Application Timeline
Application Package
Application Timeline
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Sophomore Year
• Select your major
• Make good grades
• Develop your analytical, writing, and research skills, which are skills that
graduate/professional schools value
• Build positive relationships with faculty in your chosen major
Junior Year - Fall and Spring
• Maintain a high G.P.A.
• Establish your plan of action for considering/attending graduate/professional school
• Attend a graduate school workshop
to determine your interest in attending graduate school
• Research programs, schools and areas of interests
- Visit school websites, request information
- Review graduate school guides and directories
• Talk to faculty, advisors, and current students within the graduate programs you're
considering about application requirements
• Discuss the graduate programs you're considering with your Meredith College
faculty and advisors
• Gather information on the required standardized
admission test and take a practice test
• Explore options for obtaining financial aid and funding graduate/professional school
• Determine whether or not you'll attend immediately following graduation
Junior Year - Summer
• Identify faculty members who would be able to write strong
letters of recommendation
• Write a draft of your personal statement
Senior Year - Fall
• Register for and take the appropriate standardized test
• Request letters of recommendation from faculty members
• Order your official transcripts that will include your senior fall grades
from the Registrar's Office
• Fine-tune your personal statement and submit
it to the Career Center and faculty advisor for review
• Complete and mail your applications, which will include your application form,
personal statement, official transcripts, financial aid application (scholarships,
fellowships, assistantships) and letters of recommendation
Senior Year - Spring
• Visit prospective campuses if possible and talk to faculty and students.
• Confirm that your "application package" to each school
is complete. Check with the graduate admissions office and the academic department.
• Evaluate acceptances and rejections
• Send in the required deposit to the school of your choice and contact other schools
and decline acceptances
• Write thank you notes to the individuals who helped you during this process
The Graduate/Professional School Application Package
A typical graduate school application package consists of:
• The Application Form
• The Personal Statement
• Transcripts
• Letters of Recommendation
• Standardized Test Scores
• Application Fees
• Financial Aid Application
• The Interview
Note: Professional schools may have additional
requirements for the application package.