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How To Apply To Grad School: A Complete Guide

Updated: Feb 2, 2023, 2:28pm

Whether you’ve just finished your undergraduate degree or you want to pivot your career, grad school may be the next logical step in your educational and professional development.

But how do you apply to graduate school so you have the best chance at receiving that coveted acceptance letter? Read on to learn how to submit the perfect graduate school application to impress admissions officers. For information on due dates and a printable timeline, check out our grad school application checklist .

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How Grad Schools Evaluate Your Application

The exact criteria for graduate school admissions vary depending on the school and program. Still, there are certain qualifications, including GPA and grades from specific undergraduate courses, that all admissions officers consider. Most graduate programs look for a minimum 3.0 GPA.

A Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score of at least 318 is considered strong and can help your application. A professional resume with work experience related to your program is often helpful or required. Programs typically ask for letters of recommendation and a graduate school admissions essay as well.

Are You a Good Fit for the Program?

Whichever program you apply for, you must first make sure it’s a good match. Consider the following questions before submitting your application:

• Do you love the field of study the program you’re applying to focuses on?
• Do you have an undergraduate degree or work experience in an area related to your graduate school program of choice?
• Will earning this degree help you advance your career or earning potential?
• Do you have the resources to pay for graduate school, either through your own funds or through loans, grants and scholarships? For more information about this, see our guide on how to pay for graduate school .

Taking time to reflect on these questions can help you decide whether graduate school is right for you. You can also reach out to professors, students and alumni to get a better feel for your prospective program. You might even schedule a tour of the campus before applying.

Do You Have Relevant Internship or Research Experience?

Internships and relevant work experience may not make or break your graduate school application, but they can help set your application apart from the rest. Once you’re in a graduate program, you may be required to complete an internship or research work to graduate.

What Does Your Statement of Purpose Demonstrate?

A statement of purpose or personal statement tells admissions committees more about you. This essay should touch on your interests, especially as they relate to the graduate school program. The statement of purpose should also describe what you can bring to the program and why you want to be a part of it.

What Do Your Letters of Recommendation Demonstrate?

Letters of recommendation are important for graduate school because they show that credible academics and professionals think highly of you and believe you would be a good asset to the program you’re applying to.

An effective letter of recommendation is written by someone who knows you well academically or professionally, such as a professor, mentor or work supervisor. It should include titles of relevant research articles you’ve written, academic awards and honors and relevant academic activities like projects, presentations or research studies.

What Do Your Undergraduate Transcripts Show?

Simply put, official undergraduate transcripts verify that you attended the school you said you did and maintained a GPA that’s consistent with the program’s requirements. Undergraduate transcripts also allow admissions officers to see whether you took courses relevant to your prospective course of study.

How Are Your GRE Scores?

Most graduate school programs require students to take the GRE as part of the application process. An overall score of 318 or higher is considered a good score, so you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to study and retake the test if needed before your grad school application is due.

Is Your Prior Academic Experience Relevant?

While you don’t always need an undergraduate degree in the same field as the graduate program you’re applying to, admissions officers typically consider relevant undergraduate coursework, research projects and work experience when reviewing applications.

Statement of Purpose Tips

Your statement of purpose gives you the chance to show some individuality and let your personality shine through. You should aim to leave a memorable impression and craft a well-written, concise statement of purpose to boost your application. See our tips below for writing a statement of purpose.

Follow the Prompt Carefully

Be sure to answer all of the questions in the prompt to give admissions officers all the information they need. Additionally, make sure to follow any guidelines for things like style, font and file format. While these factors may seem small, incorrect formatting can lead to your application being disqualified.

Get Personal

This is your chance to tell your story. Write a statement of purpose that only you could write. Does your passion for medicine date back to an injury or illness you had as a child? Did you grow up watching Law & Order and feel inspired? These details remind graduate admission committees that you are a well rounded person with much to offer.

Discuss Your Goals

Aside from how your own personal and career goals relate to the program, you should also touch on how you can contribute to your school or program of choice. Do you plan on collaborating with colleagues or contributing to your institution’s research goals? Make this known in your statement of purpose.

Know Your Audience

What is the culture of the school or program you’re applying to? What does the institution value? Spend some time on its website and social media accounts to find out. You can even reach out to current students and alumni to get a better idea so you can tailor your statement of purpose accordingly.

Proofread and Revise as Needed

Don’t just write your first draft and send it off. After writing it, take some time to sleep on it, then come back and read and revise with fresh eyes. You should also have someone like a professor or tutor read your statement of purpose and provide feedback.

Interview Tips

The interview is a big part of the graduate school application process if your program requires one. Make sure to come ready and prepared.

Do Your Research

Read up on the university and program you’re applying to so you can sound knowledgeable and interested during the interview. Answer questions such as, how big is the program or school? What have its graduates gone on to do? What are the program requirements?

You can also read up on any academic articles or research professors in your program have created.

Prepare Questions for Your Interviewer

Remember, this isn’t just about the school interviewing you. You’re also interviewing the program to determine if it’s a good fit for you. What career and network opportunities are available to students and alumni? What about grants and scholarships? Will you be paired with a mentor or an advisor?

Practice With Mock Interviews

Practice makes perfect. Look into common graduate school interview questions, and practice with a professor, classmate or friend. You can even practice solo using these 20 Graduate School Interview Questions .

Bring a Professional Portfolio

Depending on the nature of your work, it may be helpful to bring in a professional portfolio, such as if your speciality is print graphic design. Other subject areas like writing or research lend themselves to online portfolios, which you can send to your interviewers ahead of the scheduled interview.

What Does a Grad School Application Look Like?

In addition to your transcripts, test scores, statement of purpose and portfolio, your graduate school application will require some basic background information about you.

Biographical Information

• Full legal name
• Any previous legal names used
• Age and date of birth
• Social Security number

Ethnicity Information

Ethnicity information about applicants and current students is used by the university to see if it is meeting diversity quotas and to share with stakeholders. You may select one particular ethnicity, or choose options like “other,” “multiracial” or “decline to state.”

Military Status

Scholarships, grants and special services can be available to active-duty and reserve military service members and veterans.

Contact Information

• Current mailing address
• Current phone number
• Current email

Program Selection

• The program you’re applying to
• Any speciality or concentrations available as part of your program

Academic Interests

• Specialities in your program that you want to focus on
• Research topics or projects you want to pursue

History of Education

• Undergraduate degree and major
• Academic achievements and awards

Standardized Test Information

• Scores from any other required tests

Financial Aid

Deadlines for financial aid often coincide with deadlines for admissions. Make sure to submit the FAFSA to ensure you qualify for as many financial aid resources as possible. Visit the Federal Student Aid website for more information, and check out our guide on how the FAFSA differs for graduate school .

Previous Employment

• Relevant work history related to your program
• Internship or research experience related to your program

Do you speak the primary language spoken in the area where your campus is located? Do you speak more than one language? These are things admissions officers will want to know.

Supplemental Information

• Certifications or special licenses or training
• Special Awards

Reference Information

• Contact information, like phone numbers and emails, for professors, mentors and work supervisors who are willing to provide a reference

Upload Documents

When submitting your online application, make sure to upload all required documents so your application will not be disqualified.

Application Fee

• Graduate school application fees can range from around $60 to more than $100. You must pay this fee before you can submit your application.

Confirm and Submit Form

• Finally, make sure to confirm that all your information is correct and all necessary documents are uploaded before you submit your application.
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Gen ed writes, writing across the disciplines at harvard college.

• Types of Assignments

Gen Ed courses transcend disciplinary boundaries in a variety of ways, so the types of writing assignments that they include also often venture outside the traditional discipline-specific essays. You may encounter a wide variety of assignment types in Gen Ed, but most can be categorized into four general types: 

• Traditional academic assignments include the short essays or research papers most commonly associated with college-level assignments. Generally speaking, these kinds of assignments are "expository" in nature, i.e., they ask you to engage with ideas through evidence-base argument, written in formal prose. The majority of essays in Expos courses fall into this category of writing assignment types.  
• Less traditional academic assignments include elements of engagement in academia not normally encountered by undergraduates. 
• Traditional non-academic assignments include types of written communication that students are likely to encounter in real world situations. 
• Less traditional non-academic assignments are those that push the boundaries of typical ‘writing’ assignments and are likely to include some kind of creative or artistic component.

Examples and Resources

Traditional academic.

For most of us, these are the most familiar types of college-level writing assignments. While they are perhaps less common in Gen Ed than in departmental courses, there are still numerous examples we could examine.

Two illustrations of common types include: 

Example 1: Short Essay  Professor Michael Sandel asks the students in his Gen Ed course on Tech Ethics to write several short essays over the course of the semester in which they make an argument in response to the course readings. Because many students will never have written a philosophy-style paper, Professor Sandel offers students a number of resources—from a guide on writing in philosophy, to sample graded essays, to a list of logical fallacies—to keep in mind. 

Example 2: Research Paper In Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Cares?, a Gen Ed course co-taught by multiple global health faculty members, students write a 12–15 page research paper on a biosocial analysis of a global health topic of their choosing for the final assignment. The assignment is broken up into two parts: (1) a proposal with annotated bibliography and (2) the final paper itself. The prompt clearly outlines the key qualities and features of a successful paper, which is especially useful for students who have not yet written a research paper in the sciences. 

Less Traditional Academic

In Gen Ed, sometimes assignments ask students to engage in academic work that, while familiar to faculty, is beyond the scope of the typical undergraduate experience. 

Here are a couple of examples from Gen Ed courses: 

Example 1: Design a conference  For the final project in her Gen Ed course, Global Feminisms, Professor Durba Mitra asks her students to imagine a dream conference  in the style of the feminist conferences they studied in class. Students are asked to imagine conference panels and events, potential speakers or exhibitions, and advertising materials. While conferences are a normal occurrence for graduate students and professors, undergraduates are much less likely to be familiar with this part of academic life, and this kind of assignment might require more specific background and instructions as part of the prompt. 

Example 2: Curate a museum exhibit In his Gen Ed class, Pyramid Schemes, Professor Peter Der Manuelian's final project offers students the option of designing a virtual museum exhibit . While exhibit curation can be a part of the academic life of an anthropologist or archaeologist, it's not often found in introductory undergraduate courses. In addition to selecting objects and creating a virtual exhibit layout, students also wrote an annotated bibliography as well as an exhibit introduction for potential visitors. 

Traditional Non-academic

One of the goals of Gen Ed is to encourage students to engage with the world around them. Sometimes writing assignments in Gen Ed directly mirror types of writing that students are likely to encounter in real-world, non-academic settings after they graduate.

The following are several examples of such assignments: 

Example 1: Policy memo In Power and Identity in the Middle East, Professor Melani Cammett assigns students a group policy memo evaluating "a major initiative aimed at promoting democracy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)." The assignment prompt is actually structured as a memo, providing context for students who likely lack experience with the format. It also outlines the key characteristics of a good memo, and it provides extensive advice on the process—especially important when students are working in groups. 

Example 2: Letter In Loss, Professor Kathleen Coleman asks students to write a letter of condolence . The letter has an unusual audience: a mother elephant who lost her calf. Since students may not have encountered this type of writing before, Professor Coleman also provides students with advice on process, pointing to some course readings that might be a good place to start. She also suggests a list of outside resources to help students get into the mindframe of addressing an elephant. 

Example 3: Podcast  Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular in Gen Ed classes, as they are in the real world. Though they're ultimately audio file outputs, they usually require writing and preparing a script ahead of time. For example, in Music from Earth, Professor Alex Rehding asks students to create a podcast in which they make an argument about a song studied in class. He usefully breaks up the assignments into two parts: (1) researching the song and preparing a script and (2) recording and making sonic choices about the presentation, offering students the opportunity to get feedback on the first part before moving onto the second. 

Less Traditional Non-academic

These are the types of assignments that perhaps are less obviously "writing" assignments. They usually involve an artistic or otherwise creative component, but they also often include some kind of written introduction or artist statement related to the work.

The following are several examples from recently offered Gen Ed courses: 

Example 1: Movie Professor Peter Der Manuelian offers students in his class, Pyramid Schemes, several options for the final project, one of which entails creating a 5–8 minute  iMovie making an argument about one of the themes of the course. Because relatively few students have prior experience making films, the teaching staff provide students with a written guide to making an iMovie as well as ample opportunities for tech support. In addition to preparing a script as part of the production, students also submit both an annotated bibliography and an artist’s statement. 

Example 2: Calligram In his course, Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies, Professor Ali Asani asks students to browse through a provided list of resources about calligrams, which are an important traditional Islamic art form. Then they are required to "choose a concept or symbol associated with God in the Islamic tradition and attempt to represent it through a calligraphic design using the word Allah," in any medium they wish. Students also write a short explanation to accompany the design itself. 

Example 3: Soundscape In Music from Earth, Professor Alex Rehding has students create a soundscape . The soundscape is an audio file which involves layering sounds from different sources to create a single piece responding to an assigned question (e.g. "What sounds are characteristic of your current geographical region?"). Early on, as part of the development of the soundscape, students submit an artist's statement that explains the plan for the soundscape, the significance of the sounds, and the intention of the work. 

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Insider Tips for Staying Organized in Grad School – Organization Tips

Being successful in graduate school means staying as organised as possible. Each semester your commitments and timetable will likely change (less so if you’re doing a PhD) and so you will have two organise your tasks and commitments so that they all get done.

Staying organised in grad school means using a calendar and ensuring that you have all your commitments and deadlines placed in the appropriate spots. Make sure you also set a reminder an appropriate number of days ahead of the task so that you have enough time to get it done.

There are also some other awesome tools such as Evernote and OneNote that can help you organise your thoughts and to-do list.

Reducing the clutter in your work areas will also help you achieve a clear mind and stay focused on the tasks at hand.

Learning how to manage your time and your attention will be the number one vital skill that will help you get through grad school.

This article will go through all of the insider tips for figuring out what works for staying organise in graduate school.

How do you organize for grad school?

Some of the best tips on how to get organized for grad school include:

• creating a study schedule,
• using a calendar to keep track of any important meetings,
• keeping your email inbox as searchable as possible,
• developing ninja level to-do list creation,
• setting up a clean and tidy dedicated study space, and
• building a support network of family and friends.

Additionally, it can be helpful to connect with other students who are also attending grad school in order to compare notes and share advice.

Here are some specific tips for your grad school organisation.

Keep Track of Assignments and Appointments

It is so very important to keep track of your assignments and appointments. Knowing what your commitments are ahead of time will keep you organised and free of stress.

You also need to factor in enough time to write your thesis or dissertation – working on it from the very start will help you finish on time.

This can be done by using a planner or calendar. I like to use my Google calendar.

Any calendar will do. As long as you have access to it on a variety of devices such as your laptop, phone, tablet et cetera. This means you’ll never lose track of the most important parts of your week. They will be easily accessible at a glance.

I also set alarms on my phone or computer to remind me of upcoming deadlines so that I don’t lose track throughout the day.

If you have a lot of assignments, it may help to create a to-do list alongside your calendar.

Checking things off as you complete them can give you a sense of accomplishment and help you stay on track.

It is also really important to allow yourself some downtime so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Remember that grad school is a marathon and not a sprint.

Sure, sometimes you’ll have to have a sprint finish but keeping your energy levels and enthusiasm up as high as possible for your daily tasks is just as important as focused work.

Make sure to schedule breaks into your day and take some time for yourself every once in awhile.

Keep your inbox clean

During grad school, you are constantly bombarded with emails.

Emails from your courses, supervisor, friends, family, institution, university, and many more. It can be very easy to become overwhelmed by the number of unread emails in your inbox during grad school.

Keep your inbox as clean as possible so that you can find important information easily.

To do this, you can create folders and tags to organize your emails.

Here are some of the folders that I recommend graduate students start with:

You can also set up filters to automatically move certain emails into the appropriate folders.

Taking a few minutes each day to go through your inbox and delete or file away old emails will help you keep it clean. I like to do it at the end of the day just before heading off so that I can be sure that my inbox is ready for the next days onslaught.

Manage Your Study Schedule

Assuming you have a set schedule for classes, the first step to managing your study time is to find out when your free time is.

This can be done by looking at your class schedule and finding the gaps in between when you have classes.

Once you know when you have free time, you can start to fill in those gaps with study time.

It is important to be realistic when planning your study schedule. Reading and understanding new study material can take much longer than you think.

For example, I had to work one month before any exam to get all of the information into my mind. Some of my course colleagues had better memories than me and were able to revise just a couple of days before the exam – that was certainly not me.

Work with what you know works for you and generally you should not try to cram all of your studying into one night before an exam.

Instead, try to spread out your studying over a period of time so that you are reviewing the material regularly. This will help you retain the information better and be better prepared for exams.

If you find that you are struggling to stick to your study schedule, there are a few things you can do to make it easier:

• try to study in short bursts rather than long blocks of time. This can help prevent fatigue and help you stay focused. I like to work in one and ½ hour blocks
• Try to create a study space that is comfortable and free of distractions. This will make it easier for you to concentrate on your work. I like to work in the silent spaces of a library.
• make sure to take breaks and allow yourself some time to relax. This will help you avoid burnout and keep your motivation high.

Being as proactive as possible with your studying schedule will mean that you are as stressfree as possible.

Organize Class Materials

Organizing your class materials can help you feel more prepared and confident when studying. Here are a few tips:

• Keep a master list of all the materials you need for each class. This could be a physical list or a digital one. I like to have one binder for each class.
• Check off items on your list as you gather them. This will help you keep track of what you have and what you still need.
• Label everything clearly. This will save you time when preparing for class.
• Store study materials in a way that makes sense to you. This could be by subject, by class, or in some other system.

I’ve never been a big fan of having all of my class materials in electronic form, such as PDFs. Having a physical copy and a binder has always worked well for me but maybe I am just a little bit out of touch!

Do what works best for you.

Organize Your Study Space

I know that I work my best when my study space is as clear as possible. Now I’m not talking absolutely clean and avoid of everything but organizing your study space can help you focus and be more productive.

A tidy desk or work area can help you stay organized and on task. Here are a few tips to help you organize your study space:

• Clear off your desk or work area. Only keep the essentials within reach.
• Invest in some storage solutions, like baskets or bins, to help keep things tidy.
• Create a filing system for papers and documents. This will help you stay on top of assignments and projects.
• Label everything! This will help you find things quickly and keep track of what goes where.
• Keep a schedule or planner to help you stay organized and on top of due dates.
• Take regular breaks to stretch and move around. This will help you avoid burnout and stay fresh while you work.

By following these tips, you can create a study space that works for you (and not against you) and helps you be more productive.

Keep track with a To-Do List

To-Do lists are a great way to keep track of what you need to do. They can help you stay organized and focused on your goals.

To-Do lists can be simple or complex, depending on your needs. You can use a notebook, a whiteboard, or even an app on your phone to keep track of your To-Do list.

The important thing is to find a system that works for you and helps you stay on track.

Some people like to keep their To-Do list in their calendar so they can see it all in one place. Others prefer to keep it in a separate notebook or on their computer so they can add to it and cross items off as they complete them.

Whatever system you choose, make sure you review your To-Do list regularly and update it as needed.

This will help you stay on top of your tasks and ensure that you are making progress towards your goals.

Also, I like to have a do not do list.

These are things that I should avoid at all costs as they are a distraction to my primary goal of being successful in grad school. Distractions come in many forms but I know that I am always interested in learning new things and, therefore, adding extra hobbies to my day is not something that I should do – even though my brain tells me that I should be learning new and interesting things all the time.

The things on this list can wait until after I have completed my graduate school semester.

Wrapping up

This article has been through everything you need to know about staying organised in grad school and my best tips for grads.

One final point is to be kind to yourself and take breaks when you need to.

We are not machines and sometimes organisation and efficiency can make us feel like we need to produce the same amount of work every day. That is impossible for almost everyone.

Some days you produce more some days you’ll not be as organised and less efficient.

Nonetheless, keeping or moving forward and staying as organised as possible using the tips mentioned above will help you stay as organised as you possibly can.

Good luck with your studies and keep on moving forward little by little!

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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Sample Graduate School Tracking Spreadsheet

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Use this spreadsheet to keep track of your graduate school search process, including program information, deadlines, costs, admissions requirements, and more.

10 Tools Every Graduate Student Needs

Reviewed by David Krug David Krug is a seasoned expert with 20 years in educational technology (EdTech). His career spans the pivotal years of technology integration in education, where he has played a key role in advancing student-centric learning solutions. David's expertise lies in marrying technological innovation with pedagogical effectiveness, making him a valuable asset in transforming educational experiences. As an advisor for enrollment startups, David provides strategic guidance, helping these companies navigate the complexities of the education sector. His insights are crucial in developing impactful and sustainable enrollment strategies.

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The educational landscape has fundamentally transformed as a result of the innovation and growth of technology. It makes it possible to raise student achievement regardless of what degree and level you’re studying.

With the use of software, apps, tools, and gadgets, graduate students are steps closer to achieving success in their learning journeys. A reliable internet connection and technological gadgets are all that graduate students require. 

As you start your journey toward higher education, it’s more crucial now than ever to understand what tools you need in order to make your graduate studies organized and productive. Advanced studies such as master’s and doctorate degrees are made simpler by these software and tools, which also benefit all graduate students and even instructors in many ways.

Due to their outstanding user experiences and high learner accomplishments, a number of accessible websites and applications have earned fantastic reputations.

Productivity Tools

Productivity tools are programs, apps, or software made to make your graduate tasks easier, making your workflow more efficient. They frequently come with features that let you work together with others, easily access documents, and make charts and graphs to show project planning, progress, and other details.

Microsoft 365

The first in this category is the famous Microsoft 365 , which was called Office 365 in the past. This is a collection of productivity tools and software that includes PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and other programs that may be used for your research, presentations, reports, and data analysis as a graduate student. 

Microsoft 365 is a subscription program that guarantees you’ll always have access to the company’s latest, cutting-edge productivity solutions for professionals in business and students of all ages. This is a productivity tool that has positioned businesses, organizations, and non-profits in a more organized manner when it comes to their daily tasks and operations.

This is also perfect for families and individual users. You have the option to save and continue working on any file that you saved online, as long as you’re connected to the internet. 

Included in your monthly or yearly subscriptions are extra cloud storage and cloud-connected technology for real-time file sharing. With a subscription, you may always get the newest features, security updates, and fixes, along with lifetime free tech support. Subscriptions can be paid either monthly or yearly. Up to five additional people can also share these subscription benefits with the Microsoft 365 Family plan.

OneDrive provides cloud storage so that information may be conveniently accessed across several devices. One of the offerings of Microsoft 365 is Microsoft Teams, which provides students and instructors a place to communicate and have discussions.

This is a free feature and is an effective collaboration tool, as teams can send and share files. Whatever projects, tasks, and research you need to work on with a group, you can easily do so with ease of communication thanks to Teams. 

Your applications will continue to advance since there will be constant upgrades and updates. The support center is constantly on the move for bug fixes to ensure you get what you pay for every month. All five subscribed users can simultaneously use your planers if you have the family plan. This is compatible no matter what kind of operating system you use on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. 

Laptop/Tablet

Graduate students rely on this most important gadget as they basically perform almost all tasks in front of the screen. Whether you are more comfortable using a laptop or tablet, it’s useful to have a gadget that you can bring and work on the go. Graduate students can make use of these productivity tools in numerous ways. First and foremost, this is the tool that will encompass all the software essential for your graduate studies.

It’s wise to choose a laptop or tablet with decent storage capacity, as you may need to perform and conduct a lot of research, notes, analysis, and many other tasks at once. 

Some graduate students prefer a tablet because of its lightweight. It’s handy and can fit in smaller bags. It gives them access to their online learning service so they stay up to date on communications from their teacher or classmates, and using a tablet is more user-friendly.

In contrast, a laptop is more capable of meeting all the demands of graduate students when it comes to schoolwork. Laptops have more features that allow you to perform diverse tasks simultaneously. 

In addition to being more efficient for writing papers and creating presentations, laptops can perform all of the standard tasks, such as sending assignments, chatting with teachers, and accessing online learning resources. It comes with keyboards, making it easier to type and take notes without delays.

It also comes with a bigger storage capacity and is popular for its long years of survival despite being used every day by graduate students. 

Now that you’re quite sure how advantageous this tool is, it’s time to ensure to prioritize these features when selecting the best laptop or tablet:

Storage Memory

Laptops come with hard drives, and this is the internal storage space that is crucial in keeping whatever files and documents you want to store for a long time. The good news is that many laptops and tablets come with bigger storage memory than ever before. Go for a high-capacity internal hard drive so you won’t have to upgrade your RAM later on.

Random-Access Memory (RAM)

Related to memory for your gadget, laptops usually come with RAM, and it’s another important consideration. A laptop’s memory determines how fast it will run. The bigger your RAM is, the faster your laptop can work despite opening tabs and apps all at once. 

This might not be a consideration for some, but many graduate students would want to control their expenses during graduate school. The good news is that today, there are so many laptop options on the market that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a decent laptop or tablet. It’s key to set a budget for your gadget and find options on which one is the best for you and fits within your budget. 

Operating System

The two main and most popular operating systems are Windows and Mac. Most gadgets in the market today use one or another. It may be worthwhile to buy a laptop with a coordinating operating system to ensure consistency throughout your home’s tech ecosystem and ease of use, depending on what other tech items you cannot live without, such as your smartphone or smart home tech.

The quality and size of the screen for your laptop or tablet is another thing to consider. For instance, those who need to carry the gadget everywhere might want a smaller-sized screen so they won’t have to be very heavy. However, larger screens may be a better fit for those who have problems with their vision. 

Battery life is another thing worth considering. Graduate students possibly need to be constantly on their gadgets during classes, studies, or laboratory times. Your laptop should be able to last at least seven hours without a charge. Having a strong battery life makes your graduate life more convenient as you won’t have to look for outlets and charging stations all the time. 

There’s nothing more disastrous than losing your research, thesis, notes, or other important files because you didn’t have backup storage. Laptops and tablets can act up, and graduate students are no exception to losing files. You must keep your study materials in many secure locations. Fortunately, one effective online storage app is Dropbox, and it can provide you with up to 2GB of free storage. 

Education has been one of Dropbox’s fastest-growing markets. Individuals and groups may easily explore, manage, review, and distribute complicated files of any kind from any location to any device with Dropbox. Choosing tools that grow with you from the outset is simple, and that’s what Dropbox has been focusing on. 

They have also just formed new alliances with top educational applications that will enhance the day-to-day experiences of academics, researchers, and students on campuses all over the world. In addition to Blackboard and Canvas—their current Dropbox education partners—they will now have access to Pronto, WeVideo, and Klaxoon. These partnerships are focused on the objective of simplifying the management of client information and facilitating collaboration.

Writing Tools

Software or apps that facilitate writing is referred to as writing tool. These resources are widely used in classroom instruction, individual projects, or thesis writing. Here are some tools that can help graduate students as they write reports, thesis, and research:

Genei.io is pronounced “jee-nee” for those who are perplexed about how to read it. With Genei, you may become a more productive graduate student and feel more confident while taking on academic reading and research assignments. Many graduate students and advanced learners utilize Genei for writing essays, editing projects, making presentations, and writing literary reviews.

Genei is a research tool that uses artificial intelligence to read, annotate, and take notes. It can assist you as a student in organizing your research process, keeping up with readings, and being ready for assignments, essays, presentations, reports, and tests.

To put it briefly, with the help of artificial intelligence technology, Genei can help generate summaries of the books you read and lets you create notes by utilizing its summarization and paraphrasing tools. Genei can assist if you have trouble finishing your reading lists and staying focused on lengthy materials. Particularly if reading intimidates you and you have trouble reading critically.

Aside from the writing support feature, Genei also comes with a time management feature. You may save time and effort by using Genei.io to search for, sort through, and summarize articles swiftly. This will help you quickly get to the main concepts and absorb longer materials.

The trial period is 14 days. A 40% discount is offered for an annual subscription to the academic edition. You can subscribe to the basic plan for $5 per month, and the premium version is $20 per month. 

More benefits and features of Genei.io:

Notes Compilation

Without the need to invest in highlighters and markers, you can annotate notes through Genei. Underline and emphasize sections through this app feature. Notes can be generated in the notepad for specific documents or the whole project folder. From the document overview, you can click to add the AI-powered summaries and keywords to the notepad.

You may also choose which paragraphs to summarize, paraphrase, or write directly into your notepad. By just choosing the pertinent information in your notebook, you may get to the source of each of these notes. These notes will all continue to be connected to it. 

Effective Reading

Reading lengthy articles, columns, books, and research papers are all expected tasks during graduate school. Genei can help you with all that reading. You may read 70% faster using Genei, an artificial intelligence tool that creates a summary of the stuff you’ve read.

In the Document Overview section, there will be a provision of keywords used, summaries, a document overview, and references. Genei’s updated summary procedure speeds up the process of extracting information. 

Organization

Your reading material, comments, and notes may all be maintained in one place using Genei’s document management and file storage system capabilities. You may organize your reading materials into projects and folders, and you can mark items as read or unread to monitor your progress.

This provides you with a location to arrange all of the readings required for the assignments, examinations, and modules. Genei is an all-in-one study workspace that lets you read, annotate, take notes, and organize your work using draggable tabs in addition to storing files. 

Google Docs

Graduate students are expected to do a lot of academic writing. Another tool in your arsenal is Google Docs. The teacher can review materials shared by the students for feedback and editing recommendations. Students with access to the internet can work on documents from any location.

Public document sharing is another option, and everything is immediately saved automatically, so you won’t have to fear losing all your hard work constantly.

Academic writing trends are focused on tighter rules against plagiarism in addition to content quality, correctness, and language and mechanics. Because of this, the top academic writing tools, such as grammar checks, citation generators, and plagiarism detectors, are your allies in producing excellent academic papers. 

Graduate students who need to collaborate can find Google Docs very useful and effective. Besides, it is a free online word-processing application. Teams may work concurrently on a single document because of its real-time collaboration and synchronization features. 

Data loss is avoided with automatic saving. You may view documents anywhere, at any time, using a laptop or mobile device, and it works with all other Google apps. Members of the group no longer need to wait for one another to update their sections of the presentation. Files may now be downloaded and uploaded many times, as well as sent and received by email.

Furthermore, it’s very user-friendly, even for those who are not tech-savvy, as it doesn’t require you to download anything. 

Aside from the features and benefits mentioned, Google Docs make it possible to perform the following roles:

• Data Import and Export
• Activity Tracking
• Editing, Suggesting, and Commenting
• Mentioning of Emails
• Document Management Real-Time
• Customizable Templates
• Compatible with SmartBoard

It is considered academic dishonesty to plagiarize.  Academic and research institutes take plagiarism very seriously and punish offenders harshly. Graduate students must ensure that all their forms of writing are done on their own and not copied elsewhere.

While it’s unavoidable not to refer to other research papers, paraphrasing and copying its ideas and context can still be flagged as plagiarized. Hence, it’s crucial to download a plagiarism checker app.

Some graduate students are challenged with plagiarism issues. Copyleaks is an effective plagiarism checker that allows you to copy your texts into their site and they can match and check it online to see if there are sources that have the same content.

You may guard against possible copying by using the Copyleaks plagiarism analyzer. Trillions of pages are swiftly and effectively checked for plagiarism in various forms using our AI-powered software.

You may be sure that all of your writing and academic work is unique by utilizing plagiarism detection software like Copyleaks. These technologies will not only save time but also offer other advantages that can help graduate students stay out of problems with their advisors and professors.

In actuality, a lot of students prefer not to employ plagiarism detectors as they think their study is unique and doesn’t require any evidence. However, they might easily face harsh consequences if they are found to have plagiarized.

Some plagiarism-detecting software provides larger cross-reference libraries, which is an amazing benefit. When utilizing these tools to assess your graduate studies, for instance, keep in mind that many of the papers and books they include are not accessible online. This information cannot be copied and pasted into Google.

Tools for identifying plagiarism in written work include the ability to browse the internet and search databases. As a matter of fact, many applications will search through previously submitted assignments from other students. These tools allow you to highlight any term or sentence that can be found online and compare information from the internet so that you won’t miss any instances of plagiarism in your academic writing.

OmniOutliner

One effective step in academic writing is doing an outline. This makes the entire writing process easier. With the help of OmniOutliner, you can arrange your ideas, assignments, and projects. Make a to-do list for today with ease and manage a project from anywhere. Collaborate with other app users, and share and update your outlines online.

OmniOutliner is an outliner that helps with information organization and bullet-point planning for easy projects. To make relationships between various pieces easier to perceive, use outlines with numerous levels. To each piece in your outline, you may annotate it and attach PDFs, audio files, videos, and photographs. 

As an academic writer, an outliner tool like this is very useful in all your writing tasks and projects. Here are more features that you can take advantage of:

• Comes in different languages, such as Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and French, in addition to English.
• When creating outlines, you could hide sidebars and toolbars, allowing you to write without distractions and popups.
• The keyboard features come with shortcuts, allowing you to save time when typing.
• Identify rows containing specific keywords and filter outlines.
• Allows you to export it to different platforms and formats. You can export it as an HTML, pdf, or Word document.

Research Tools

Graduate students need to conduct a lot of research. Fortunately, app developers have launched many effective research tools. Any instrument used to test a variable or gather the data required to address a research issue is a data collection or research tool. The researcher can accomplish goals and save time by carefully choosing the data-gathering instruments.

Researchers and graduate students can utilize Mendeley the most. It is an effective resource for research papers. It facilitates the finding of data and the organization and sharing of research articles. Users may import desktop documents in real-time, browse cross-publisher content, and save, note, and cite references. In fact, it’s most famous for its reference management use.

It is quite simple to utilize Mendeley as a reference management software program. Additionally, it is free and incredibly helpful, particularly for instructors and students. More than 7000 reference styles are available for citations in Mendeley.

Authors who wish to publish in journals with specific reference criteria will find this simpler. The simplicity of extracting PDF data into Mendeley is another benefit of utilizing the Mendeley program for online citations. Additionally, Mendeley makes writing data manually easier by allowing data to be entered directly through PDFs. 

Here are some features of Mendeley:

• Dashboard for Easy View of Activities
• Analytics Report
• File Sharing
• Support Different Devices and OS
• Notifications
• Document Storage

Google Scholar

Google provides a free online research tool called Google Scholar.  With the use of this service, graduate students may look up academic publications, scientific articles, journals, white papers, and patents online. It searches academic repositories in addition to popular databases, increasing the likelihood that you will locate the full-text PDF of the research paper you are looking for.

To receive notifications from Google Scholar whenever a new paper is published in your field or by one of your co-authors, you may set up keyword alerts. 

Google Scholar will arrange papers and articles according to the labels that you provide. Important details about the article, including the citation number, versions, and other cited sources, are displayed by Google Scholar.

Additionally, Google Scholar notifies you if another person has referenced your work. Citations are available for download in many different forms, including MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard. Scholars find this research tool indispensable for their research. 

Networking/Social Media Tools

Developing new connections and strengthening current ones are the goals of networking. This is an essential process for graduate students. These may come from business partners, graduate classmates, industry contacts, professors, academic advisors, or even friendships. You can advance rapidly in your job in the future with the help of these new contacts.

Social media platforms allow you to do effective networking online. When utilized responsibly, social media may also support graduate students’ learning, critical thinking, and development of skills applicable to any work setting.

LinkedIn is an effective platform for networking with organizations and businesses. You may join groups and follow individuals who share your interests. Whether you’re pursuing a master’s or doctor’s degree, LinkedIn offers a lot of networking opportunities.

Benefits of being proactive on LinkedIn:

• Job applications
• Initiate connections and networking
• Branding and positioning yourself
• Acquire job and business opportunities
• Increase credibility
• Create a positive social image

There are many practical experiences graduate students have while utilizing social media for learning. Students may use Facebook for academic purposes as well, such as group projects, conversations, and obtaining further help from others.

To gain input from their peers, students can form Facebook groups and pose questions to one another. They may trade links, including videos, via private conversations and on the wall of the group page. When a student runs into problems when studying or getting ready for an assignment, they may use Facebook to ask questions, exchange information, and talk with other students.

Some research shows that Instagram boosts students’ enthusiasm for learning and involvement in class activities. Graduate students are usually adult learners who enjoy this social media platform filled with diverse posts and users all over the world.

Users prefer to use Instagram for educational and language learning reasons, making it the most often utilized social media site. Based on the accomplishment ratings, it was also discovered that Instagram helped students learn languages, gain broader insights, and become open-minded to other points of view and cultures. All these are beneficial in graduate studies.  

Every aspect of people’s lives has been transformed by technology, and education is no different. You should weigh the benefits and drawbacks of any educational software or tool you are thinking of implementing for your graduate school journey. Hopefully, you can choose the best tools and improve your graduate experience even more. 

Additional Resources:

• Great AI Tools You Can Use to Speed Up and Assist Your Research and Paper Writing
• Best Note-Taking Apps for Grad School Students
• Most Affordable Master’s in Healthcare Graduate School Programs

Related Posts

We’re certain of one thing—your search for more information on picking the best graduate degree or school landed you here. Let our experts help guide your through the decision making process with thoughtful content written by experts.

10 Great Apps for Grad Students

As a busy grad student, your typical school day might include presenting a group project, acing an exam, meeting with your advisor, completing three reading assignments, and attending an evening networking event . It’s a lot to keep track of—but don’t worry, there’s an app for that.

To get the most out of your mobile device while in school, check out these great apps, which helped me stay organized and on top of things while writing my dissertation:

1. Evernote

Evernote is great for syncing your notes (think reading summaries, annotated bibliographies, meeting proceedings) across devices, but it's also an audio recorder. You can use it to record parts of a lecture or ideas for a research paper.

2. Penultimate

Miss the days of scribbling notes in a notebook instead of typing them on your computer? Penultimate is an easy-to-use handwriting app for iPad, so you’ll get the experience of writing on paper with the flexibility of using a tablet. You’ll need a stylus, but they’re very affordable

3. iStudiez Pro

This is an excellent tool for prioritizing your assignments and keeping track of your schedule. iStudiez can sync with your calendar, alert you when an assignment is almost due, and help you visualize your week—which is great if you tend to over-commit.

4. iProcrastinate

Love to-do lists? This app lets you organize all of your tasks into one place, set priority levels for each, and break down your long-term assignments into more manageable parts. Your task lists can be shared with and edited by multiple users, making it also a great tool for group projects.

Dropbox is a must-have, and it’s free! The app allows you to share your documents, videos, photos, and other files with anyone, anywhere. You can also use it to access your own files while on the go. Just think: You’ll never have to email yourself a file again!

Don’t worry about bringing your laptop to school when it’s your turn to lead discussion—Keynote’s got you covered. Sort of like a mobile PowerPoint, the app lets you design and display your presentation from any mobile device.

Pocket can help you keep interesting distractions at bay—use it to bookmark articles and webpages you don’t have time to read, but want to come back to at a later date. Best of all, you can read anything you’ve saved even without WiFi.

8. Mendeley

Mendeley is a fantastic tool for grads serious about research—it’s like a personal research assistant, helping you to collect, organize, cite, and share research. Search Mendeley’s catalog of over 30 million research papers, import references, and create personal libraries for each project you’re working on.

9. PDF Expert

This app is great for annotating and organizing all those PDFs. It can also auto sync with Dropbox, allowing you to access your annotated files from any device at any time.

10. Outliner

One of the most daunting tasks of writing a term paper is, of course, building the outline. But this app helps you to organize your thoughts or tasks into an easily editable outline format, whether inspiration hits you at your desk or on the subway.

Check out these apps and tell us what you think. Have any other recommendations? Let us know on Twitter !

Get the Reddit app

Discussion forum for current, past, and future students of any discipline completing post-graduate studies - taught or research.

Using ChatGPT to aid in your daily grad school tasks.

Hey fellow grad students,

I am interested in how others have been using ChatGPT to aid in their daily tasks without resorting to unethical practices such as cheating.

Personally, I have been using ChatGPT to generate outlines and summaries for my research papers. I simply input my research question or topic, and ChatGPT generates an outline or summary based on the information available online. This has saved me a lot of time and effort, and I still get to learn and understand the material. It also helps me get out of writers block.

Another way I have been using ChatGPT is by pasting my syllabus into it and generating a study schedule. ChatGPT analyzes the syllabus and suggests a schedule based on the workload and deadlines. This has helped me stay organized and on track with my coursework.

So, how have you been using ChatGPT in your grad school journey? Let's share our experiences and learn from each other. Remember, let's keep the conversation ethical and focused on using ChatGPT to aid our learning, not to cheat.

Looking forward to your responses!

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New Graduate Student Checklist

• Publication date August 9, 2024
• Categories: Grad School , Tips and Tricks
• Categories: grad students , graduate school , international students , online grad school , online learning , packing list , preparing for grad school , what to bring

Starting grad school is an exciting step in your educational journey! Before you jump into learning, there are many items you may need to purchase or tasks you need to do beforehand. In this blog, we have compiled a convenient list of what you need to do or buy to succeed.  

* International Students : Please be aware that you may need to acquire additional items and complete extra tasks before arriving in the United States. Stay in regular contact with your university to ensure you meet all entry requirements and are fully prepared.  

Items to buy for in-person graduate students before classes begin:  

• Laptop and/or tablet: Make sure it meets the specifications of your courses.  
• Notebooks: For notetaking.  
• Writing supplies: Pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers, sticky notes, etc.  
• Backpack or bag: Durable and comfortable to carry books, laptops, etc.  
• Textbooks and other required course materials: These should be spent by your course instructors prior to classes beginning.  
• Planner or calendar:  Organize your daily schedule.  
• Comfortable walking shoes: For walking between classes on campus.  
• Water bottle: Stay hydrated on campus and between classes.  
• Snacks or other food items: If you get hungry for a quick snack.  
• Personal hygiene Items: Hand sanitizer, tissues, face masks.  
• Room Essentials: Bedding, toiletries, and other personal items if living on campus- see our printable PDF!  

 Items to buy for online grad students before classes begin:  

• Laptop/tablet with webcam: For attending virtual classes and meetings, and make sure the laptop matches your course requirements.  
• High-speed, reliable internet connection: For smooth online learning and video meetings.  
• Desk and comfortable chair: Having a good setup is important to be comfortable for long hours of studying and classes.  
• Headphones with microphone: Invest in a high-quality set that ensures clear audio and durability, providing you with reliable performance throughout your studies . 
• Notebooks or digital note-taking tools: For organizing your notes.  
• Planner or calendar: For managing deadlines, schedules, and meetings.  
• Blue light glasses: To reduce eye strain from screen time.  
• External hard drive/cloud storage: For backing up important files and assignments.  
• Study supplies: Pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes, etc.  

Join WPI’s vibrant community with 50+ graduate programs and certificates!

Important Tasks to Complete Prior to Graduate Classes  

In addition to gathering essential items, there are several important tasks to complete before classes begin. Below is a list of recommended actions to help you prepare. Be sure to carefully review all communications from your school and promptly complete any required steps. Some tasks may be addressed during orientation, so stay on top of your emails to ensure you’re informed and ready. 

Tasks to complete for all grad students:  

• Set up your student email account: Do this as soon as possible so you can be on top of any paperwork or other tasks that need to be completed before the start of classes.  
• Register for classes: Ensure you’re enrolled in the required courses; you may be asked to do this during orientation  
• Familiarize yourself with campus/online platforms: Know where to find resources, important buildings, and support services.  
• Introduce yourself to your Academic Advisor: If you’ve been assigned an academic advisor, it’s a good idea to reach out and introduce yourself before the academic year begins.   
• Plan your schedule: Organize your class times, study times, work, and personal time.  
• Review class syllabi: Understand your course requirements, materials, and deadlines  
• Buy or rent textbooks: Get any necessary materials before classes start so you are prepared.  
• Research student organizations: See if there are any organizations you would be interested in being a part of.  
• Set up financial aid and billing: Ensure your tuition fees are paid and ask the bursar’s office if you have any questions about your financial aid.  
• Check health insurance coverage: Some schools require you to have health insurance, especially if you live on campus. Make sure your coverage meets the requirements.  

Additional tasks for in-person graduate students to complete before arriving on campus:   

• Move-in arrangements: Coordinate your move to campus housing.  
• Explore campus: Locate your classrooms, library, dining halls, and other important places.  
• Attend orientation: Attend all orientation sessions to make the most out of your first few days  
• Set up a bank account: If you’re moving to a new location, setting up a local bank account might be helpful.  

Additional tasks for online graduate students to complete before classes begin:  

• Set up your study space: Create a distraction-free environment conducive to studying.  
• Get comfortable your online Learning Management System (LMS) or platform: Become proficient in the tools and platforms your courses will use (e.g., Zoom, Blackboard, Canvas).  
• Time management tools: Use apps and tools to help manage your time effectively.  
• Technical support: Know where to get help if you have technical issues.  
• Engage in online communities: Join forums or social media groups related to your program to stay connected.  

Preparing for graduate school involves more than just packing the right items; it requires careful planning and proactive engagement with your academic environment. By completing the recommended tasks and ensuring you have the necessary supplies, you’ll set yourself up for a successful and smooth transition into your studies. Remember to stay informed by regularly checking your school communications and don’t hesitate to reach out for support when needed. With the right preparation, you can focus on making the most of your graduate experience and achieving your academic goals. 

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• May 14, 2023

The 8 Best Student Planners for College & Grad School 2024

No matter what level of schooling you’re at, a student planner is essential. This tool helps you track assignments, due dates, upcoming tests, and projects. The best academic planners make it easy to stay organized and finish your work on time.

Studying for the ACT? Start Here .

Our top choice for the best student planner is the Centered Student Planner . This is a great grad school planner thanks to its coaching, guidance, and positive layout. It sets itself apart from most college planners with its encouragement.

Designed by a professor, this planner offers key organizational tools along with positive reinforcement!

• Available in 5 colors with a clip-in bookmark
• Visual weekly and monthly spreads to track your assignments
• Patient guidance and encouragement as you go
• 50 weekly to-do lists included
• Won’t appeal to people seeking an undated planner

The 8 Best Student Planners for College & Grad School

The centered student planner.

The Centered Student Planner is the top college planner choice on the market. It uses psychology to help motivate you and organize your tasks. The horizontal layout helps you to visualize your time, so you can utilize your free time to the greatest effect.

Available in 5 colors, this durable and high-quality student planner covers the 2023-2024 school year. Every design includes a linen cover and heavy paper that’s resistant to bleeding. As you move through the year, the planner offers guidance and coaching to help you through the ups and downs.

• Size: 7”x9”
• Length: 2023-2024 academic year
• Dated or Undated: Dated
• Features: Bookmark, weekly and monthly spreads, 50 to-do lists

Digital Student Planner

This digital planner is the best choice for college students who prefer to organize their lives through an iPad. You’ll have the PDF available as soon as you download it. There are three color schemes to choose from, as well as your choice of six colors. The purchase also includes a zipped folder of 485 stickers that can be integrated into Goodnotes.

This planner isn’t meant to be used as a daily agenda. But it will help you keep track of your yearly to-dos, broad weekly planning, basic timetables, and classes. There are also free note pages and several section dividers.

For more digital student planner ideas, check out these 5 Best GoodNotes Planners for Ipads .

• Size: Digital PDF file
• Length: One year
• Dated or Undated: Undated
• Features: Digital PDF, 6 covers, 3 color schemes, digital stickers, weekly planning

Compatible with Goodnotes and Notability, this digital student planner is easy to use and customize!

• Digital PDF compatible with Goodnotes and Notability
• Weekly plans and timetables with key dates
• Several free note pages with multiple line and grid styles
• 6 covers, 5 included dividers, and 485 digital stickers in a zipped folder
• Not made for daily use, so it supplements a daily planner

Erin Condren Academic Planner

If you’re in grad school, this academic planner is a must-have. The sturdy binding uses a laminate cover and plated aluminum coil. Inside, the pages are heavy Mohawk paper that’s resistant to bleeding. You also get two basic sticker sheets along with a holiday sticker sheet.

In addition to the monthly and weekly spreads, there are places to record monthly productivity notes. You also have detailed pages to track exams and projects over time. In grad school, that’s a godsend. There are 40 lined pages for notes at the end of the planner that can be used for whatever you need.

• Features: Class schedule, monthly and weekly spreads, project and exam pages, notes

Organized and effective, this helpful planner can be built with multiple sizes and binding options!

• 2 sizes, 2 bindings, extra pages available
• 4 note pages after every month
• Weekly, monthly, and yearly planning
• Project and assignment tracking
• May be too many options for some people

Indeme Pocket Planner

This pocket planner is just 6.3 inches in length and 3.8 inches wide, making it easy to slip into a pocket or purse. It runs from July 2023 to June 2024. There is a pen holder to keep track of your writing utensils, along with an elastic closure, pocket, and page divider.

Inside, you’ll find monthly pages that give you a broad overview of the coming month. The weekly pages allow you to take notes for your daily plans and obligations. There are two ribbon bookmarks and a dozen monthly tabs. The planner comes in a beautiful gift box, making it an excellent choice if you’re looking for a gift

• Size: 3.8”x6.3”
• Length: July 2023 to June 2024
• Features: Pocket size, monthly and weekly pages, pen holder, elastic closure, bookmarks

This dated pocket planner is a great choice for anyone who needs a compact day-to-day planner!

• Small enough to hold in a pocket or purse
• Monthly and weekly pages to track plans
• Pen holder, 2 bookmarks, and elastic closure
• Comes in beautiful gift box, making it an ideal gift
• May be too small to keep track of hectic assignment loads

Live Whale Academic Planner

The Live Whale student planner is designed to help you take charge of your life. In addition to the usual monthly and weekly spreads, it also lets you schedule your days down to the hour. If you need to figure out how to finish your assignments without burning out, this tool is a huge help.

There are other helpful tools included as well. For example, you can use a daily gratitude journal to reflect, a vision board to follow your goals, and an expense tracker to handle your budget. A pen loop lets you keep your pen safe, while a hidden pocket can hold loose papers and other items.

• Size: 8.3”x5.5”
• Features: Scheduling, daily and monthly planning, hourly planning, vision board

With special scheduling tools that let you plan your days by the hour, this is a perfect time management planner!

• Detailed hourly, weekly, and monthly planning tools
• Includes a gratitude journal, expense tracker, and vision board
• Undated and flexible enough for any student’s needs
• Comes with a hidden pocket, pen loop, and reinforced corners
• Wellness features might not appeal to everyone

Lemome Faux Leather Student Planner

The Lemome planner is a beautifully-bound item available in four different colors. It follows the 2023-2024 school year from July 2023 to June of 2024. Every month has a monthly spread with notes, while you can also make more detailed daily plans with the weekly spreads. Holidays are already highlighted in the schedule.

The weekly view makes it easy to keep track of everything you’re doing each week. Whether you’re tracking projects, exams, or assignments, the spread helps you divide your time. The planner itself has a durable hardcover with an elastic closure and two bookmarks. Inside is a reference guide and interior pocket that can hold your papers.

• Size: 5.75”x8.25”
• Features: Notes pages, bookmarks, inner pocket, pen holder, weekly and monthly spreads

With a number of different colors and beautiful binding, this student planner is a great way to keep your papers safe!

• Weekly and monthly planning pages with space for notes
• 4 cover colors available
• Sturdy hardcover with an elastic closure and inside pocket
• 88 pages with calendar stickers and 2 bookmarks
• Not as many detailed organizer sheets as some options

Smart Planner Pro Undated Daily Planner

This undated planner covers 13 months and has 52 weekly spreads. You can choose from ten different cover colors, ranging from black to bright yellow to orange to blue to red. Whether you want a neutral tone or a bright jewel tone, there’s something that will suit you.

In addition to the monthly and weekly spreads, there are also sections for notes, affirmations, and habit tracking. You can use the planner to stay on top of daily tasks while working toward long-term goals. It also comes with three bookmarks and an expandable inside pocket for maximum storage.

• Length: 13 months
• Features: Weekly and monthly spreads, expandable inside pocket, bookmarks, elastic closure

This smart planner uses a scientific approach to help you organize to your heart’s content!

• 13 undated months with 52 weekly spreads
• Available with 10 bright and neutral cover colors
• Comes with an expanding inside pocket and 3 bookmarks
• Includes affirmations, notes, and goals pages
• Not the cheapest item on the list

Academic Student Planner Buying Guide

What should a college planner have.

A college planner should have enough organizational tools to keep you on track. Some options, like the Smart Planner , use science to help keep you motivated and organized.

You’ll need to be able to keep track of daily and weekly assignments. You also need to follow your class schedule, plan projects, and have space for notes. Some academic planners are designed to work alongside daily planners, like the Digital Planner .

Deciding Between a Digital Planner, PDF Download, or Printed

The right planner will depend on your needs. Some people prefer digital planners that can be accessed through apps. Others prefer a PDF download that can then be printed or annotated through apps like Goodnotes.

Printed planners are already hardbound. These come with a finite number of pages, but they’re also often more durable than DIY planners. You can find printed planners that also come with bookmarks and interior pockets, like the Lemome Faux Leather planner.

Dated or Undated Planners?

Dated planners like the Lemome weekly/monthly planner allow you to follow a specific schedule and are much more convenient for those looking to get started with their planner right away. They also have major holidays and potentially other reminders outlined for you already.

Undated planners are more flexible, so you can make the most of the pages. But you will need to fill in the dates by hand, which some people find inconvenient.

How to Bind a PDF Planner Yourself

Binding a PDF planner is a project that varies. You’ll need to decide what kind of binding to use. The easiest option is to put the printed PDF pages into an actual binder.

There are other options as well. Some Youtube tutorials can walk you through attaching a spiral binding and cover to your planner without a machine. 

For an even more in-depth craft project, you might explore glue bindings as well.

Planner Accessories

Planner accessories can be used to add an extra layer of organization and visual coding. Some people use writing utensils like the iBayam journal pens , which have 18 different colors to write in. You might also highlight with different colors from an Amazon Basics pack .

Smart fine line coloring pens make for a great way to jazz up your planner and organizer.

Carrying around that many writing utensils might be a pain, though. It’s easy for them to get trapped at the bottom of your backpack. That’s why accessories like the iSuperb pencil case are also so helpful.

College & Grad School Planners FAQ

Do you need a planner for college.

Yes. College daily planners will make it a lot easier to keep track of your schedule, assignments, and projects.

Are there any academic planners online for free?

There are some online academic planner templates that you can access and customize for free. But investing in a high quality student planner is a good idea.

How much does it cost to print a planner PDF?

Printing a PDF only costs as much as the paper or printing services, usually around $9-$20. But you might also need to pay to access the PDF in the first place.

Other Niche Planners

The 5 Best Planners for Law School

5 Best Planners for Nursing Students

6 Amazing Nurse Planners for Career Success

Bottom Line

College and grad school can both be hectic. A student planner is one of the most important organizational tools you have. The best planners will help you track your schedule, assignments, and projects. Our top pick for the best student planner is the Centered Student Planner . It’s flexible enough to conform to many different areas of study. At the same time, it has the organizational tools and motivation you need to finish your tasks on time.

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Tim Walz’s Class Project on the Holocaust Draws New Attention Online

Mr. Walz, now the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee, asked his high school students in 1993 which country was most at risk for genocide. Their prediction came to pass: Rwanda.

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By Neil Vigdor

• Aug. 9, 2024

The prediction was spot on: Rwanda was barreling toward a devastating genocide.

It did not emanate from a think tank, but from a high school geography class in western Nebraska. The year was 1993. The teacher? Tim Walz, now the Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota governor.

Thirty-one years later, the class project is drawing new attention. Mr. Walz, a geography teacher at the time, had asked his students to take what they had learned about the Holocaust to predict which nation was most at risk for genocide.

“They came up with Rwanda,” Mr. Walz said, talking about the project at a conference last month . “Twelve months later, the world witnessed the horrific genocide in Rwanda.”

The project was reported on in a 2008 On Education column for The New York Times that has been widely shared in recent days. Mr. Walz had drawn the attention of the reporter, Samuel G. Freedman, for an earlier column because Mr. Walz was the only K-12 teacher serving in Congress at the time, Mr. Freedman said.

“While I was interviewing Walz for the initial column, he told me how the genocide project was one of his proudest moments as an educator,” said Mr. Freedman, who is now a journalism professor at Columbia University . That sparked Mr. Freedman to revisit the story later.

Mr. Walz, when he delivered the lesson plan, had been teaching global geography in Alliance, Neb., and had been chosen for a Belfer fellowship to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that was opening. Speaking at the conference last month, held by Esri, a company that makes G.I.S. software widely used in mapping, he said the project had a profound effect on his students and bred some cynicism.

“How could a bunch of students in western Nebraska, in Alliance, use a computer program and some past historical knowledge to come up with this?” he said. “Why was nobody doing anything about that?”

Several years later, when he was studying for his master’s degree in experiential education at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mr. Walz wrote his thesis on Holocaust education, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported .

As governor, Mr. Walz signed a bill last year that requires high schools and middle schools to teach about the Holocaust, along with other genocides.

Neil Vigdor covers politics for The Times, focusing on voting rights issues and election disinformation. More about Neil Vigdor