I am applying to grad schools soon and have a list of schools I am interested in, but I don’t want to waste my time and money by applying to schools that i have too low chances to get in.
I know CC has chance estimator for undergrad, but is there any similar tool for grad schools?
What chance estimator? Are you talking about the Academic Index Calculator? If so, the calculator has all over it that it is not a chance estimator, because it can’t take into account your holistic application. There’s a paragraph right under your results.
There can’t be a chance estimator for grad school for a variety of reasons. There are many different kinds of graduate programs. There’s master’s and PhD; there are hundreds of fields you can get a master’s in; and then there are different values at different programs even within the same field. School A may have a soft GPA cutoff that they don’t publicize but under which they don’t ordinarily admit applicants, whereas School B may not care but may index more heavily on GRE scores.
Also, most programs evaluate candidates far too holistically. For research-based programs, your non-quant stuff - like your research goals, statement of purpose, research experience, any publications or presentations and who your advisor is matter much more than the numbers. For PhDs, some applicants have master’s degrees.
Applying to graduate school is an investment. You do have to balance your chances of getting in, but you do it in a much more qualitative way. Some programs will publish their average GPA and GRE scores, which is a tidbit of information - but just a tidbit, as many programs are flexible and don’t have cutoffs. But if they publish a range, that’s even more helpful. MBA programs, for example, may tell you that the middle 80% of applicants had between a 3.3 and a 3.9 GPA; if you have a 3.1, you know that you are in the bottom 20% of applicants on that metric and unless you’ve got a really outstanding package otherwise, your prospects are lower. You can also ask your professors to help you evaluate your competitiveness for different tiers or kinds of grad programs in your field.
But you will have to apply. That’s the whole point of applying - to see if you get in; and that’s why students apply to more than one program.