so how much did you spend?

[cheesethunder]

im at 605$ on application fees for 7 schools....excluding gre/gre prepclass.......

ouch.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

$622 including GRE general and subject tests, 1 additional score report, finding out subject test score by phone (I suppose that wasn't at all necessary), transcripts, and applications.

Yuck.

[ColorlessGreen]

Including GRE, transcripts, one extra score report, and 4 schools, around $470. And I'll have to pay $65 for my undergrad's graduation app processing fee soon, too.

[dzk]

$855 for six schools and taking the GRE twice... $515 for the application fees alone.

So much for buying Christmas presents. Time to get creative, I suppose.

[LateAntique]

GRE Twice = 300 bucks. That plus applying to 7 schools (having attended one community college and two four year institutions, I have at least 3 transcripts to send to every school, sometimes two copies) means I've spent more than I'd like to think about. "It's an investment" I tell myself.

[a fragrant plant]

$735 for 9 schools excluding GRE/score report/transcripts.

The total must be between $1200-$1500.

It's really outrageous.

[JustChill]

With transcripts and GREs, it's around $1100.

[fred987]

Only applying to two programs, but 380 for GRE (twice) and prep books, $60 for apps (one got deferred), and ~20 for transcripts... so $460

[johndiligent]

For the six schools I've done so far...

Application fees: $634

Postal fees (Tracked and guaranteed applications, stamps for recs): $92

Transcript fees: $99 (Curse the schools that want two sets!)

Paper, envelopes and ink cartridges: $62

Case file to keep it all organised: $7

Countless hours of effort and worry: my sanity

Getting an acceptance letter in the mail: (hopefully) priceless. Or $894. Depending on how you slice it.

[cheesethunder]

For the six schools I've done so far...

Application fees: $634

Postal fees (Tracked and guaranteed applications, stamps for recs): $92

Transcript fees: $99 (Curse the schools that want two sets!)

Paper, envelopes and ink cartridges: $62

Case file to keep it all organised: $7

Countless hours of effort and worry: my sanity

Getting an acceptance letter in the mail: (hopefully) priceless. Or $894. Depending on how you slice it.

haha i love it! it will be soooooo worth it an acceptance kudos to you & canadian schools!

i remember i paid over 100$ to get my passport renewed in like a day to take the gre....which i took twice + subject. ow.

[Sparky]

Hm. I took the GRE two years ago, before MA apps, so I'm not counting the test fee. But including all the score reports, it's something like:

GREs (including mess-ups) : $120

Transcripts: ~$75

App fees: $250 (most of this is for one school, too, /growl)

Postal fees (incl. projected) : $40

No-Doz: $15

Total: ~$500

Dang.

[coyabean]

GRE 2x = $300

$20/per score report over the four = $140

Transcripts = $55

10 apps = approx. $565

Mailing and assorted costs = $60

nigh on a thousand dollars or so. has no one questioned how this is a financial threshold for poor applicants?!!!! this is CRAZY!!!!

[JennyFieldsOriginal]

$1426. That's GRE general, GRE subject, additional score reports, fees for mailing supplementary material, and application fees. Doesn't include the money I spent preparing for GREs. It's seriously disgusting. I figure it's an "investment" though and that I'll get in back in the form of a stipend. But that's just to make myself feel better because I want to throw up when I see that number.

[tarski]

GRE 2x = $300

$20/per score report over the four = $140

Transcripts = $55

10 apps = approx. $565

Mailing and assorted costs = $60

nigh on a thousand dollars or so. has no one questioned how this is a financial threshold for poor applicants?!!!! this is CRAZY!!!!

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/why-isnt-there-a-centralized-service-for-grad-school-applications.html

That's a blog where lots of philosophy profs talk. They brought that exact issue up in the comments on that post from today, but as for actually doing anything about it.. .

[joro]

I don't know exactly how much, but I originally applied and for 12 applications this time around. Sent GRE scores to all 12 schools too. Last year, I did just about the same thing. Also had to pay for transcripts to be sent.

I would hope that it works out okay this time around.

Edited December 15, 2009 by joro

[johndiligent]

haha i love it! it will be soooooo worth it an acceptance kudos to you & canadian schools!

i remember i paid over 100$ to get my passport renewed in like a day to take the gre....which i took twice + subject. ow.

Yeah, I'm thankful I don't have to pay for the GRE (yeah, Canada!) but it also seems to me that application fees at Canadian schools are higher than their US counterparts (boo-urns, Canada!).

[johndiligent]

I want to throw up when I see that number.

Seriously. Adding it all up is an unpleasant experience.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

There are some crazy differences in postal fees. I lucked out in that I only had to send hard copies of LORs to two schools and an additional form for a specialization program. So only 7 large envelopes and 14 stamps. About $10 here.

My boyfriend on the other hand sent many forms close to the deadline and a lot of his programs required hard copies of writing samples, letters, etc. He overnighted a few things, each easily $20-$60, depending on the carrier he was chose (ie how panicked he was).

[cheesethunder]

Yeah, I'm thankful I don't have to pay for the GRE (yeah, Canada!) but it also seems to me that application fees at Canadian schools are higher than their US counterparts (boo-urns, Canada!).

lmao maybe its your program 3/5 of my canadian schools needed gres subject+general......and yea they were all 100 bucks to apply for! wth! even the masters programs were like 90.

[NeuroNerd86]

I think I am in upper 600$$ with all expenses, even though I got lucky and 3 of my applications came with no fee. Ironically, the most expensive application is for the school that I have the slimmest chance of getting into....

[LateAntique]

GRE 2x = $300

$20/per score report over the four = $140

Transcripts = $55

10 apps = approx. $565

Mailing and assorted costs = $60

nigh on a thousand dollars or so. has no one questioned how this is a financial threshold for poor applicants?!!!! this is CRAZY!!!!

Thank you for bringing this up - I'm definitely on the poor end of things. I'm on my own financially, the first to graduate from college in my family, etc. I had to borrow money to retake the GRE because another 150 dollars killed my budget. I had originally planned to go to a conference to do some schmoozing this fall, but application money ate through my budget for that. It seems a bit ridiculous for schools to charge 75-100+ dollars *just for their application fee*. Considering a lot of people in my position have attended more than one school, that's usually an extra 10-15 dollars in transcript fees per school, on top of sending another GRE score (20 bucks), etc. If one wants to be competitive and give themselves the best chances, they have to apply to a lot of schools. There were several programs that I wanted to apply to but could not because of financial reasons - I had to narrow down my choices based on what I could afford. The whole process priviliges those who have money in a significant way.

[NsciApp]

$140 GRE

$050 change GRE date

$160 additional score reports

$012 scores by phone (this makes me seem crazy since it's just the writing score, really)

$090 transcripts

$075 one application (others free due to McNair)

$527 total for 12 schools, only 9 of which I ended up applying to

[Sparky]

Okay, so what does the "application fee" actually PAY FOR, anyway? "Processing"? What does that mean? Am I really paying for storage space on their computer servers? (I would not be averse to paying if the money were going directly into the pockets of the departments' grad division secretaries, but I doubt that is the case, so I remain bitter on a personal level, and pissed off on a social justice level).

Okay, I realize that an argument can be made that schools "have to" charge something, or else they would be inundated with applications from people who are applying for the heck of applying, and it would be a burden on LOR writers, et cetera et cetera. ('Course, they're forgetting that SOPs are the biggest non-bank account burden in this process, and are enough of a barrier to prevent blanket applying on their own). But if that really were the only reason, you would think the most prestigious schools would charge the most, with the application fees decreasing from there. I know I am just one person, but comparing the schools I looked at (not just the ones to which I'm applying)...that is definitely not the case. It seems fairly random.

Anyone have any insight?

[cheesethunder]

Okay, so what does the "application fee" actually PAY FOR, anyway? "Processing"? What does that mean? Am I really paying for storage space on their computer servers? (I would not be averse to paying if the money were going directly into the pockets of the departments' grad division secretaries, but I doubt that is the case, so I remain bitter on a personal level, and pissed off on a social justice level).

Okay, I realize that an argument can be made that schools "have to" charge something, or else they would be inundated with applications from people who are applying for the heck of applying, and it would be a burden on LOR writers, et cetera et cetera. ('Course, they're forgetting that SOPs are the biggest non-bank account burden in this process, and are enough of a barrier to prevent blanket applying on their own). But if that really were the only reason, you would think the most prestigious schools would charge the most, with the application fees decreasing from there. I know I am just one person, but comparing the schools I looked at (not just the ones to which I'm applying)...that is definitely not the case. It seems fairly random.

Anyone have any insight?

maybe it pays for the people who actually get into the programs haha like alot of the phd programs i apply for are fully funded for everything...whooaa so if you have 200 people applying at 100$ each for 5 spots.....iduno.....

[LateAntique]

maybe it pays for the people who actually get into the programs haha like alot of the phd programs i apply for are fully funded for everything...whooaa so if you have 200 people applying at 100$ each for 5 spots.....iduno.....

That's 4,000 dollars a piece.