Graduate School Information

Timeline for Graduate School Applications

    • Familiarize yourself with the graduate school application process
    • Involve yourself in graduate level research
    • Begin talking to professors and graduate students about their careers
    • Start noticing the university affiliation of scholars who interest you
    • Research fellowships and other funding sources
    • Align your MMUF/ADRF research project with your grad school interests
    • Get to know professors who will be able to write your recommendations
    • Talk to those professors about your interests
    • Consider applying for junior year fellowships
    • Take a practice GRE test
    • Begin to research graduate programs
    • Apply to a summer program
    • Visit one or two potential graduate programs
    • Talk to graduate students in similar fields
    • Talk to your mentor about a senior honors thesis
    • Write a draft of your personal statement
    • Refine your list of graduate programs
    • Make contact with professors and graduate students in programs of interest
    • Apply to Financial Aid for GRE fee waiver if applicable
    • Study for and take the GRE
    • Research fellowships and plan to apply for Williams and national fellowships
    • Choose a writing sample for those programs that request one
    • Finalize your list of graduate programs
    • Take GRE subject tests if required
    • Show your personal statement to faculty mentors and attend OSAP workshops
    • Ask faculty for letters of recommendation (at least two should be from your field)
    • Apply for national fellowships
    • Make a timeline of deadlines
    • Apply for fee waivers if eligible; ask Financial Aid office for letter
    • Order your transcripts from Williams and study abroad programs
    • Check with graduate admissions offices that your applications are complete

 

Fellowships, Scholarships, Awards & Grants

 

Financing Resources

    • Financing Graduate School (Princeton, NJ: Peterson's Guides, 1996). By Patricia McWade, includes tips for financial planning, study abroad, and sources of aid for minorities.
    • Barron's Complete College Financing, Third Edition (New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1997). This includes a concise listing of major funding sources for graduate school programs.
    • Getting What You Came for: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or Ph.D (New York: Noonday Press (Farrar Straus, & Giroux), 1997), by Robert L. Peters, includes a section on financial aid that concentrates on obtaining departmental aid and how schools assess a student's financial needs.
    • The Graduate Student's Complete Scholarship Book (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 1998), by Student Services, LLC, lists more than 2000 grants and scholarships for graduate study.
    • The Real Guide to Grad School (New York, NY: Lingua Franca, 1997). Information on the history, current issues, programs and specialties offered, where you should consider going, the job market, resources (journals and websites) of twenty-three disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. View excerpts or order online. www.linguafranca.com.
    • Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Student's Guide to Colleges, Universities and Graduate Schools (New York: NYU Press, 1994) by Jan-Mitchell Sherrill is helpful in planning for graduate school. www.qrd.org or www.indian.edu/~glbtpol/.