Six Months Prior To Applying:

• Research areas of interest, institutions and programs.
• Talk to your advisor and professors about interests and application requirements.
• Register and prepare for appropriate graduate admission tests.
• Investigate national scholarships.
• If appropriate, obtain letters of recommendations.
  

Three Months Prior To Applying:

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• Take required admissions tests.
• Write for application materials
• Visit institutions of interest, if possible.
• Write your application essay.
• Check on application deadlines and rolling admission policies.
• Register for the national application or data assembly service most programs use, if needed for medical, dental, osteopathy, podiatry, or law school.

One Year Before Matriculating:

• Obtain letters of recommendation.
• Take graduate admission tests if you have not already done so.
Send in completed applications.
• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the CSS Financial Aid PROFILE, if required.

One Semester before matriculating:

• Check with all institutions before the deadline to make sure your file is complete.
• Visit the 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.