The key to getting into graduate school is preparation, organization, and spending the time neccessary to prepare your materials. Click here to see a timeline for applying to graduate school specific to UNL including classes starting your sophomore year, or here for a more general timeline for graduate school. As you will notice, fall semester of your senior year will be a busy time if you plan to go directly into graduate school. To stay on top of this, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing all the aspects of your application (from studying for the GRE to preparing packets for recommenders, as you will see below) and also keep track of your progress. In order to maximize your chances, you should apply to at least several programs. You should also apply to range of programs; you should apply to some that you feel you are likely to get into, some that you feel could go either way, and some dream schools. To choose these schools, see the choosing programs page.
There are several aspects of your application to most graduate school programs. First, you'll have a cirriculum vitae (CV). See CV building for a long-term view of the experiences that will improve your chances of getting into school as well as links to writing your CV. Career Services can also help you create a CV that best shows these experiences, and a sample is available here. Note that you may want to expand your resume to include it in a graduate school application. Though employers generally prefer the traditional one-page format, admissions committees will appreciate knowing more about you, your interests, and your accomplishments. Second, you will need to submit a personal statement. Third, you will have to request letters of recommendation from professors or advisors. Finally, you will have to request that your transcripts (including every college that you have ever attended, even if it was just dual credit completed in high school) and your test scores are sent to the schools to which you are applying.
First, carefully read the prompt for each school to which you are applying. Personal statements should present information about yourself that is not readily seen in other materials, but also be very specific to the program you are applying. As seen here, this needs to include your long-term goals and the reason that you seek admission to the specific program (i.e., what professor you would like to work with and what work you would like to be involved in). Most of statments have a maximum number of words or pages that will require you to quickly capture attention and address the important issues, and so you should not expect to finish this statement after one draft. Instead, you should have many rewrites of this paper and have a variety of people read and edit your essay, including professors. Once you have the basic form down, you can re-tailor it to specific programs. Samples of essays and professionals' responses are available here and will at least tell you what not to do.
Letters of recommendation should be written from people who know you well-- that is, then know your interests, career goals, how you are as a student, etc. Most schools require three letters, and it depends on the school if you will include this letter sealed in its own envelope within the packet of your application materials or sent individual by the professor. So how do you get good letters of recommendation? First, consider how would be able to write you a good letter. The more experience and the more varied experiences you have had with a recommender, the better he/she will be able to write a good letter. You should be aiming for someone who you have not only been in their classes and done a good job, but also someone who has experience outside of the classroom with your abilities (i.e., supervised research or an honors thesis). You should provide recommenders with detailed information about yourself, your goals, and why you are applying to the specific school. The more places you are applying to, the more organized this information and all of the instructions you provide to the professors will need to be. A list of information that should be provided to recommenders is available here. Valuable information is also available here.
