How many schools to apply?

mtlve
Fri, 29 May 2009 13:00:17 +0000

I would apply to as many schools as you can and in a variety of different places! I fell in love with the school that I though I did not want to go to, and I hated the schools that I thought I wanted to go to. You never know about a school until you visit, so you need to schedule lots of visits.

I would say apply to ~10. If you want to go to a top15 (and have choices), apply to many more. Having observed many friends/classmates apply to grad school, most people will get accepted to 1/5 of top 10 programs they apply to (even with pubs, strong letters of rec, 1400+ GRE, and 3.8+GPA). If you apply to 10 top schools you will likely get a couple interviews, and one will hopefully be a good fit.

I would have 1-2 safety schools. Also apply to schools that are not along the coasts. There are excellent schools in the south and midwest that do not get as many applications.

Good luck