Application Fees

[CrazyCatLady80]

I am working on yet another fellowship this weekend. This one is to help fund some of the costs associated with applying to grad school. Can anyone give me an estimate of how much money I should budget for application fees? I am aiming to apply for twelve schools (yes...I know it is a lot). Also, did any of you meet your POIs the summer before you applied? There is money in the fellowship to make campus visits to meet POIs and wondered if any of you found this helpful. 

[CarrieLe5]

Hi -

 

I just sent you a PM

[imri1986]

I would suggest you try to get application fee waivers. If you can get a document from the financial aid office at your school stating that an application fee is a financial burden for you then you could get fee waivers. I applied to 9 programs, 8 of which offered a fee waiver. So I only paid for 1!

[jmu]

Fee waivers are good but not all programs offer them unless you are in very specific situations so look closely and ask before spending time trying. Time goes by quickly once you start the process. My fees averaged to be about $120 per school including the costs of sending transcripts and sending two additional GRE score reports.

[kyjin]

Fees range anywhere from $50-$120 per school, plus remember that you have to pay $25 per school to send your GRE scores. (I believe it's three free when you initially take the exam? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)  Depending on your undergrad/grad program, you may also have to pay to send transcripts. Most applications only need a scanned copy, but some want hard copies as well prior to admission.  A good estimate is $100 per program for everything combined (so in your case, $1200.) 

 

I spent about $400 this year for five programs (some had my GRE scores from previous years, so that cut down the cost), and two years ago I spent $750 on seven programs.  As imri1986 suggested, look into fee waivers as an option. 

[LeatherElbows]

I agree that fees average about $100/program. The GRE also rolls in at around $200 a crack, plus the $25 sending fee. (You can send 4 free at the testing site after you finish, so it's good to plan first.) Official transcripts seem to average $10 each, although if you did a study abroad program the shipping and money orders can add up to much more. Then there are shipping costs if a program requires a physical copy of anything.

 

All told I spent about $900 applying to 5 schools, although about $100 of that was getting transcripts sent from Japan.

[New England Nat]

I don't remember the break down but between transcripts, test scores and application fees I spent $1600 on applying to 8 schools.

[TMP]

For my most expensive year, I spent over $500.  You get the first 4 GRE transcripts for free.  After that, it's $25 a pop.  Transcripts all depends on your schools (All of my schools didn't have fees).  Application fees ranged from $55 to $125 (damn you Stanford!).

 

As for "campus visits," don't even bother unless they're within easy drive.  You don't really know whether or not the professor is making decisions based on personal contact.  The POIs who accepted me were in strong favor of "knowing" the applicant though they didn't tell me until middle of our conversation.  Everyone else?  It was just nice to meet and chat.

[CrazyCatLady80]

Ok....so far I have application fees, GRE (the test itself), GRE fees, and transcripts. Am I forgetting anything? 

 

I better get this fellowship or I will be homeless after the application season is over. 

[New England Nat]

I think that just about covers it. 

[jmu]

Allocate a little extra for sending transcripts again and for shipping by mail just in case and you should be set.

[Zephyr99]

There are fellowships to cover application fees....really? It just seems very odd to me that there are fellowships out there which cover application fees because wouldn't everyone be applying to these?

I am not bashing the OP, just very curious.  

[CrazyCatLady80]

It is a fellowship just in the CSU system. It covers visits to various schools, application fees, conferences, journal subscriptions, etc. Plus, you get an internship at a UC of your choice. It really is an amazing program. 

[Zephyr99]

It is a fellowship just in the CSU system. It covers visits to various schools, application fees, conferences, journal subscriptions, etc. Plus, you get an internship at a UC of your choice. It really is an amazing program. 

Oh, very cool and people say that the CSU system is going down the drain

[CrazyCatLady80]

Oh, very cool and people say that the CSU system is going down the drain

 

It depends. The money isn't there anymore. The glory days of California public higher education are over. Plus, the classes and the cost is insane. When I went through some papers this weekend, I found a bill for my very first semester my freshman year at Sonoma State back in 1998. The total cost for fifteen units was $850. Now it would be $3,500. However, the faculty is very strong and passionate about teaching. My library at CSUN is amazing. In fact, in many ways, I like it more than UCLA or USC. 

 

After I am finished with grad school, I would very much like to teach at CSU. It may not be as glamorous as teaching at a top school, but I like the idea of helping people that have problems academically or personally get a college education to improve their lives. I find it extremely rewarding.