Timetable for Completing the Graduate School Application Process

Junior Year, Fall and Spring

- Research areas of interest, institutions and programs.
- Talk to advisers about various programs and application requirements.
- Register and prepare for appropriate graduate admission tests.
- Investigate national scholarships.
- If appropriate, obtain letters of recommendation.

Summer After Junior Year

- Take required graduate admission tests.
- Write for application materials.
- Visit institutions of interest, if possible.
- Write your application essay.
- Check on application deadlines and rolling admissions policies.
- For medical, dental, osteopathy, podiatry or law school, you may need to register for the national application or data assembly service most programs use.

Senior Year, Fall

- Obtain letters of recommendation.
- Take graduate admission tests if you haven't already.
- Send in completed applications.
- Register for Graduate and Professional School Financial Aid Service (GAPSFAS), if required.

Senior Year, Spring

- Check with all institutions 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, informing them of your success.

You may not be able to adhere to this timetable if your application deadlines are very early, as is the case with medical schools, or if you decide to attend graduate school at the last minute. In any case, keep in mind the various application requirements, and be sure to meet all deadlines. If deadlines are impossible to meet, call the institution to see if a late application will be considered.

Timetable cited from Peterson's Graduate and Professional Programs Guide.  Peterson's Guides, Princeton, NJ.

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