I remember writing the check for my one application fee a few years back. I personally had to withdraw for medical reasons, but ugh, it felt like a lot back then... "That much, just for them to read this personal essay?"

Exactly, I always thought they were taking the piss, first sign for me that academia was an elite club. I'm glad I went through with it, but others may not have been able to.

PhD's in general aren't very family friendly! They're really tailored towards a specific type of privilege.

Most universities waive off application fees if you demonstrate that you are underrepresented and in need. However can’t say how easy the process is. But totally agree these fees are astronomical. @JohnHopkinsUn had the lowest of 25$

Wasn't the case a decade ago, but glad there are exceptions now!

Here @UCIrvine we have fee waivers for a lot of different reasons: grad.uci.edu/admissions/app… I definitely recommend people check it out if you have need!

When I was advertising for PhD students at Cambridge I set up a shadow application system because I felt charging £65 was unjustified when most applications would not make it past initial filtering. It was a waste of my time and I prefer UCLs approach of not charging (for PhD)

This was especially a problem because the funding I had obtained was specifically earmarked for students from less developed countries. For many of them I doubt it would be easy to get a credit card that works with the payment system, let alone find the money to fund it

Application fees are a thing?!