Before you can even begin filling out your graduate school applications, you need to get organized and compile all the necessary documents. The following tips will help you to streamline this process and complete your applications more efficiently.
Instructions
1. Visit the admissions website of each school to which you plan to apply. Find out if the school has an online application or if you are supposed to download the application and mail in a hard copy. If the latter is true, go ahead and download the application so that you have it accessible.
2. Create electronic folders for each school if you are applying online (or at least creating all the application documents electronically). Save your downloaded applications and any other related documents into these folders.
3. Buy or locate a set of paper folders and similarly label these with each school's name. You will use these to store nonelectronic documents (such as transcripts, letters from admissions and so forth) related to your application. Keep them accessible.
4. Review the applications and note important elements such as the due date and what supplemental materials you will need (transcripts, letters of recommendation and such). Create a spreadsheet with these categories across the top so you can fill in and compare this information.
5. Order transcripts and ask for letters of recommendation. Transcripts often take much longer to process than you would expect, and many schools will not accept your application until you have them. If the people writing your recommendations are required to send their letters directly to the school, provide them with preaddressed and prestamped envelopes. Similarly, find out the procedure for submitting transcripts and make sure the registrar's office at your undergraduate university understands to where, by what method and in what format your transcripts should be sent.
6. Update your resume. Even if you are not required to submit it, your resume likely contains information that will be asked on the application, such as which leadership positions you have held and which awards you have received. If you don't have a resume, review the applications and make a list of relevant information that you will need to include.
7. Get on top of the financial element of the application. If you will be applying for financial aid, you probably need to submit the FAFSA, for which you need information generated on your taxes (and that of your parents, if you are applying as a dependent). Find out when the FAFSA is due for your schools and begin compiling the financial information it requires.
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