Listing different graduate schools you have applied to

[ydy11]

Hi, I'm completely new to this community, so please correct me if I'm doing something wrong.

 

I am applying to several Ph.D. programs in physics, and on every application I am asked to provide details of where else I'm applying to. 

 

Why do they ask me this? As I presume everybody is, I am writing slightly different SOPs for different schools (since some don't have plasma physics but do have my secondary interest), and I was wondering if they were going to share each others' information or something like that (I know in undergrad applications admission officers sometimes share applications). 

 

Any comments on this?

[philstudent1991]

I am in philosophy so perhaps this isn't universal, but here's my understanding: sometimes good but non top schools have top departments in a given field. In philosophy such examples are NYU, Rutgers and Pitt. All are reputable schools, but not Ivy League status. However, their philosophy departments compete with top programs for applicants (competing with Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc.). So, they ask that in order to show higher level administrators that their department is indeed competing for top applicants, and this gives them some firepower in budgeting talks. That's my understanding at least!

 

As far as the strategic side of it for you...I'm not sure. Does listing only a few schools hurt you? Does listing a lot of schools hurt you? What if the school you are applying to is the least prestigious on the list? What if it's the most? These are the thoughts I have on that particularly question lol and unfortunately all I can do is just put where else I'm applying and get on with it. I have no way of knowing what the implications may be, but I think at most they would be minimal to irrelevant.

[MsDarjeeling]

I think philstudent brings up some good points as to why they may ask this.  Regardless I don't think it is any of their business and I would be more concerned about them assuming their school is a "safety" and I'm not really serious about attending there.  On my apps (I'm in Psychology) the question wasn't mandatory so I didn't answer it.  If it were mandatory I would probably just list one other school that was comparable to theirs that I had applied to instead of telling them everywhere.

[Cesare]

Admissions committees don't even look at this they are too busy reading SoPs, letters of rec., etc. It is purely used to determine who the peer schools are. This is the last thing to worry about. It won't hurt or aid you in providing this info. 

[TakeruK]

This is pretty common in Physics. Many people have asked this at a different forum, geared towards Physics students (physicsgre.com), and professors have responded to confirm that they do not share applications with other schools. It would be a breach of ethics!

 

Listing schools will not hurt you and as others said, the profs have responded to say that they use it to figure out both who their main competition is as well as determining the likelihood that you will accept their offer. If you're a superstar student applying to a middle ranked school, then they can know that you're applying there as a backup. They won't reject any student for being "too good" (they would love it if you ended up there!) but that helps them determine how many offers to send out. Most schools have a good idea of their return rate (I think my school makes something like 30-40 offers and hope for 18-20 acceptances), so having this extra info helps them determine how many offers to send out! Also, in an interview, some schools will just ask you outright how they rank on your list of preferred schools, knowing that not everyone automatically prefers the highest ranking program.