There are several resources to assist in preparing for these exams including classes, print and online resources. Princeton Review and Kaplan are two reputable companies that offer these resources.
Financial aid for post-baccalaureate education generally is awarded in two forms: gift-aid and self-help aid. Gift-aid includes grants, fellowships and scholarships (institutional or external) that do not have to be repaid or earned. Self-help aid includes loans that must be repaid or work-study funds that must be earned through working on campus. Assistantships where a program will waive your tuition and pay you a stipend while you attend school in exchange for you conducting research or teaching for the program are particularly common in the sciences. For example, you may work in a professor’s microbiology lab, conduct investigations and publish your findings during a research assistantship, or you may teach Writing 101 classes to first year students as part of a master’s of English teaching assistantship for a stipend.
Make sure you research all possibilities before attending a graduate program and annually while enrolled in one. Tips on funding graduate education are available through Oregon State's graduate school.
Be aware of application deadlines. Most programs collect applications between December and March, however, not all. Many schools also use rolling admission in which they review applications up until the deadline. In this case, the sooner you submit your application the better. The following is a general timeline to follow but check each schools specific deadline first to make sure that you are handing everything in on time:
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