How many schools to apply?

EvoViro
Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:59 +0000

I’m on the super-low extreme and only applied to one school seriously (two total), but it’s because I spent two years after undergrad in full-time research, got myself into a small niche I adore, and found a collaborator of my PI whose work I completely fell in love with. Like with cosmicfish, nowhere else would have made me happy. It felt weird to have all my eggs in one basket, but it worked out perfectly.

The point is that the appropriate number of schools will depend on you and your desires. If you’ve got strong credentials, tried and true interests, and mutually interested future PIs, then you’ll be fine with 2-4 schools. If your interests are broad, you have many people you’re interested in working with, or don’t have the strongest credentials, then 4-7 is perfectly appropriate.