Graduate School 

Start preparing for graduate school early in your undergraduate career. Here is a checklist to help you complete a thorough and effective graduate school application. Please Note: The timeline below is not one size-fits-all and works best for students going to grad school right after completing their bachelor's degrees.

Freshman Year

• Get to know your academic advisor and career advisor

• Develop and maintain a good GPA

• Attend the graduate school fair

• Use websites such as O*NET, My Next Move, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook to research the education necessary for your occupations and careers of interest

• Not sure? Take the FOCUS assessment and schedule an appointment with a career advisor to talk about your results

Sophomore Year

• Develop relationships with your professors and staff. Finding a faculty mentor is even better!

• Get involved with cocurricular activities related to your major and/or career interests, consider a summer internship

• If you are interested in academic research, look into the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC)

• Thoroughly review the websites of grad schools that interest you

• Attend the graduate school fair

• Check in with your career advisor

Junior Year

• Research grad programs

• Conduct informational interviews—talk to faculty members, current grad students, and graduate school alumni

• Inform the potential writers of your recommendation letters about your interest in graduate school. (Letters from CSUMB faculty members are ideal.)

• Continue building professional relationships with professors and staff

• Review your transcript(s) for discrepancies and contact the Registrar’s Office if there are errors

• Start studying for any required entrance exams (GRE, LSAT, MCAT, etc.)

• Check in with your career advisor

• Attend the graduate school fair

Senior Year

The Summer Before Senior Year

• Write the first draft of your personal statement

• Attempt to complete the required entrance exam

Fall Semester

• Get feedback on your personal statement

• Request letters of recommendation

• Order and send official transcripts

• Attend the graduate school fair

• Submit your applications. Applying to—at least—a reach school, a middle-of-the-road option, and a safety school is often advantageous.

• Apply for any grad school aid that is available (assistantships, fellowships, etc.)

• Follow-up with schools to ensure your application are complete

• Check in with your career advisor

Spring Semester 

• Visit prospective campuses whenever possible

• Once you are accepted to your school of choice, send in the required deposit, and decline your other offers

• Thank the people who helped you throughout the process

Consider these questions before applying to Grad School

• Have I had sufficient academic and career exposure to make this commitment?

• Does my field of interest require a graduate degree?

• Will I have more opportunities with a graduate degree than a bachelor’s degree?

• Can I afford it?

• Am I psychologically and emotionally prepared to return to formal academic studies?

• Do I want to attend graduate school right after receiving a bachelor’s degree or should I take time off?

• If I enter the job market and find a job that I enjoy, would it be difficult to continue my studies?

• Am I flexible in terms of geography and handling personal relationships while in school

• Does this education align with my career goals?

Deciding Where to Apply

After you’ve done some research and found graduate schools you would like to apply to, there are key factors to consider.

• Identify faculty in the program with whom you share research interests

• Investigate how the graduate program’s specific strength or focus matches up with your interests

• Determine the quality of the program by talking to faculty members and graduate students in the field.

You may consider graduate school ranking; however, keep in mind that rankings may be based on criteria different from your own

Keep Organized

It is important that you develop a system to track your graduate school applications early on. It is easy to miss a deadline, don’t let that happen to you.

• Track the requirements and deadlines of every program you plan to apply to in one place

• Keep track of your requests for letters of recommendation and official transcripts

Cost

Graduate schools tend to be more expensive than undergraduate schools. Fellowships, assistantships, and tuition reimbursement from employers can lower the cost.

• Fellowships are graduate scholarships or grants

• Assistantships are like work-study programs; they provide students with a stipend to help cover educational costs. You may have teaching responsibilities for one or more courses, while also carrying a full course load.

• Tuition Reimbursement is when employers educationally invest in their employees by assisting employees with the cost of their educations. Employers often have terms and conditions related to this benefit, make sure you understand them.

The letter of recommendation is a crucial component to the graduate admissions process. Start building relationships with your professors, advisors, and supervisors early. You want to ask for recommendations from people that are familiar with your work, so they can write strong letters.

General Overview

• Ask prospective recommenders to write letters for your application at least 1-2 months before the deadline whenever possible

• Use a gentle reminder 1-2 weeks before the deadline if a recommender has not submitted

• Letter writers do not remember everything about you

• Remind them of your relationship- “I took your PSY 300 class in X semester of Y year, my research project was….

• Provide them with an updated résumé and a draft of your personal statement

• Ask at least one additional recommender in case one of your letter writers is unable to meet your deadline

• The best letter writers are people who know you well and can provide an evaluation of your ability to perform and succeed

• Networking is important! Take every opportunity during undergrad to get to know and talk with your professors.

  • go to office hours

  • actively participate in class

  • seek advice about your career

  • do academic research or independent study with a professor whose recommendation you may want

Specifics Regarding Requests for Recommendation Letters

Your goal is to make the process of completing a recommendation letter easy and straightforward for your recommenders.

• Clearly communicate what the graduate program requires in a letter of recommendation to each letter writer.

• Once the recommender agrees to write a letter, communicate the date you would like the letter completed. Consider providing a date before the actual deadline.

• Depending on the graduate school, they may require submissions online or mailed, if so be ready. Provide recommenders the forms, pre-addressed envelopes, stamps, etc. whenever necessary.

• Some schools want confidential letters sent directly from the recommender to the school. Let your recommenders know if they should give you the letters—or inform them about the submission process.

• When a letter is complete, write a warm and sincere thank you letter to your recommender

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