So what exactly is the right timing for applications? When should you be done with your GRE? When should you start looking at universities and their deadlines? Here are a few deadlines i have come up with that you might be benefited in following. Remember, this is not the only way to time your apps business - this one way which has proved successful for many. Many people start so late in the game, but they still make it to some top tier universities.

GRE Deadline: Try to be done with your GRE as soon as possible. Even getting done with it by 3rd year of college is a good idea. But if you are a bit of a late latif - try not to push it further than sept end. That is because if you need to give another shot at the GRE - you still have about Oct and Nov to re-take the GRE.

University Selection: Once done with your GRE, you are already past a crucial step in the apping phase. Now comes the fun part - looking up courses and universities. Try to visit the websites of as many universities as possible and see what you like about their program and what you dont. See the pictures and think about whether you would like to spend a few years at that place. But you need to narrow down your choice to a few universities. You should aim at finalizing your list about end of Oct to mid Nov. Most of the universities have deadlines around the mid of dec. Once you have a freeze on the univs, you can do a lot of stuff like play around a lot with your SOP, customize it according to the specific universities and stuff like that.

Statement of Purpose: Try to get started on the SOP as early as possible. May be right after the GRE if you finish the exam in August. Writing a good SOP takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Its not easy to market yourself to the world in the best possible way without committing mistakes - to minimize mistakes and maximize impact - start early - around August, work on it slowly but steadily, and you should be ready with your first draft some time in October. Try go to second and third draft in Oct/Early-Nov and freeze it by Nov-end. Try to get as many people to read and comment on it as possible.

Recommendations: These days a lot of recos are online but with an area to fill up textual information about the student - subjective information. You should talk to your professors well before time and see who can give you a good recommendation letter and who is probably not going to write it so well. Cherry pick your recommenders as this selection is very important. Try to get it done by Nov. But start working on it earlier - so starting around Sept end - Oct can give you a good head start with getting good recommendations out from professors. If you are not in college anymore - but still need to get recos from professors at college - then you might want to make a trip back to your college and talk to the professors about recommendations. Or at least call them well ahead of time - managing things remotely becomes a big headache.

Applications: There is a hard deadline on applications which is set by the universities, there is no other option but to stick to them seriously. Make sure you understand whether the deadline is PST or EST - there are 3 time zones in the US - follow the one mentioned in the university site. Make sure you start filling in the details and itsy-bitsy stuff well in advance and not just a few hours before the deadline. All the online applications are fillable in multiple sittings. Start working on them when you get the earliest opportunity.

All the best guys, we at kaaledge.com cant wait to see your come out on top with flying colors in this Fall 2008 application process. We will be bringing out more interesting and helpful stuff everyday. We will also inform you about application deadlines at universities in due course of time.