If the student has not taken the GRE, it should be taken now for September admissions. If applications are due in January, it is time to prepare final copies. They should be mailed at least 2 weeks before the deadline. One should keep a xeroxed copy of each application. MAT and GRE scores will be sent by the testing services to schools requested on the application forms.
Letters of recommendation are to be sent out directly by faculty members.
Students should check to see if this has been done. If the student has not received acknowledgement of the April receipt of application material within a reasonable amount of time, then a telephone call for verification may be April necessary. Depending upon their application deadlines, graduate schools begin to send out letters of acceptance around April 15th. The student is usually given a period of two weeks in which to make his decision. It is sometimes difficult to make an intelligent choice since you may be on the waiting list of a more preferred school and on the acceptance list of a less preferred institution.