How many programs did you apply to?

[zapster]

How many programs did you apply to? Is this typical/high/low for your field? Do you wish you had applied to more / less, and why? 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by zapster

[Queen of Kale]

I applied to seven, which seemed reasonable at the time.  I have no idea what is the norm for my field though, I just knew if was the list that evolved after about a year.

[Grev]

I applied to four after a great deal of prodding from my LoR writers.  They all suggested this as the bare minimum, so I suspect I'm on the low end of my field.

[Gauche]

I applied to about eight which is a little low for my field. No regrets though. Everything worked out the way it needed to even if the results weren't as I expected.

[biotechie]

I applied to 6. Two programs that I really wanted to get into, three that were higher ranking (one of which I had no chance at), and one "safety" that I knew had cool research I would be happy doing. I got three interviews, one wait list, and two rejections. Not too bad!

I feel like it is fairly normal in my field to apply to at least 5... it has gotten really competitive over the last ten years or so. Plus you make think you're a great fit for a program and then once you get there, you find that you're not. I know of people from this forum that have applied to more than 10! That's a little crazy in my opinion, but I'm also a masters student with limited time to go on interviews.

[Usmivka]

One. I knew where I was moving regardless, though, and did not care whether I was in school or not--I'd have been paid more to do the same thing as a non-student employee, and would have had evenings and weekends to boot. My peers applied to three to five on average, and most seem to think that was more than enough.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Usmivka

[ZacharyObama]

Only one - this year at least.

[ийнна]

At first I had this big projects of applying to 6 but then I slowly decreased and only applied to four. 

One (also my TOP choice) that I am 90% sure of not getting into but I still put a lot of effort into it, so I like to have10% of hopes

Another two safe but still quite competitive and the programs are extremely appealing.

And another also very appealing but I have no idea I'm very mitigated on the prospects ...

 

So now I am waiting on everything, pretty stressful but well try to keep myself busy .. xx

[Chai_latte]

I applied to 9.  I think that may have been a little high for my field.  I feel like a lot of people are in the 5-7 range. 

IMO, I applied to too many.  By app #7, I was thoroughly fatigued.  Completing the last two apps was like pulling teeth.  As prospectives, I think we underestimate the amount of time each application takes.  And I wasn't truly honest with myself about fit.  There were a few schools (maybe 3?) that were poor research fits.  I applied anyway b/c I liked the location, the school's rep. or something like that.  BAD MOVE.  Thankfully, I chose an amazing place. 

But, if I were to do it all over again, I would've applied to about 5.

[Andean Pat]

I applied to 5 PhDs in the US, one MSc in the UK and one MA in Qatar, which I withdrew when I was admitted. I don't know if its a lot or not, I think I could have applied to one more program that was excellent fit but I was late. 

[pears]

i applied to 7 MA programs: withdrew from 1, rejected from 1, unofficial waitlist at 1, haven't heard from 1, accepted at 3. woof! i regret wasting my time and effort on the one i withdrew my application from, so i'll call it 6 applications, which i think it average-bordering-on-many for my field.

[ion_exchanger]

I applied to 7 schools, which I felt was a good amount in my field. I see that others applied to more than I did. If I were to do it again, I would still only apply to 7 schools, but I may apply to ones that I discovered were a better fit too late.

[mop]

I applied to 10, which seems to be high and in hindsight, at least 3 were poor fits that I should have never applied to.

[budgiepie]

Four ms programs this round, I would have applied to more if I could.

[theologyofyourface]

I applied to three MA programs, which I thought was fine at the time but which, upon further reflection, was not enough. It was super scary when I was rejected by two of them and had to end up waiting to find out if I got into the third! And when I talked to other people in my field here, it became clear that three was a very small number of places to apply.

When I apply for my PhD next year, I'm going to apply to at least 7 programs.

[juilletmercredi]

I applied to 5, but that's because I was applying for MPH programs and I knew I was a very strong candidate for them.  Had I been applying to PhD programs, I probably would've applied to 7-9.

[Sadie_Bea]

I applied to 1 PhD program because I had visited the school before and knew immediately that it was "where I was supposed to be" if I got in (which I did!).  Of course, it's always risky to put your eggs in one basket so to speak, but thankfully II was able to keep options open in case grad school fell through this time around.

[OhMySocks]

I applied to 11. I was told by many people that 8-10 was a pretty reasonable number, and I tried to hold it to 10, but ended up adding 1 more last minute (which might be the school I end up going to, HA). 

[kyjin]

4 here. Considering how specialized my research interests are, these were the only four that would work.  A little low for history majors, but considering I got one acceptance and one waitlist, it worked out for me.

[aapril]

Three. Since I just bought a home with my fiance location weighed a lot on my decision. I initially started with a mix of programs in my area based on my interests, but after speaking with faculty and visiting schools I whittled my list down to 3 with the best fit. In at my top choice and waiting on the last 2. Thankfully things are working out so far, but for my field 6-8 is probably the norm.

[k3ithk]

I applied to 8. I have no idea what the average for my field is, but it didnt seem like a lot. The applications were easy (write one SOP and modify it slightl for each school) so it was really just the money that was the limiting factor.

[tarrman]

I applied to 7. I kind of wish I had applied to a few more (Stanford, CMU, Berkeley), but I was pretty overwhelmed with work last semester, I'm an incredibly cheap person (only took the GRE's once!), and I wasn't very confident about getting into the schools I was applying to.

 

Oh well, things still worked out!

[k3ithk]

I applied to 7. I kind of wish I had applied to a few more (Stanford, CMU, Berkeley), but I was pretty overwhelmed with work last semester, I'm an incredibly cheap person (only took the GRE's once!), and I wasn't very confident about getting into the schools I was applying to.

 

Oh well, things still worked out!

 

Is it typical to take the GRE more than once? I kind of screwed myself by not taking the subject GRE in some cases, however. I'm with you though, I would have applied for more "reach" schools if I could do it again. If only Stanford's application deadline weren't so early...

[tarrman]

Is it typical to take the GRE more than once? I kind of screwed myself by not taking the subject GRE in some cases, however. I'm with you though, I would have applied for more "reach" schools if I could do it again. If only Stanford's application deadline weren't so early...

All my friends took it at least twice and took it very early (I took it in November). I think people generally plan on taking it more than once, depending on the first run.

In regards to Stanford, I found the two transcripts requirement, $125 app fee, and the high cost of living in Palo Alto to be especially unfortunate.

[mrmolecularbiology]

I applied to 8. One I knew I had no chance at (Stanford) two I thought I had a shot at, and hey 1/2 isn't bad (UCSF and UC Berkeley) three that I knew were "within my reach" (UTSW and Johns Hopkins UW-Madison) and two "Safety Schools" (Cornell and Duke). In hindsight I shouldn't have applied to duke it was not a good research fit at all and I wish I would have applied to more schools but it worked out well. I thought I would hate UTSW and it was hands down my favorite. 

Edited March 19, 2013 by mrmolecularbiology