So after probably hours, if not days, of deliberation you’ve finally decided you want to go to graduate school. Congratulations! It’s by no means an easy decision to make, so give yourself a celebratory wank or go grab a beer. Now, let’s dive into some of the steps you’ll need to take in order to get yourself into school. Applying to graduate school can be overwhelming enough, so my aim is to make this guide shorter and more concise than the numerous other articles out there. Strap yourself in because here we go.

Step 1 – Schools, Scores, and Deadlines

Before anything, set some time aside to choose the programs that are best suited to your interests and goals. This can be a product of reputation, location, program of study, etc., all of which can be found by searching the school’s site as well as the general internet.

After you’ve made a list of the schools that might interest you, it’s important to do three things: note their deadlines, the financial cost to attend, and their requirements for admission. Noting deadlines will be key to structuring how you approach applying and prioritizing your applications. The cost to attend will help you filter out schools that might not be within the boundaries of your finances. Requirements will help you assess if you have the appropriate prerequisite courses. Included in requirements, I would also note the types of scores (GRE, gpa, etc.) admitted students tend to achieve. This will allow you to get a rough idea of where you stand in terms of competitiveness.

Step 2 – The GRE

After you’ve established your list of schools to which you want to apply (as well as their deadlines and requirements), it’s time to start turning your attention to the GRE. The reason I list this step after examining the programs to which you intend to apply is simple: how you study for the GRE will be influenced by the scores you’re trying to achieve. If you note that your programs typically have students with higher verbal scores, it’s important to devote more of your attention to studying for that portion.

The GRE is not a fun test to take. It’s roughly 4 hours with minimal breaks and the content can be quite challenging. As such, the key to the GRE—along with this entire process—is START EARLY. DO NOT sign up for the GRE and then begin studying only a week before it’s time to take the test. DO take at the very least one full practice test before you go in for the real exam (the makers of the test provide 2-full length tests for free on their website along with the program that you’ll be using to take them). The general recommendation is to study about a month before you take the test. You don’t want to start too early, otherwise the information won’t be as fresh.

KEY TIP: break your studying up into little sessions each day. Whether it’s 15 min sessions to a full hour, try to practice a little each day.

Step 3 – Essays

In my opinion, this is probably the most obnoxious component of applying to graduate school. Most people are going to tell you to tailor your essays to each individual school, but I don’t believe this means you have to write an entire new essay for each school. More than likely, your schools are going to share the same central idea in their prompts. As a result, once you write a good essay for one school, you’ll be able to use the backbone of that essay for your other schools. Again, make sure you start early and do a little bit each day. As with the GRE, you don’t need to do everything in one day. Break it up and give yourself time because some days you’re going to not feel like doing anything. That’s okay. It helps to take a day off and step away from the process to refresh yourself.

KEY TIPS: Mirror the language of your prompt for each school. If one school is calling their prompt “Letter of Intent,” do NOT title your paper “Letter of Intent” for another school calling it “Personal Statement.” This will make it very obvious that not only are you’re using the same essay, but that you couldn’t even be bothered to make those slight adjustments. Also, highlight your achievements. Now is the time to be conceited.

Step 4 – Letters of Recommendation

This is pretty straightforward. Make sure you ask your professors for letters at least a month in advance. They’ll likely have other people requesting letters, so you don’t want to be in the situation where a professor that knows you really well can’t write you a letter because they have too many requests. This step can also be a little tricky if you’ve had a hard time establishing any relationships with your professors. If this is the case, I think it’s still a good idea to ask professors whose classes you’ve enjoyed or whatever. It’s better to have a generic letter of recommendation than to be short or not have any letters at all.

Step 5 – Apply

So you’ve got your letters, your essays, and your scores. Now you’re ready to submit the actual application, which in MOST cases will be completed digitally. For those that require written materials, you’ll have to adjust your times and prioritize those earlier in some cases. Even though you can fill out a lot of this information before doing any of the other steps, I suggest saving it until later. It’s probably the easiest step in the whole process and it’s a nice way to wind down after doing all the stressful stuff. All you have to do is enter the personal information required by the school application.

Step 6 – Party

You’ve done it. All your applications have been sent and now you’re just left waiting for responses. It might be tempting to stress out while you wait, but try to keep your mind on other things. At the very worst, you can apply again next admissions cycle. Now go grab a fucking beer and chill.

HELPFUL:

GRE practice tests - https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/

Highly recommended: 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems (Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides)