Senior year activities for enrollment in the fall after graduation:

September/October

• Define your career goals and potential area of specialization.
• Research areas of interest, institutions, and programs.
• Write for application materials and make note of application deadlines. *
• Register for graduate/professional school tests. Information is available in the Career Center for the GRE (graduate school), GMAT (business), LSAT (law). Information on the Medial College Admissions Test (MCAT) and the American Association of Dental School Application Service is available at the Health Professions Program Office, DH 1325.
• Begin researching scholarships and fellowships and make note of deadlines. Contact the Fellowship Resource Advising Center at 8 1969 or go to their website: http://osf.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/
• Attend programs offered during the Graduate School Series.
• Ask faculty members to write letters of recommendation.
  e if you want to manage your letters of recommendation, if you want to utilize the Career Center Credential Service, or if each referral will handle recommendations directly.

November

• Continue researching graduate/professional school options and funding resources.
• Write your application essays.
• Explore the Career Contact Network. It is linked to the Career Center's home page, http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/. Consult the database to see if any of the alumni listed have attended graduate school in your discipline of interest.
• Speak with advisers and alumni regarding program strengths and reputation.
• List tentative decisions about your future and develop several realistic scenarios (whether or not to apply to graduate schools, what to do if the schools you are interested in waitlist you, etc.).

December

• Conduct information interviews with any alumni who may have attended graduate programs that you are interested in attending.
• Apply for assistantships, fellowships, scholarships and financial aid programs early; deadlines begin as early as September and continue through the academic year. Pursue both individual school and national programs.

Spring

• Send in completed applications. A typical application packet includes the application form, an application fee, letters of recommendation, an essay/statement of purpose or bibliography, and test scores.
• Check with all institutions before the deadline to make sure your file is complete.
• Visit institutions that accept you.
• Send a deposit to your institution of choice.
• Notify other colleges and universities that accepted you of your decision so that they can admit students on their waiting list.
• Send thank you letters to people who wrote you recommendation letters or helped you in the application process to inform them of your success.

* A few words about deadlines

• Most applications deadlines fall between January and March (for enrollment in the fall).
• Deadlines can be as early as August for early decision programs of medical schools (for fall enrollment), using the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) to late spring or summer (for fall enrollment) for a few programs with rolling admissions.
• For programs with rolling admissions, it is to your advantage to apply early and NOT wait until the last minute.
• Be sure to keep track of all deadlines and meet them.

Resources for Graduate School Planning

General resources

• Beyond the Ivy Wall: 10 Essential Steps to Graduate School Admission
• Getting Into Graduate School (video)
• Kaplan Education Centers: http://www.kaplan.com
• Princeton Review Online: http://www.review.com
• Getting In: An Applicant's Guide to Graduate School Admissions : http://dave.burrell.net//guide/links.html
• Graduate Guide: http://www.graduateguide.com/

Additional Resources for Architcture Students

• Gradschools.com, Architecture Graduate School Directories: http://www.gradschools.com/listings/menus/architecture_menu.html
• ACSA- Selecting a school: http://www.acsa-arch.org/selectASchool.html
• National Architectural Accrediting Board: Architectural Programs: http://www.naab.org/cal_cat1724/cal_cat.htm
• About.com Architecture School Guide Picks: http://architecture.about.com/cs/schools/
  

Define your career goals and potential area of specialization

• Faculty/Academic advisors
• Career Center Consultant **
• Journals from professional associations
• Career Resource Center
• Hunt Library

Identify and rank schools that offer your program of interest

• Peterson's: Colleges and Universities: http://www.petersons.com
• Graduate School resources binder
• College Catalog Collection Index, Hunt Library microfiche resource
• The Official Guide to MBA Programs
• The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools: Prelaw Handbook
• Faculty members in your department of interest
• Gourman Report: Graduate and Professional Programs (rankings)
• Wehrli's Graduate School Rankings: http://wehrli.ilrg.com
• The Best Law Schools

Write an admissions essay/statement of purpose

• How to Write a Winning Personal Statement

Prepare for exams

• GMAT
• GRE
• LSAT
• MCAT

Research scholarships, fellowships, grants and financial assistance

• The Scholarship Book
• Grants for Graduate & Postdoctoral Study
• The Official Guide to Financing Your MBA
• Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students
• Fellowship Resource Advising Center:http://osf.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/

** Career Consultants are available to meet with students to discuss career goals, the graduate school admissions process, and to review essays and personal statements. To make an appointment to meet with your Career Consultant individually, please call the Career Center at 268-2064.

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