Visit potential choices for graduate schools
- Identify a list of schools to investigate. If possible, make plans to visit some of them over the year.
- Become familiar with the graduate programs at each institution. For example, some Berkeley departments have specific information on their web pages for preparing for graduate school in that discipline.
- Speak to graduate advisers in the departments you are considering.
- Through these visits and other sources of information, prepare a final list of schools to which you will apply in your senior year.
Talk with knowledgeable people at Berkeley and in the field
- Consult with your faculty adviser about graduate schools and programs you are considering applying to. Ask what they know about each one.
- Speak with graduate students and postdocs in your own department about their experiences.
- Interview professionals in the field you are considering.
Begin writing personal statements or producing specialized creative projects
- During the summer before your senior year, begin writing personal statements. Obtain a copy of last year's graduate school application from your selected schools to use as a foundation for your essays.
- Use the Career Center's graduate school resources to help you write personal statements and consult the Graduate Diversity Outreach Coordinator for your division.
- Some majors, such as art or music may require portfolios of your work or compositions. You should begin developing this body of resources in your junior year. Also, in the case of music composition, you will need to record live performances of your work.
Identify potential writers of faculty letters of support
- Start exploring whom you will ask for letters of recommendation during the spring of your junior year. You will need a minimum of three letters.
- You should plan to ask tenured or tenure-track faculty members, not GSIs or adjunct faculty members, if possible.
- If you do not know the faculty members you will ask, attend their office hours or schedule an appointment to speak with them in-depth about your area of interest and your wish to attend graduate school.
Prepare for the GRE or other required standardized tests
- Establish a study program to prepare for graduate school entrance exams. Take practice tests and time yourself. Review areas that you need to strengthen.
- Determine what scores are competitive in your area of interest through your professors or the departments to which you will apply.
- Be sure to practice the computer version of the General GRE test since it is administered via computer only.
Consider how you will finance your graduate education
- For each institution you are considering, review the student budget that estimates the cost of a year of graduate school.
- Learn about each school's fellowship opportunities and how to apply.
- Identify national portable fellowships for which you qualify. Visit the Graduate Fellowship office at Berkeley (318 Sproul Hall) or use the Internet to identify fellowships for which you are eligible through the Scholarship Connection.
- Plan to apply for every fellowship for which you qualify.
- Investigate financial aid for graduate school should you need it.
- Do not limit the schools you would like to apply to on the grounds of expense. Many programs offer multi-year support packages to competitive doctoral students.
Take standardized tests
- Register for your tests early; spaces fill up quickly. Plan to take the tests at the beginning of the summer before you apply to graduate school. In this way, if you need to retake any tests, you will have time to respond.
- Note whether you must take a subject test exam also. These tests are administered less frequently, and spaces also fill up quickly. Be sure to register very early for your test date.
- Consider taking a test
preparation course. Check with the Graduate
Assembly to determine if it
offers any test preparation courses. Kaplan, Princeton
Review, and Testing
for the Public are three test preparation resources. There may be discounts
for university units or groups; be sure to ask.
