Managing your time will be crucial during the year you apply to graduate school. Begin early and organize your materials from the start.

Manage your time
Applying to graduate schools and for fellowships is a time-consuming process for which you will need to plan accordingly. Keep in mind that you will be juggling course work and completing applications once the fall semester begins.

• Start in the summer before your senior year by writing essays and registering and preparing for standardized tests.
• Create a timeline for your activities and deadlines.

Apply for national portable fellowships

• Some multi-year fellowships allow students to apply only at the beginning of their graduate programs or at the beginning of the fall semester of their senior year.
• Obtain fellowship applications as soon as they are available and submit them well before the deadlines. The fall of your senior year will be filled with many other tasks related to graduate school applications and your coursework.

Consider the pros and cons of taking time off before graduate school.
Many students take a year off between their undergraduate and graduate programs. Consider what you will accomplish if you decide to take a break. It is valuable to use the time to enhance your competitiveness. For example, you may want to study a language or be involved in a field study project. Consider using the Career Center’s Letter Service so that you can draw upon letters of recommendation that were written when your accomplishments were fresh in the minds of faculty members, particularly if it will be more than a year before you apply to graduate school.

Apply to graduate schools

• Obtain graduate school applications as soon as they are available. The schools to which you are applying may have separate graduate division and departmental applications and requirements. Many graduate departments require writing samples; therefore, you should begin working on your applications as soon as possible.
• Note and observe all deadlines. Some may differ, even within the same application. For example, the fellowship application may be due before the rest of the application.
• Complete your essays for each application.
• Speak to faculty members who are willing to write strong, positive letters of recommendation for you. Provide each with a curriculum vitae or résumé, recommendation form, stamped envelope, and draft copy of your statement of purpose, which will give them added insights into your academic achievements and goals. Review your courses, accomplishments, and experiences with recommenders to ensure that each is knowledgeable about your background. Be sure to give them plenty of time to write the letters.
• Complete each university’s fellowship application.
• Speak with the contact person in the department to which you are applying. Ask for advice in completing the application.
• Check transcripts early for errors and order copies for each school as required.
• Complete your application by the deadline. Review both graduate division and department requirements. Use a checklist.

Prepare for interviews
Many graduate school programs ask for an interview and you want to be prepared.  Some comprehensive guides include CollegeGrad.

Review your offers of acceptance to graduate programs

• Ask your faculty adviser for advice regarding your admission offers and the programs to which you have been accepted.
• Consider visiting campuses in person. There are often specific visit days intended to showcase the department and university to newly admitted students. Meet with faculty and continuing graduate students in your prospective department and ask them questions that you will have prepared. At the very least visit schools virtually- http://www.campustours.com/.
• Make a final decision based on a combination of your academic, professional, and personal needs.
• Develop a list of criteria to evaluate schools that offered you an acceptance.  This criteria may include points you did not consider before, such as public transportation, housing, funding expectations, childcare and schools for your children, etc.