<p>I applied to 10 schools, and although I know it’s more than what other people applied to, it’s been very nice to have a good number of choices. As tenisghs said, money actually may be the limiting factor here - if you can secure funding for a lot of schools, and you have found multiple departments that you’d like to apply to AFTER reading up on them and having a good sense of their pros and cons, I don’t see anything wrong with applying to 15 schools or even more. Also though, consider the fact that you will have that much more paperwork for each additional school…</p>
<p>Now, there is NO POINT whatsoever in applying to schools just for “safety” when you don’t really want to go there. Make sure you would be happy going to each and every one of the schools on your list.</p>
<p>Honestly, it may be hard to even come up with 15 departments that you’d want to be a part of. I had a bit of trouble coming up with my 10. BUT! If you can find 15 good programs and can pay for the application fees, I say go for it. :)</p>
<p>And definitely apply to your “reach” schools! If you think you have numbers to match their school average (it sounds like you do) then just get awesome recommendation papers and go for it. BEST OF LUCK! :)</p>