Timeline for Applying to Graduate School
Summer:- Write a draft statement of purpose/personal statement.
- Start browsing through guides to graduate programs and college catalogs.
- Meet with faculty members that you know to discuss your personal statement and learn about possible programs.
- Ask for letters of recommendation.
- Begin to develop your personal timeline for the application process.
- Sign up for required standardized tests.
- Take standardized tests.
- Determine the schools to which you plan to apply, and request application materials.
- Finish your timeline based on each institution's deadline and financial aid deadlines.
- Complete your personal statement, adjusting it to meet each application's specific needs.
- Order transcripts from all post-secondary institutions (If fall term grades are expected, then check with staff in the registrar's office to see if a transcript including fall term grades can be sent in time to meet the deadlines of programs to which you are applying).
- Complete application forms (First, download the form from the university website and do a draft).
- Give your recommenders all the information that they will need to write recommendations for you for each of your application schools.
- Submit applications. Even if deadlines are later, it is good to get the applications in early.
- Contact programs about the possibility of visiting. Make trips if possible.
- If you are applying for need based financial aid programs, you may have to file a copy of your federal income tax return.
