How Many Grad Schools Should I Apply To?

Going to graduate school is a significant commitment because it requires effort, money, responsibility, and dedication.

Graduate students often apply to three to eight universities, so depending on the unique situation, students do apply to a different number of master’s programs.

Although the general guideline is that you should only apply to graduate programs where you have the time to devote to them, you might still wonder, how many grad schools should I apply to?

Hopefully, this article not only answers your question but also provides all available and related information.

Grad School Requirements

Your graduate school application should emphasize the skills and background that make you a strong candidate for admission. 

These are merely basic recommendations because each college or university will have its requirements.

Most of the grad schools you should apply to have the following requirements:

• Resume or a curriculum vitae
• GMAT or GRE results  
• Reference letters
• Personal essay that may be open-ended or written in response to a particular question

transcripts from earlier classes.

How Many Grad Schools Should I Apply To?

It’s typically a good idea to apply to multiple colleges. Even if you appear to be the ideal candidate for a specific institution, there is never any assurance with college admissions. 

Applying to more than one school raises your chances of being accepted by at least one of them.

You should consider applying to at least one safety school, one goal school, and one school that is your ideal school. 

If you have the resources or the funds, you can try to double the number of safety schools, target schools, and ideal schools to apply to and improve your chances of admission.

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Should I Apply To Grad School Of More Than Ten?

Ten graduate schools are more than most students really need to apply to but you can usually get away with applying to half of that number.

Ten different paperwork sets to fill out can take a lot of time and graduate school applications typically cost money. 

You probably won’t want to apply to ten colleges if you don’t have about $750 to spend on application fees.

But if you’re set on attending only the most elite, competitive colleges, then sending in 10 outstanding applications may improve your chances of getting into one or more exclusive institutions.

How Long Do Graduate Admissions Decisions Take?

Depending on the type of grad school application timetable a specific college utilizes, the time for graduate admission decisions varies.

You might not have to wait long after submitting your paperwork to hear back from a school with rolling admissions. 

Decisions frequently come within six to eight weeks, although schools with strict deadlines may require more time since you may need to wait for them to review all of the applications they have received.

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When Do Grad School Acceptance Letters Arrive?

Anytime during the year, colleges that provide rolling admissions may send out acceptance letters. 

But between one and two months after submitting your application, you might hear back and hopefully receive your acceptance letter.

Colleges with strict deadlines for admission frequently send out alerts at specified times of the year. 

So decision letters may be mailed in February or March for institutions with deadlines in November or December. 

You might want to hold off on making your decision until you have heard from all the grad schools you applied to.

What List Of Grad Schools Should I Apply To?

You should consider choosing two safety schools that you know you’ll get into, two target schools that you have a chance of getting into, and one dream school that you have a chance of getting into.

You can make a list of grad schools to apply to following these specifications:

1.Dream Schools

This group is made up of the schools you’d most like to attend but are unsure of your chances of admission to because they are prestigious and selective.

2.Safety Schools

This group, also referred to as backup schools, includes graduate programs where you are aware that you have a strong chance of admission because of your strong GRE or GPA.

3.Target Schools

A target school is one with a graduate program that might just be created just for someone of your caliber.

You can look at statistics for the classes those universities have recently admitted to determine which would fit into your target group. 

The target schools you should focus on are schools where the typical GPAs and test scores are the same as your own. 

Although you can’t be certain, you might stand a good chance of getting into these colleges.

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Questions To Determine How Many Grad Programs Should I Apply To

When deciding how many grad schools you should apply to, it’s crucial to ask a few questions, such as:

1.How Competitive Are Your Top Choice Programs?

It’s important to understand how competitive the application process will be if you are only interested in applying to top-tier programs at premium institutions. 

Only a small portion of applicants are accepted into several elite programs each year. So to boost your chances of being admitted to at least one elite university, it may be a good idea to apply to more than four to six universities.

2.How Competitive Is Your Field Of Study?

Some graduate-level academic disciplines are renowned for having fierce competition. 

Lack of programs or the fact that some programs are built to only admit a select group of students each semester may be the primary causes of this competitiveness.

3.How Important Is A Graduate Degree To Your Goals?

Some individuals will need a graduate degree to advance in their organization while others view a graduate degree as a nice to have or something they wish to obtain but will not be necessary to advance in their jobs.

So think about your career objectives and how necessary a degree is to achieving those objectives. 

Applying to additional schools is a good idea if the degree itself is essential to your plan to improve your chances or advance.

4.Do You Meet The Requirements?

To choose how many grad schools to apply to, you have to determine whether you satisfy the entry requirements.

Find out if the admissions process at the institution of your choosing is rolling or if there are deadlines. 

Most master’s programs will have a standard deadline and an early deadline like December to January or March to April.

Check what else you need in addition to the required statement of purpose to support your application next. 

Your official undergrad transcripts, test results, and, depending on the course, a portfolio of your best work, are all necessary.

While some colleges want three letters of recommendation, others are content with just one.

And if you don’t submit all the documents you need to finish your application, you run the risk of losing out to someone who did their research.

Factors To Consider To Choose How Many Grad Schools Should I Apply To

You should consider these factors when choosing how many grad schools to apply to:

1.Cost Of The Application

Graduate school applications require both time and money, and the time spent crafting distinctive, personalized essays and filling out one form after another can mount up.

It’s typical for institutions to charge a fee, often between $50 and $75, for each application you submit. 

Applying excessively can make a significant impact on your finances, so you can try to control the amount of time and money you put into education by carefully choosing the institutions you choose to apply to.

2.Figure Out Your Financials

Every application you submit makes a small dent in your bank account and this may cost anywhere from $50 to $100. 

At first glance, that might not seem like much, but the more colleges you apply to, the more expensive it becomes.

Aside from the application fees, you should also consider your ability to pay the tuition and living expenses in the graduate program you are enrolling in. 

Paying costly application fees only to discover that the school was always much outside of your budget is pointless.

Ensure you check to see whether they offer financial help and inquire about the possibility of receiving a scholarship if money is an issue.

Also, ask about the possibility of receiving a scholarship and see if they provide any kind of financial aid if cost is a concern because the last thing you want to do is graduate with a mountain of debt.

3.Pick Program Over Prestige

Many people fall into the trap of prioritizing prestige above relevance. Because although having an Ivy League name on your resume will help, will the degree you paid for help you progress in your career, or will it just look nice on your mantelpiece?

Choose the program and college that will offer you the greatest return on your investment and make sure you check to see if the course’s teachers and the program are both accredited. 

If necessary, get in touch with prior students to find out how well the program places students in jobs after graduation.

The teacher-to-student ratio, the level of commitment required, and the graduation rate are additional factors to watch out for to check the effectiveness of teaching at a particular institution.

You should be able to get all the information you need by browsing a school’s website, and most schools are delighted to connect you with recent graduates who can answer your questions.

4.Curriculum And Accreditation

The curriculum list may help you determine whether a program is a good fit for you because when reading the course descriptions, you can come across subjects that perfectly match what you want to learn and experience in graduate school.

A good university will have accreditation, and the best universities have regional accreditation.

5.Location

Whether you decide to attend graduate school in New York or somewhere more rural, location will play a significant role in the colleges you select.

You’ll be devoting two years of your life to the program, and indirectly, the location. So you have to choose if you’ll feel at home in a city bustling with cultural events or if you’ll prefer a more intimate setting where everyone knows your name.

The weather is also another problem frequently ignore. You’ll need to consider if it’s always summer there or if you’ll need to prepare for four distinct seasons.

You can even try to take a day trip if your top preference school is out of state to get a sense of the area.

On orientation day, you don’t want to discover that you detest everything about the neighborhood. You should also look into the security measures colleges have implemented to ensure the protection of their student bodies given the surge in campus crime.

FAQ

Conclusion

Although the application process for graduate school may seem time-consuming or difficult, getting accepted into the institution of your choice can make the work worthwhile.

By dividing the application process down into manageable phases and limiting the number of submissions, you can strive to make this round of graduate school applications as simple as possible.

Your final decision regarding how many graduate programs to apply to will be based on your preferred field, financial situation, educational history, and other factors.

According to the standards outlined above, you should attempt to apply to at least four to six graduate programs that you are eligible for.