"Safety" Schools? Any such thing?

[CP3]

I've applied to 8 schools to pursue a PhD in music. I'm starting to feel like I applied to too many high-level programs. I found a few schools that could give me a better chance, so-called "safety schools"

 

But here is the problem---Is there any such thing as a safety school at the doctorate level???

 

There are millions for undergrad, a huge handful for masters, but PhD?? Seems ridiculous

 

I keep thinking about next year, in case I don't get admitted this year. Where will I apply next year? More "safety" schools?

 

I don't feel like a safety school exists at the doctorate level, especially in music. Most schools only admit several PhD students in my field.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on the topic of "Safety" Schools???

 

 

[iowaguy]

Lots of thoughts on this in the archives...

 

Bottom line:  how is your "fit" at a particular safety school, and does a PhD from that school empower you to reach your career/life goals?  I personally don't believe in applying to safety schools, IMHO better to improve your application and try again next year at your dream schools...  YMMV.

[CP3]

Lots of thoughts on this in the archives...

 

Bottom line:  how is your "fit" at a particular safety school, and does a PhD from that school empower you to reach your career/life goals?  I personally don't believe in applying to safety schools, IMHO better to improve your application and try again next year at your dream schools...  YMMV.

I completely agree. I actually spoke on the phone with a PhD student several months ago that is currently attending one of my "dream" schools. He advised me to only apply to my top picks, and if I don't get in this year, try again next year. He felt that it was a waste of time going to an "OK" school. In the long run, a safety school won't help your future career.

[HigherEd2013]

I don't think there can be such a thing for PhDs. The first time I applied to graduate schools, my mentor told me that I would know safety schools by lower average GRE scores. That didn't really help IMO. Honestly, what's the point of applying to a school if you don't want to attend? Application fees are expensive enough.

[CP3]

Absolutely, I shelled out about 120-130 bucks towards 2 schools that are "safer" than my other picks, I wasn't going to spend anymore than that.

 

CONGRATS on UCLA!!

[Monochrome Spring]

I don't believe in safety schools either. I feel really nervous about my current list of where I want to apply (4 programs), and I may extend it to 8 if I find anything comparable. But I can't see myself anywhere else, no matter how hard I think about it, no matter how long I research other programs. Especially your first application season, I would say only apply to your top programs. Add more to the list if you don't make it the first time and reapply.

[uromastyx]

I believe in 'safety schools' to the extent that people should apply to schools that aren't exactly their top choices. But I do not believe in applying to a program that one wouldn't actually be happy to attend. So in that sense, no.

If that clarifies my definition of 'safety school,' then I'll say that I believe in the typical "long shots, mid-range, 'safety'" approach.

 

Unless you're the shizz. If you're the shizz then what are you doing with safety schools?!?! YOU'RE THE SHIZZ!

Edited February 6, 2013 by uromastyx

[midnight]

For my desired field there aren't really any safety schools aside from a few programs in parts of the country that aren't practical for me (e.g., North Dakota, Alabama).

 

I considered applying to a few more schools, but I decided to go for the two that worked best for me location-wise that are willing to take out-of-field applicants.

Edited February 6, 2013 by midnight streetlight

[CP3]

I believe in 'safety schools' to the extent that people should apply to schools that aren't exactly their top choices. But I do not believe in applying to a program that one wouldn't actually be happy to attend. So in that sense, no.

If that clarifies my definition of 'safety school,' then I'll say that I believe in the typical "long shots, mid-range, 'safety'" approach.

 

Unless you're the shizz. If you're the shizz then what are you doing with safety schools?!?! YOU'RE THE SHIZZ!

I absolutely love this! The SHIZZ!!?? I wish I was the SHIZZ, I laughed for several minutes after I read this, thanks:)

[CP3]

For my desired field there aren't really any safety schools aside from a few programs in parts of the country that aren't practical for me (e.g., North Dakota, Alabama).

 

I considered applying to a few more schools, but I decided to go for the two that worked best for me location-wise that are willing to take out-of-field applicants.

Yep, same here. "Safety" schools are slim-pickings in my field, they all reside in undesirable areas. No sense in applying to schools that don't offer anything other than a degree. A degree doesn't do much, we need more than a piece of paper.

[TeaGirl]

Yes I think there is such a thing as safety schools and one should try to apply to them. A safety school would be one where your GPA/GRE/etc. is way above the average incoming stats, you have great research fit for that school, and finally it has a higher acceptance rate. However, I agree with uromastyx that they should be schools that you would be perfectly happy to attend. Never apply to a school where you would be less than happy to go and if that means no safety, then so be it.

 

Of course nothing is ever guaranteed and plenty of people get rejected by their safety and only to be accepted into their top choice. You're just trying to maximize your chances of getting accepted. It's possible for some programs, it's already too competitive so there really are very little or no "safety" schools.

[CP3]

I came to the realization recently that the only safety schools are those which don't offer good funding. When I applied for a masters, my "safety" school gave me full funding, it seems to be the opposite with a PhD, but who knows!!?? maybe I will get a good offer from a "safety" school

[rising_star]

One person's safety school can be another person's reach. When I applied to PhD programs, I applied to some schools that people thought might be a safety school. I applied because they had two people I could see myself working with but, as it turned out when I visited, I probably should've viewed them as a safety school since I was more qualified than their usual applicants. Now, I have no idea how you'd identify this beforehand (since I clearly could not!) except by talking honestly and carefully with your advisors/mentors about your chances at various places.

[Andean Pat]

I think safety schools are those where you have more chances to get in. It does not necessarily mean they are not good schools. I mean, academically speaking, access to your program is not the same as poor ranking. My safety school is one where I have high chances to get in because very few in my subfield apply. It may not be a safety school for other subfields. 

[TakeruK]

Safety schools definitely exist in the sense that for the majority of applicants, there are some schools where they have a very high chance of admission. The trick, as others said, is how to identify these schools. A safety school is useless if you don't actually want to attend that school though, but sometimes it can be hard to know whether or not you would really want to attend a certain school. There are so many schools, how can you know all the programs? Maybe random school you haven't heard of might actually be a good fit and safety school for you. 

 

I agree with rising_star -- I had a lot of honest and useful discussions with my advisors/mentors about my list of schools and they gave me tons of valuable advice about their personal interactions with various faculty members and their students. Since I was completely unfamiliar to the world of academia, I didn't know things like how people might want to see students not stay at their undergrad for PhD and they taught me tricks to learn more about an advisor -- figure out who their former students are (usually on their research pages) and search for papers coauthored by the advisor and their old students. You can get a good sense of how likely you are to publish, what quality of work you will do, and whether or not you would be the first author or would the advisor be doing the writing while you just do the work, etc.

 

Having that conversation was really helpful -- my very first list of schools I wanted to apply for was very unrealistic!

[CP3]

These are all great points and insights. Unfortunately, I am a composer/musician. My stats are almost PURELY subjective (besides GRE, GPA, LORs, etc) Much depends on what the comp professors "think" of my music. 

[midnight]

These are all great points and insights. Unfortunately, I am a composer/musician. My stats are almost PURELY subjective (besides GRE, GPA, LORs, etc) Much depends on what the comp professors "think" of my music. 

 

If it's any consolation, humanities and social science majors tend to be heavily judged on their writing samples while STEM types tend to be judged on whether or not they've performed meaningful research, so rejection often feels personal and like a kick in the gut no matter who you are!

[Queen of Kale]

I think in some fields you can't really have a safety school because there are so few schools in your teeny tiny little specialty.  I know, for what I want to do there are maybe the schools in the US and maybe another 10-15 globally.  While they're not all tied by rank, the rank becomes meaningless because it is such a tight knit community and each school is funded enough to support what can be a costly type of lab.  

 

Instead, each school may have slightly different parameters or weighting standards when eyeing up potential candidates.  I think in a small field like this, networking, personal contact, and the random element (so-and-so wants to diversify in this way, so-and-so is looking for this specific lab skill) trumps rank in determining which school will accept you.  

 

For this reason, when I decided to add a "safety school" or what I've come to think of as a "wild card" school - I had to choose one where I would do something entirely different, more likely for a Masters and not a PhD, with the idea that if the universe decided I shouldn't do Thing A - I would do Thing B and see if a few years later I missed Thing A at which point I'd give it another shot.  

 

Edited to add: incidentally my safety school is the only school I have yet to hear from, I'm guessing they could sense that I had to force the fit in my SOP

Edited February 18, 2013 by Queen of Kale