applying to do my doctorate. If there had been less good fits, I would be applying to less. If there had been more, there would have been more.

[nickel]

I'm applying to 5 (Tufts, GWU, American, Columbia, Denver). I had a few other schools but, like ridofme noted, I was pretty certain I wouldn't attend those if I was accepted. In the long run, another $100 application fee is peanuts compared to tuition. Still, $100 is a lot of money. My advice is to think about the schools that you are applying to and if you would attend if accepted. If you wouldn't, then there's no reason to apply. But if you want to have some "safety" schools (or even shoot for the stars), I say go for it.

Just skip that Starbucks coffee for a few months and brew it at home...

[ReinventOneself]

HKS MPP, MSFS, SAIS, Elliott

Decided NOT to apply to: SIPA and SIS

....deadlines are still a ways away, so I'm spending lots of time perfecting all my essays, getting good recommendations, and looking at funding options.

[outofspace]

Probably going to apply to 9-10 IR schools and about the same number of law programs. My wallet is going to be screaming in pain.

[MJA87]

I'm applying to 6 - 8 depending on a couple things for the last two. I was worried that my letter writers would think that's too many but the didn't seem to think so.

[Guvut]

I'm shooting for 6-8 as well. This is too big of an investment to go somewhere just for the sake of going somewhere, so these are only schools that I would be willing to attend and pay for (hopefully not sticker price).

[Gov2School]

I applied last year, but from a list of 6 I eventually narrowed it down to 5.   One of my six was a "safety" program, but then I decided that that was silly, since I 1) didn't really want to go there and 2) was employed full time so that if I didn't get in to one of my top choice schools, I would have probably stayed in my job another year and tried again rather than attend the safety.   So one fell off the list.  

 

I've heard of people applying to up to 10, but never as many as 12-14.  At that point, i think you'd have to ask yourself if you really have a specific enough idea of what you want to do in grad school if so many programs cover it equally.   Plus, ouch, wow, the expense.  

 

Besides the cost, the entire application process was MUCH more time consuming than I anticipated.  If you have a full time job, it's going to be really hard to do more than 6 applications. If you're a full time student, you might be able to manage a few more because your time is more flexible, but still, it's tough.  I worked on my applications pretty much every evening and weekend from September until November (I set myself the deadline of being mostly done by Thanksgiving), and I used ever minute of the time.  It paid off, I got in to all of my schools, but I'm glad I only had to do 5 applications. 

[WinterSolstice]

I applied last year, but from a list of 6 I eventually narrowed it down to 5.   One of my six was a "safety" program, but then I decided that that was silly, since I 1) didn't really want to go there and 2) was employed full time so that if I didn't get in to one of my top choice schools, I would have probably stayed in my job another year and tried again rather than attend the safety.   So one fell off the list.  

 

I've heard of people applying to up to 10, but never as many as 12-14.  At that point, i think you'd have to ask yourself if you really have a specific enough idea of what you want to do in grad school if so many programs cover it equally.   Plus, ouch, wow, the expense.  

 

Besides the cost, the entire application process was MUCH more time consuming than I anticipated.  If you have a full time job, it's going to be really hard to do more than 6 applications. If you're a full time student, you might be able to manage a few more because your time is more flexible, but still, it's tough.  I worked on my applications pretty much every evening and weekend from September until November (I set myself the deadline of being mostly done by Thanksgiving), and I used ever minute of the time.  It paid off, I got in to all of my schools, but I'm glad I only had to do 5 applications. 

 

 

This was pretty much what I took away from the application process too. While applying, I was kind of hesitant that I was only applying to highly ranked schools. But at a certain point, I had to be honest about the fact that I probably wouldn't be happy going to the other schools I was looking at. And like you, I was also working at the time, so I figured if I didn't get into a program I was interested in, I could easily re-apply the next year. I definitely couldn't have managed more than the 7 programs I applied to (and only 6 schools, really, given one of the programs was a joint LSE/Sciences Po program). 

 

I personally wanted to spend more quality time working on the applications, than a cursory amount of time on 10-12 applications. I think for me, it made more sense to make sure the applications themselves really shone, and I wouldn't have been able to do that with a large number of applications.

[zadigblue]

I'm only applying to 4 programs for certain (all good fits) and waffling on whether or not to apply for more... I do feel a bit bad taking up more of my letter-writers' time for programs that I'm only lukewarm about, though. Luckily I'm looking internationally so a lot of the application periods don't even start until January.

[WinterSolstice]

I'm only applying to 4 programs for certain (all good fits) and waffling on whether or not to apply for more... I do feel a bit bad taking up more of my letter-writers' time for programs that I'm only lukewarm about, though. Luckily I'm looking internationally so a lot of the application periods don't even start until January.

 

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the letter-writing thing. All of my professors/bosses writing recommendations had a general letter they kept on file that was easily customized depending on whichever school I was applying to. I actually applied to grad schools twice plus independent fellowships (once straight from undergrad, once after 2 years of working), so I actually had them all send out a bunch of letters twice, and with a year and a half in between. They said it was easy because the letters were on file, and they didn't seem bothered by it at all. Just be sure to communicate with them, and at least write them a thank you card after the fact to show your gratitude for their time and efforts.

[lsaiki87]

I think it's always good to aim for 4-6 schools. I had every intention of applying to 5-6 schools, but as I got closer to the deadlines, the applications, and the essays, I realized there was no way I could possibly apply to ALL the schools and work full-time without losing my sanity. I ended up focusing on four but in the end I only actually applied to three (I was offered admission to the other three programs before I sent my application for the fourth). In the end, I think it's better to be more secure about your choices and focus on a smaller number of applications (instead of 8-12) so that you can avoid burning out.