Planning for graduate school should begin as soon as you decide that you might like to go to graduate school.  You don’t need to wait until you’re absolutely certain that graduate school is for you to begin planning for it.  Knowing the requirements for getting into graduate school long before you plan to apply will save you a great deal of anxiety when deadlines begin to loom.

The following is a timeline for applying to graduate school.  Of course, starting your preparations even earlier than suggested below can’t hurt. 

Timeline for Applying to Graduate School

You should start your application process 18 months before you want to begin your graduate program.

In the summer:

• Research possible graduate programs
• Contact schools for applications and materials
• Register for admissions tests
• Check with schools about financial aid options (especially assistantships)
• Begin writing your personal statement
• Start to ask for letters of recommendation

In the fall:

• Complete the personal statement and have it critiqued by one of your professors
• Gather letters of recommendation
• Get financial aid paperwork LONG before the deadline
• Complete applications and mail them by Thanksgiving
• Start your program the following fall

Things to Consider

Long before applying to graduate school, you would do well to keep in mind that some elements of your application will be given more weight than others.  In a study conducted by the Educational Testing Service (the same people who publish the GRE), the following, on a scale from 1 (not used) to 5 (extremely important), were given the most weight on average across 12 disciplines at 151 schools when assessing applicants: 

• 3.9 Undergraduate GPA in the Junior and Senior years
• 3.8 Recommendations from faculty known by members of the department to which you are applying
• 3.6 GRE verbal score
• 3.5 Overall undergraduate GPA
• 3.0 Recommendation from faculty not known to the department
• 2.9 Other academic achievements: papers, projects
• 2.7 Personal statement

The results of this survey agree well with the personal experience gained by those of us who have gone to graduate school.  The wisdom to be gained from both sources may be boiled down to the  following few pieces of advice:

• Get strong letters of recommendation. A tepid letter of recommendation is worse than no letter at all, damning as it does with faint praise.
• Do well in your major, especially in your junior and senior years, and overall. If you didn't do well in your first couple of years, the good news is that you can still make a very positive impression by showing steady and dramatic improvement in the latter part of your undergraduate career.
• Do well on the GRE.  A number of graduate departments place great weight on the GRE, especially the verbal score.
• Although most of your letters and statement of intent will be virtually identical in structure and content from application to application, you should tailor them to suit the unique characteristics of each department.