Start ~18 months out
In the year before you apply, narrow the field: talk to faculty in your area, read recent work from programs and specific advisers, and be honest about whether you want a research degree, a professional master’s, or a job first. A graduate-school adviser can pressure-test the list.
Tests and prerequisites
Find out early whether your programs require the GRE or a field test — many have dropped it, some still want it. If a test is needed, sit it in the summer before your application year so you have time for one retake. Fill any missing prerequisite courses now, not in your final term.
Letters of recommendation
Ask three faculty who can speak specifically about your work, at least six weeks before the deadline. Give each a packet: your statement draft, your transcript, the assignment or project they supervised, the list of programs and dates, and a short note on what you would like them to emphasize. Waive your right to view the letters.
The statement of purpose
This is an argument that you are ready for this specific program’s work and a fit for named faculty — not a life story. Draft it two months early, get it read at the writing center and by a faculty mentor, and tailor the "why this program" paragraph for each application. Generic statements read as generic.
Funding
For PhD programs, admission without funding (an assistantship or fellowship) is usually a signal to think hard. For master’s programs, ask directly about assistantships, tuition remission, and scholarships. The fellowships office helps with national awards (NSF, Fulbright, and others) that have deadlines the fall before you would enroll.
Decisions
Offers with funding typically hold until April 15 by convention. Visit if you can, talk to current students without faculty in the room, and weigh advising fit and funding stability over prestige. It is fine to turn everything down and reapply stronger.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.