Saving up money for the application process - how much money and how soon before?

[gatorgrad]

How much did it cost you to apply to graduate programs in total? 

 

Included in this would be GRE costs, app fees, transcripts, etc. - basically any cost incurred during application season.

 

I'm applying for next Fall, and I have $250 saved so far, but the fact that I want to apply to at least 10 programs, and each have an app fee of at least $40 is becoming worrisome to me. I don't have the money to throw around, since I'm a FT student and work FT, as well.

 

How far in advance did you start saving for this stuff? I'm thinking I should save at least $1000 for this entire process. Does that sound too high? Too low?

 

Thank you!

[yorkies]

$40 is pretty good - I applied to 4 programs and spent an average of $100 in app fees each, then $25 each to send the GRE score, and my uni charges $10 for each transcript that's printed. All in all I spent about $550 ish for this whole process just to apply to 4 schools... With some research I think you can easily calculate exactly how much you need and save up for it. 

[tcmazer]

I've just recently run the calculations of ten schools that I'm most likely applying to, and here's how it breaks down:
 

Application fees: $691

 

GRE: $185

Cost to send GRE Scores (first 4 free): $150

 

Total: $1,026

 

Also here's my list of schools: Harvard, Weill Grad School Med Science, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Washington, Wisconsin Madison, Cold Spring Harbor Lab, UMichigan, Northwestern, Sackler School of Graduate BM Sciences, UT Austin

[tcmazer]

Also, my University sends transcripts for free, but assuming yorkies post to be accurate of your school, 10 transcripts would make the final total $1,126.

[tcmazer]

Also I have a summer job to pay for it.  If you can demonstrate need, you can get a fee waiver at most if not all of these institutions.

[gatorgrad]

I've just recently run the calculations of ten schools that I'm most likely applying to, and here's how it breaks down:

 

Application fees: $691

 

GRE: $185

Cost to send GRE Scores (first 4 free): $150

 

Total: $1,026

 

Also here's my list of schools: Harvard, Weill Grad School Med Science, Wash U in St. Louis, U Wash, Wisconsin Madison, Cold Spring Harbor Lab, UMichigan, Northwestern, Sackler School of Graduate BM Sciences, UT Austin

Yeeeeeesh. I won't have to pay for transcripts from my current university, but UF charges $10 per copy, electronic or otherwise, for alumni.

 

Oy. Looks like it's time to cut the spending!

 

Thanks for this! I think I just need to make a spreadsheet with all the costs. That's one thing I haven't added to any of my documents yet. I'm scared of the money part of this whole thing, because I'm terrified of being rejected from all the programs.

[gatorgrad]

Also I have a summer job to pay for it.  If you can demonstrate need, you can get a fee waiver at most if not all of these institutions.

I mean, I work full time. I have never qualified for "free money" through FAFSA. My entire undergrad - both Bachelors - are completely loan funded If I make enough money to not qualify for that, I doubt I'd qualify for fee waivers.

[tcmazer]

Yeah, neither have I.  But I've traded a good gpa for no debt by working a lot.  

[gatorgrad]

I have a stellar GPA (I'll have a 3.94 after this current semester), and I work a lot. My sacrifice was EC's and now, I'm trying to figure out how to get some research experience before applying. That's going to be my biggest downfall - I have zero EC's or research experience. 

[tcmazer]

Well this will be interesting.  My GPA is a 3.06 (3.17 if the whole "last 2 years of study" applies), but I have 3 years of research experience, a paper at PLoS Genetics (not first author) and I should be submitting a first author paper by this June.

So we're opposites, yay!  

[gatorgrad]

Well this will be interesting.  My GPA is a 3.06 (3.17 if the whole "last 2 years of study" applies), but I have 3 years of research experience, a paper at PLoS Genetics (not first author) and I should be submitting a first author paper by this June.

So we're opposites, yay!  

STEM generally looks more at experience and GRE, rather than explicitly GPA, no? At least that's how it was when I was applying to pharmacy school two years ago before I decided I hated chemistry.

 

Psych is so competitive, which is why I'm worried.

[tcmazer]

I sure hope that is the case.  But your GPA is a definite boost to your profile.  Don't forget that recommendations are a big factor as well, and with those grades I'm sure professors would write you great ones.

[fuzzylogician]

See here for figures from previous years:

[misskira]

Odd suggestion... but figured I would throw it out there.

 

A friend donates plasma for 2x/week for about $250/month.  If that's an option for you.

[juilletmercredi]

$1,000 sounds about right.

 

GRE: $185, plus $25 for each additional school over 4.  Maybe $30-60 for a prep book or two.

App fees: Average of about $60-100 per school

Transcript fees: Varies per school; usually around $5 per transcript

 

If you assume 8 schools, that's ~$300-350 for the GRE, prep, and scores, around $500-800 in application fees, and $40 in transcript fees.  That's about $1,000 right there and that's not including incidentals like transcript rush fees (for a last minute school), standby fees or rescheduling fees for the GRE, stuff like ScoreItNow if you want to do online practice for the AW section, test prep courses, or traveling for interviews (while schools usually cover most of the costs, sometimes you have to lay out the money and get reimbursed, and sometimes you incur a few costs on your own).

 

So I would say $1500 to be safe?

 

Gatorgrad, if you don't have ANY research experience and you are planning to apply to PhD programs in psychology, I would save your money for another application cycle, to be honest.  Psychology is very competitive and you are unlikely to be admitted to PhD programs with no research experience.  Even if you started tomorrow, you'd only have 6 months of experience before you apply; you'd be competing with students who have 2-5 years of research experience before applying.

 

You should focus on applying to lab manager/research coordinator positions in psychology and psychology-related labs, or maybe selectively applying to a few really good MS programs in psychology that will allow you to get research experience.

[ion_exchanger]

I spent about $800. This includes app fees and gre fees. I applied to seven programs, and one app was free. My average app fee was $75 in the sciences. My undergrad university does not charge for transcripts, but you can only request three at a time, so I had to make multiple trips. Check your program's requirements, because some of my programs just wanted a scanned transcript copy for application review, and an official copy only if you are accepted and attending that university. I would suggest getting an extra transcript for yourself for that reason. I would also suggest sending your gre scores the same day if they aren't terrible. The reason why my total is so high is that I was not confident in my gre scores, so I didn't send any scores on test day. I ended up using those scores anyway and had to pay for each score report.

[gatorgrad]

Gatorgrad, if you don't have ANY research experience and you are planning to apply to PhD programs in psychology, I would save your money for another application cycle, to be honest.  Psychology is very competitive and you are unlikely to be admitted to PhD programs with no research experience.  Even if you started tomorrow, you'd only have 6 months of experience before you apply; you'd be competing with students who have 2-5 years of research experience before applying.

 

You should focus on applying to lab manager/research coordinator positions in psychology and psychology-related labs, or maybe selectively applying to a few really good MS programs in psychology that will allow you to get research experience.

It's interesting you mention this. It was a concern of mine, but several of my professors have told me that my GPA, GRE, LORs, and statement can overshadow that if I make it clear that my reasoning for not having the research experience was because I worked full time while going to school full time. 

 

Isn't applying to Ph.D programs technically applying to M.A. programs, as well? Before one begins the actual doctorate, you have to write a thesis, anyways. I know several people who have gotten in without much/any research experience.

[msocean]

Be sure your meningitis vaccine is up to date in the last 5 years.  I had one school email me 2 days before the deadline because mine wasn't.  So it was $95 for the vaccination and $45 to FedEx the certificate to meet the application deadline.

 

Overall I spent 

GRE $185 x2 (took the test twice)

GRE study guide $45

Sending GRE scores $50 (I wanted to see them first, so I didn't choose the free option at time of test)

Applications were $65 each

Transcripts were $16 each

LOR's...priceless!!!  Be sure to figure in a little gift for your LOR writers after the process is complete.  I budgeted $20 each.

 

My biggest expense was visiting the campuses the summer before applying.  My trip cost about $1500 suing every budget-friendly resource I could find.  But the trip was well worth it.  The school I thought would be my first choice was completely eliminated after the trip afer I visited.  I just could not see myself living there, ever, not even for just two years.  Meeting the PI's and their current grad students was very helpful when making my choices about who I want to work with during my graduate years.  You definitely want to feel comfortable with your living arrangements as well as feel that you have a connection with your co-horts.