Guides

Application timeline guides

Seven guides on how the application year actually runs — for MBA, law, medical, and dental school, for master's programs, and for undergraduate admissions. Each one is month-by-month, source-linked, and honest about which dates are fixed and which depend on the school — plus a resume guide for the document internships, scholarships, and recommenders actually ask for.

Every school sets its own deadlines, fee policies, test requirements, and score-validity rules — a national application service or one school's calendar is a pattern, never a guarantee. Deadlines are usually published 12–18 months ahead and can move, "priority" is not "final," and some programs review applications on a rolling basis. Treat these guides as the shape of the year, and confirm each date on the program's own admissions page.

Graduate and professional programs

MBA

MBA application timeline

Rounds, when to take the GMAT or GRE, recommenders, interviews, deposits, and how Round 1 and Round 2 differ.

Read the guide →JD

JD / law school application timeline

LSAT sittings, the LSAC Credential Assembly Service, September and October openings, early decision, and April seat deposits.

Read the guide →MD

MD / medical school application timeline

MCAT timing and score validity, the AMCAS application section by section, submitting early, secondaries, and AAMC's decision rules.

Read the guide →DDS

DDS / dental school application timeline

DAT timing, AADSAS coursework verification, rolling review, interviews, and the multiple seat deposits most programs use.

Read the guide →Master's

Master's application timeline (MA/MS/MEng/MPH/MPP/MFA)

Why the December–February priority deadlines decide funding, portfolio and statement of purpose work, and the distinct MFA calendar.

Read the guide →

Undergraduate

Undergrad

College application deadline checklist

A chronological checklist for the whole college cycle — research, tests, essays, recommendations, aid, and final submission.

Read the guide →Essays

College essay writing tips

Structure, openers, show-don't-tell, word counts by prompt type, and proofreading — with instant automated feedback on your draft.

Read the guide →

Resumes and application documents

Not every guide is a calendar. This one covers the document that goes out with almost every internship, scholarship, fellowship, and industry-track graduate application — and that most recommenders ask for before they write.

Resumes

Resume guide for college, grad school, and internships

The sections career centers consistently recommend, how to write outcome-oriented bullets, what changes when the reader is an admissions office versus an employer, and the mistakes worth avoiding.

Read the guide →

How to use these with AdmitPath

A timeline only helps if the dates turn into tasks. AdmitPath turns each guide's phases into a tracked checklist and calendar — per-program deadlines, documents, recommender requests, tests, fees and waivers, and a final pre-submit pass — plus program matching, exam prep, scholarship matching, and automated essay and submission reviews.

Turn any of these timelines into a tracked plan

Pick your programs, and AdmitPath builds the dated task list: deadlines, essays, letters, documents, fees, and a final pre-submit pass. One $75-per-year subscription, instant access, cancel any time.

See the interactive checklist

Get a free essay review while you draft

Paste any draft into the free review and get instant automated feedback on structure and style — no account required, one free review per email.

Try a free review

Everything in one place — $75/year

Deadlines, tasks, program matching, exam prep, scholarship tracking, and automated essay and submission reviews. $75 per year, instant access, cancel any time.

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