<p>I've been getting a few emails here and there from schools inviting me to apply to their PhD programs. I opted for this during the GRE, but now that it's happening I'm not sure what to make of it. Sometimes they even offer to waive the application fee. Seems tempting especially since these aren't necessarily egg schools - most of them (in life sciences) I found to be in the top 50. I always thought that *really *good programs didn't advertise. Do I really have a shot at these schools and do they really want me? What are your guys' thoughts on this? What's your experience?</p>
<p>It depends on the program, really. It’s not true that top programs don’t advertise; a lot of them make the rounds at conferences and send out emails to recruit people from time to time. However, whether or not the program is just sending out general emails or targeting specific people depends a lot on the program.</p>
<p>Personally, I would think that you should only apply to schools that are a good fit regardless of whether they’ve contacted you or not. If a school that you are interested in or is a good fit for you does contact you, you can use that as a jumping-off point to contact some faculty in the program. But I wouldn’t apply to some random program that was not a good fit simply because they emailed you. After all, they only know your GRE score and that you are interested in the life sciences, not what your research is.</p>