If you are interested in recruiting our students for your graduate program, please reach out to the graduate school faculty advisor and/or the department program coordinator.
Note that program requirements and deadlines vary by institution. We give a general overview and recommendations here that align with many programs, but please refer to individual program deadlines.
Note that some programs require the Math Subject GRE, which is only offered three times a year: late April, mid September, and mid October.
Spring of junior year (optional)
Register for the GRE general and subject test, if applicable to your program(s) of interest. See the ETS website for details. Note, many programs no longer require the GRE exam for applicants.
Summer between junior and senior year
Get in touch with your academic advisor and/or other professors or mentors to begin discussing your graduate school plans.
Register for the GRE general and subject test, if applicable to your program(s) of interest. See the ETS website for details. Note, many programs no longer require the GRE exam for applicants.
If you are planning to apply to a fellowship like the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP), note the required deadlines and consider creating first drafts of your materials.
Beginning of September of senior year
Meet with the grad advisor and/or a mentor to discuss graduate school plans and discuss a possible set of people to write your letters of recommendation.Complete the HMC Graduate School Intent Form online.Start attending grad advising office hours.Develop an initial list of possible schools to share with your advisor. Make note of the deadlines and sort this list by the earliest deadline first.
Mid September senior year
Request letters of recommendation. You don’t need to provide materials for letter-writers yet, but you should ask people to write your letters and know who is going to write for you.
Begin working on your statement of purpose essay.
Take GRE Math Subject test, if applicable (round 1).
If you are applying for a GRFP or another fellowship or graduate program with an October deadline, provide your letter-writers with drafts of your materials.
Show a draft statement of purpose essay to the grad advisor and/or other faculty member for review.
Mid October senior year
Provide your letter-writers with deadlines, drafts of your materials, and other information they have requested.
Take GRE Math Subject test, if applicable (round 2).
Submit GRFP, if applicable.
November
Finalize CV and draft of written materials.
Mid November through January
Submit your applications!
Spring of senior year (around March)
You’ll probably hear back from your graduate schools in March or April. If some of your friends hear earlier, don’t panic! Graduate admissions often occurs in a distributed asynchronous fashion and we’ve seen lots of folks admitted to their program in March even though some of their friends heard in February.
Go and visit the schools to which you were admitted. Normally, they’ll pay your way. You’ll need to miss class at Mudd to go, but it’s worthwhile! Before you go, talk to the grad advisor or mentor about the kinds of things you might want to look for and questions to ask.