<p>What MWFN said, word for word. I have been there and have seen posters on CC and elsewhere freaking out like this. Grad school is like trying to get a new job after graduation. It’s a new chapter of your life and it has no structure or instruction manual for you, and that makes it all even more uncertain and scary. Treat it like a job- you don’t know how many applicants are vying for that spot and what their qualifications are. All you can do is just pick the programs that are BEST FIT for you (and them) and put your faith that the dice lands on the right side.</p>
<p>Also as for your LOR writers, while they are happy to write, they are also attempting to be professionals. Unless you explicitly state that School XXX is your FIRST choice, they aren’t going to pull any ropes except to write the best letter they can. There are a lot of politics between professors involved that applicants outside the system don’t know about and it’s not your place to put your nose in it. Trust your professors’ professional judgment. They don’t want to favor one program over another unless they have super close contacts and think that you are absolutely perfect for them. It’s irritating, I know. </p>
<p>Also, only YOU know what your personal strengths and weaknesses are and what you’re happiest doing and you should choose programs that have research that you want to do. Professors aren’t going to dictate where you <em>should</em> go because you want to be in a program that makes you the happiest person out there, not miserable because someone told you to go there. I have actually taken schools off my list that were suggested by my professors because, after deep investigation in the program’s faculty and requirements, I couldn’t see myself there. They weren’t offended when I told them that these schools were poor fit (poor fit = miserable student).</p>