If you plan to attend graduate school, it pays to start planning early. Here are some tip
By Kate Rix Dec. 22, 2023, at 9:09 a.m.
Applying to graduate school can be stressful and time-consuming, not to mention expensive. But whether you’re sure you want to get a master’s degree or just think you might want to someday, following a grad school application timeline will make the process easier.
The timeline for applying to grad school starts early, during college. Even if you’ve been out of college a few years, a sequence of steps advised by admissions officials will help you pace yourself and ensure that you’ve covered all your bases.
How Early Should You Apply to Grad School?
If you’re an undergraduate and think you might want to go to grad school, cultivate relationships with professors in classes related to your chosen field. It will help them get to know you so that if you ask them for letters of recommendation later, they’ll be able to write a stronger one.
Also, hold on to your strongest pieces of writing and share them with a professor you might ask for a recommendation letter, says Celia Marshik, dean of the graduate school at Stony Brook University—SUNY.
“Tell the professor you’d like to use this piece of writing as part of your grad school application,” Marshik says, “and ask them what you should work on to make it better. Faculty can give great advice.”
And it’s also never too early to think about money.
“I always tell prospective students to think about how you’ll fund the program before you get into the program,” says Anne Musica, program manager for the M.A. in Educational Transformation at Georgetown in Washington, D.C. “A lot of students come in after they’ve been accepted and then ask, ‘How can I afford this?’ By then, all external large scholarship and fellowship deadlines have passed.”
Musica and other admissions experts say prospective graduate students should think about how they’re going to pay for grad school while they’re researching programs and start applying for scholarships before they get in.
Think hard about why you want to go to grad school. This reflection will help you later when you write your statement of purpose and during interviews with admissions officers.
“As with any big decision, you should ask yourself, what are you going to leave with in terms of debt? What does a graduate degree prepare you for?” says Bill Mahoney, associate dean for student and postdoctoral affairs at the University of Washington’s graduate school. “Evaluate what is motivating you.”
Not sure whether you want to apply to grad school? Consider taking a course as a non-matriculating student – one who is not enrolled in a degree program – at a college in your area.
“See how you do,” Marshik says. “See how you do on the tests. And if you get accepted into a grad program, most will accept transfer credits.”
Follow a Grad School Application Timeline
Starting early will not only help make sure you meet testing and application deadlines, it will also make a potentially stressful experience a lot easier.
May
Start researching programs that fit your requirements. Think about whether you can afford to go to school full time or whether a part-time degree program is better. Also, consider the cost of living in the city where you would be.
While some graduate programs no longer require the GRE, many still do. Some programs require other tests. Start taking practice tests for the GRE and any other necessary entrance tests now.
June
Sign up for a prep course for the GRE and any other required tests, and register to take them.
July
Request information from programs you’re interested in. Start thinking about who to ask for recommendation letters. For some degree programs, both academic and professional recommendations are required.
When you write to people and ask for a recommendation letter, “start off by reminding them of the classes you took,” Marshik says. “Offer to send materials, including your statement of purpose, a resume and work you did in the class you took with them.”
August
Take required tests. Start drafting your statement of purpose. It may seem early, but the earlier you start, the stronger your application will be, Mahoney says.
“The work you do early will help you have a really polished piece of work to put forward,” he says. “We get a ton of applications every year. The ones that are polished get a better review than others.”
September
Finalize the list of programs you are applying to. Have one or more people review your statement of purpose.
“I always recommend that someone look over it,” Musica says. “Even if you’re the best writer in the world, people will find things that you won’t see. It’s always better to have someone look over work.”
October
Request transcripts from your undergraduate school and from any other graduate work you have already done. Musica recommends that international students use a service, like World Education Services, to translate transcripts and determine credit equivalencies.
November
Take the GRE subject test, if needed. Continue revising your statement of purpose to make sure it captures your unique story and interests.
“This narrative is where you pick two or three things out of your resume and elevate them to answer the question of why you fit the program,” Mahoney says. “If you struggled, how did you pick yourself up? Make sure to align the statement with what you want to go to grad school for.”
December
Submit your applications.
Originally published in US News
