Before we start, here are three key reasons on why you need to put together and follow a well-crafted plan as you apply to US graduate schools.

One, US graduate schools have specific dates by which they want applications submitted, and even more, they expect applicants who want to be funded to submit their applications by even earlier dates.

Two, from your perspective, as you prepare to apply, there are several moving parts at any given point. In fact, here’s an ultimate guide that outlines 12 steps to follow to apply to US graduate schools. In short, you’re more likely to be concurrently juggling two to three activities at once, so you can turn in outstanding application packets while also meeting your application deadlines.

Smartly planning your graduate school applications becomes even more critical if you have other commitments apart from applying – you just had a baby, have a family, have a day job, are rounding up your undergraduate education, or in your NYSC service year.

Three, planning your graduate school applications helps you develop a clear and focused mindset. Each application cycle takes about a year or more from planning to accepting admission offers.

So, it’s very easy to feel down or discouraged at some point in the process. You might suddenly feel these waves of emotions that you’re not moving fast enough, that all of your efforts might be for nothing, and trying to go to the US for your graduate school was one big mistake after all.

But if you have a month-by-month plan that shows you what you’ve done, what you’re currently doing, and what lies ahead that you still need to do – it puts things into perspective, helps you achieve small but critical wins, and boosts your motivation to keep pushing for more successes that lie ahead.

Now that you know why you need to create a plan and stick to it, here are templates you can use to help you craft your own plan.

But first, few things to note as you use these templates:

- Most US graduate schools take the majority of their new students in the fall semester (August in some schools, September in some others), lesser students in the Spring (January) and very few students in the Summer (May/June) semester.

So, these templates will be based on the semesters that you aim to start – one for fall and the other for spring.

- These templates are a general plan of actions, and specific events will vary based on the individual, school, and life situations. are supposed. So, feel free to customize the templates as you see fit, in a way that aligns with your specific goals and situation.

Go through the template before deciding on what to do first. For example, you might decide to ask your professors for letters of recommendation early on, even before taking the GRE, etc.

Alright, here are the templates:

FALL 2022 START DATE

If you plan to start graduate school in your desired US school say, for instance, by Fall (August/September) 2022, here’s a sample plan that you can follow:

January to April 2021:
Get clarity on your professional goals
Use relevant resources (thenaija.us, professors, mentors, professionals)

January to April 2021:
Start processing your international passport

January to April 2021:
Request official documents from your Nigerian university
Certificate(s)
Transcripts

January to April 2021:
Review your final-year thesis
Prepare an elevator pitch
Be able to convincingly discuss what you did

January to April 2021:
Write and get feedback on application materials
Resume
Statement of purpose

April to July 2021:
Register for required standardized tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
Pick a date
Register on the website for the test

April to July 2021:
Prepare for your tests (e.g. GRE) (3 months)
Learn more about the GRE test
Take a GRE practice test
Get the right study materials
Take coaching classes, if necessary
Create a workable study plan
Consistently follow your study plan

July to October 2021:
Take the GRE test
If you’re not happy with your score, sign up to take the GRE test again

January to October 2021
Reach out to your professors for letters of recommendation
Give them necessary application materials so they can write excellent letters for you

January to October 2021
Look at funding options

January to October 2021:
Build relationships, ask questions and select your desired graduate schools
Finalize your list of schools
Contact professors and staff in schools to build relationships and get answers to your questions
Reach out to staff and past/present students in schools
Research alumni and their successes
Dig deeper on funding options
Create your short list of schools
Polish your application materials (statement of purpose, resume, etc.) to better reflect the new details you learnt from the schools

October to December 2021:
Apply to selected schools
Complete applications for each school
Send application fees
Get confirmations that your applications have been received
Keep track of the decision dates
Confirm that your recommendations have been sent
Prepare for admission interviews if your schools require one

January to April 2022:
Decide on your school
Get admission decisions
Compare admission offers
Decide on what school to attend

April to July 2022:
Get your form I-20
Go for visa interview
Get your international passport stamped with US visa
Thank your recommendation writers, letting them know about your plans

July 2022:
Plan your travel
Buy your flight tickets
Get temporary housing at your new school
Arrange for travel to your school/temporary housing
Say farewell to family and friends
Pack your luggage
Prepare for departure

August/September 2022:
Enroll at your US graduate school.

SPRING 2023 START DATE

Warning!

Planning your applications and enrollment for the fall semester is your BEST best.

Even though I enrolled at my graduate school in the spring semester, this was not my intention. I didn’t plan it.

I got a funding opportunity that was hard to pass on at my desired US graduate program, and I had all my documents ready to go, so I thought: why not.

Notice how my decision to enroll in the spring boiled down to funding. And that’s why you should strive to enroll in the fall semester.

Mainly because in the fall semester, you have more funding options and more professors are willing to take on new students for research and teaching duties (since fall is the start of the academic year).

Not only that, your school would admit more local and international students in the fall than during the spring (so you have more peers to start building relationships with).

Now, the template for the spring semester:

If you plan to start graduate school in your desired US school say, for instance, by Spring (January) 2022, here’s a sample plan that you can follow:

December 2020 to March 2021:
Get clarity on your professional goals
Use resources (TheNaija.us, professors, mentors, professionals)

December 2020 to March 2021:
Start processing your international passport

December 2020 to March 2021:
Request official documents from your Nigerian university
Certificate(s)
Transcripts

December 2020 to March 2021:
Review your final-year thesis
Prepare an elevator pitch
Be able to convincingly discuss what you did

December 2020 to March 2021:
Write and get feedback on application materials
Resume
Statement of purpose

March to June 2021:
Register for required tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
Pick a date
Register on the website for the test

March to June 2021:
Prepare for your tests (e.g. GRE) (3 months)
Learn more about the GRE test
Take a GRE practice test
Get the right study materials
Take coaching classes, if necessary
Create a workable study plan
Consistently follow your study plan

June to September 2021:
Take the GRE test

June to September 2021:
Reach out to your professors for letters of recommendation
Give them necessary application materials so they can write excellent letters for you

June to September 2021:
Look at funding options

June to September 2021:
Build relationships, ask questions and select your desired graduate schools
Finalize your list of schools
Contact professors and staff in schools to build relationships and get answers to your questions
Reach out to staff and past/present students in schools
Research alumni and their successes
Dig deeper on funding options
Create your list of schools
Polish your application materials (statement of purpose, resume, etc.) to better reflect the new details you learnt from the schools

June to September 2021:
Apply to selected schools
Complete applications for each school
Send application fees
Get confirmations that your applications have been received
Keep track of the decision dates
Confirm that your recommendations have been sent
Prepare for admission interviews if your schools require one

June to September 2021:
Decide on your school
Get admission decisions
Compare admission offers
Decide on what school to attend

September to December 2021:
Get your form I-20
Go for visa interview
Get your international passport stamped with US visa
Thank your recommendation writers, letting them know about your plans

December 2021:
Plan your travel
Buy your flight tickets
Get temporary housing at your new school
Arrange for travel to your school/temporary housing
Say farewell to family and friends
Pack your luggage
Prepare for departure

January 2022:
Enroll at your US graduate school.

Conclusion

For the fall semester, which you should try to aim for, most US schools accept applications from last October to early December (check your specific schools to be sure). Therefore, while some schools have rolling admissions (that is, applications are evaluated as they’re submitted), other schools have cut-off deadlines for their admissions.

Whichever method of admission your potential schools use, these plans would give you ample time to apply with everything needed from you.

Also, having these plans in place will help you easily contact the schools to fix any last-minute hiccup such as a lost transcript, replace a recommender, or confirm that your GRE scores have been sent to all the necessary departments. A lot of the work that goes into your graduate school applications happens very early on – as far back as a year before you enroll at your school.

It will require a lot from you, but by starting early and working with these application timelines, you give yourself an edge to ease the burden of applying to US graduate schools and completing other projects in your life.

So, use these plans in a way that speaks to your specific situation – if you’re still in the university, you just graduated, you already graduated and have started working…

… if you’re studying in the UK or elsewhere, you’re in your NYSC year or will soon pass out of NYSC, or you’re even rounding up your MSc. studies in a Nigeria university or elsewhere.

How about you?

When do you plan to start the process of applying to U.S. grad schools to get your Masters' or PhD?

Post: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us-basics/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.