“I would like to complete a graduate school application, when should I begin the process, and how long will the process take?” We get this question all the time. So we’ve decided to dedicate a blog post to answer this question. P.S. College applicants will also benefit from this timeline.
The best time to start the application process was yesterday. However today is also a good day to begin
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There are many parts to the graduate school application so let’s break them down.
i) Select programs and/or schools of interest.
ii) Research school admission deadlines and ALL requirements, including standardized tests.
iii) Register for the standardized tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS).
iv) Contact professors for Letters of Recommendations and Order your transcripts.
v) Complete a draft of your resume, essays, CV, and application form.
vi) Submit your document.
There are people who complete steps 1-6 in three months. Nonetheless, we can tell you from experience that the best applicants complete these steps in at least 6 months. So preparation is KEY.
Don’t wait until the last minute. For the purposes of illustration, we will be looking at the timeline from the perspective of someone who intends to start school in Aug 2024 and will start preparing their packet in May 2023. Feel free to adjust specific dates and timelines to your situation.
Selecting programs and/or schools of interest
Luckily for you, we have a whole post dedicated to how to select programs of interest. Go and check it out! This is the first and most important step. You want to have this completed by May 31st the year before you plan to start school. For example, if you plan to start school Aug 2024, by May 31, 2023 you should know which schools you want to apply to. If you are reading this post in September and you plan to apply in May, that’s also fine. As you read from the first paragraph, today is also a good day to begin.
Researching School Admission deadlines and requirements
Every school has a different application deadline somewhere between December and January. Find out the deadline for each school on your list and write it down. There’s nothing more awkward than missing your school application deadline. To assist with keeping all of these school deadlines and requirements in one place, we have created a Grad School Application tracker just for you.
Aside from deadlines, schools have different requirements for which standardized tests they want you to take and when they want you to send the results. You need to know this information so that you can register for the tests and send in those scores by the required deadlines.
Registration for the standardized tests (GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS)
Standardized tests are exams administered by school governing bodies to provide a platform/metric/standard by which all students can be judged. Today, there are so many discussions about whether these tests are equitable and fair. But we digress. If your school requires that you take the standardized test, register early and plan to study for it for ~1-3 months. Here are some GRE preparation websites that can help you.
Even if your school doesn’t require you to take the GRE, if you are a foreign applicant, it wouldn’t hurt to include your score in your packet. It helps the admissions officer get an idea of how you rank compared to other students since you have a foreign transcript. Someday this might change, but at the time of publishing this post, it is a good idea. Depending on your country of origin, some schools might waive the Test-of-English-as-a-foreign-language (TOEFL) exam, but this is something you would have figured out from Step 1.
It is a good idea to have all your standardized exams written by Aug 31st so you can focus on the rest of your application packet or retake an exam if necessary. The standardized tests are typically valid for at least 1 year (it is valid for longer in most cases) so the earlier you can get them out of the way, the better for you!
Contact professors for Letters of Recommendations
Aside from your application essay (Statement of Purpose (SOP)), your Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is the only other touchpoint the admission reviewers have to hear your story. For most graduate school applications, you will need ~3 letters. It is important that you select a letter writer who knows you and your work well, who likes and respects you, and who has relevant academic and professional credentials.
The goal of this letter is to show the admissions committee that you would be a great addition to their class, so make sure you send your resume along with your draft of your SOP so that your letter writer can write you a recommendation that is complementary to your SOP.
With regards to timelines, most professors will appreciate if you give them at least a 2 months heads-up for a strong letter. If applications are due in December, give yourself plenty of time to contact your professors and reach out to them by Sept 1st.
Order your transcripts
We can’t stress it enough, Order your official transcripts early. No one knows the bureaucracy of your foreign undergraduate university better than you. So save yourself the awkwardness of sending in a late transcript with your application and start the process early. Preferably, as soon you have narrowed down the schools you are going to apply to. Some schools might require you to convert your GPA to the American GPA system, so you might also have to account for that.
Complete a draft of your resume, essays, CV, and application form
That’s the tweet. Read our blog post on application essays. Also reach out to us if you need help reviewing your CV. Make sure you have your draft by October 25th so you can have time to go through several rounds of edits.
Submit your document
Come December 1st, submit your application. PS. The Dec 1st date is arbitrary, the important thing is to get in your application by the deadline.
Check out the talk our co-founder gave on the graduate school application process and feel free to reach out in the comments if you have more questions.
Happy Applying!