Choosing Profs for Safety Schools

Hey everyone,
So I know how grad schools tend to work - along with meeting the criteria to get into the bloody school, you also need to pick a supervisor. Picking a supervisor usually takes more work than just putting their name on the application form, you usually have to talk with them first via email or phone or whatnot. But what about applying to safety schools, or if safety school is perhaps too harsh a word, at least schools that are not your first choice? Let's say I'm applying to 6 different schools, do I need to be getting to know 6 different professors (one per school)? Seems hard enough to find 1 prof that suits your needs, let alone 1 at each school...

Ari

There should be at least 2 at each school that you have an interest in. but it isn't necessary for you to contact them all (the more the merrier, however).

I agree with this, wholeheartedly. Just because a school is a safety as far as you're concerned, it should still be a place where you would like to pursue research. If it isn't, in my opinion, it shouldn't be on your list. As such, you need to ensure that there are people doing research that you're interested in. As bfollinprm mentions, there should be at least 2 such profs because there's no guarantee once you're admitted that you're going to be able to join your first choice group.

Let me also add that while it's not necessary to contact profs, I don't think it's a bad idea, either. At the very least, you can find out whether they are actually going to be taking on students next year. They might be going on sabbatical or maybe their group is full. This is the kind of stuff that you want to know before you apply.

Alright thanks for the heads up. So then those people who just decide to apply to like 20 schools have a LOTTT of work ahead of them?

Ari

Yeah, it was time consuming (it took several beard seconds/bubnoffs). I actually didn't contact people at about half the schools I applied to, but none of the schools I didn't contact accepted me. This includes some schools ranked lower than the ones I did get into--NYU for instance, or UC Santa Cruz.

Screw Santa Cruz man... those bitches be messing up our groove.

-Riley