the price of applying for grad school

[gusl]

Someone suggested I just go ahead and apply to 25 schools. I disagree. For one thing, here's the price per application, assuming that I don't personalize the applications:

* application fee: typically between $50-$75
* official GRE score report: $15
* official Bucknell transcripts: $3
* official UvA transcripts: free (but isn't there a limit?)
* time cost: 2 hours

Cost per generic application: $68-$93 + 2 hours

Counter-argument: where I end up is a pretty big deal, and a couple thousand bucks is nothing in the big picture.

It is tempting, though, just for the sake of getting data. I don't believe there are good datasets of which schools applicants applied to and were accepted into, since the only people who have that information are the applicants themselves (although perhaps some undergrad programs track that about their graduating seniors?). In any case, I've just realized that a post like this one could bootstrap a dataset like that.

Comments

[afanesvoltaje.livejournal.com]

Ha. If this seems expensive, try changing your mind and applying MD/PhD at the last minute, instead. THEN we're talking $$$. Required interviews with 2 weeks notice and no flexibility to arrange the dates so you can combine trips... you pay your own airfare and hotel and meals... plus suit etc... OUCH!

One I was surprised to discover during the application process, though, was that interviewing lots of places was actually an extremely useful experience for me. It was like getting a clear snapshot of a significant fraction of major players in the field across a couple of sub disciplines... where I got to interview lots of them on where they thought the field was going and what skills would be needed soon and why, etc. I learned a ton.

(Just for reference, I interviewed 13 places, of which one was local. If I hadn't been trying to match with a significant other who was less competitive for what he was applying for, I probably would have still done about 8...)