Graduate School Planning Timetable

Talk to your advisor and make appropriate curricular decisions, especially if your career goals will require graduate education. If you are uncertain about career options with specific majors, make an appointment with a counselor in The Office of Career Services.

Fall and spring

• Research areas of interest, institutions, programs and specializations.
• Talk to your academic advisor or an interested faculty member about application requirements.
• Research and prepare for appropriate graduate admission tests. Obtain information about graduate admission test applications and scheduling. Often this can be completed online. Take graduate admission tests in spring, if appropriate.
• Obtain required letters of recommendation.
• Seek opportunities to tutor, do research or intern in the area of study you plan to pursue.
• Investigate national scholarships and/or fellowships.

Summer

• Take or retake required graduate admission tests.
• Write for application materials.
• Prepare for possible admission interviews.
• Visit institutions of interest, if possible, and talk to faculty and students in the program you plan to enter.
• Write your application essay. Ask your advisor or a faculty member to review what you’ve written.
• Check on application deadlines and rolling admission policies.

Fall

• Obtain letters of recommendation.
• Take or retake graduate admission tests if you haven’t already.
• Send in completed applications.

Spring

• Register for Graduate and Professional School Financial Aid Service, if appropriate.
• Check with each institution before the deadline to make sure your file is complete.
• Visit institutions that accept you.
• Send a deposit to your institution of choice.
• Notify other colleges and universities that accepted you of your decision so that they may admit students on their waiting list.
• Send thank-you notes to people who wrote your recommendation letters and tell them about your success.