#10: Review rec and transcript requirements early

In the early summer before the fall deadlines, before you have requested letters of recommendation or transcripts, review the requirements for both very carefully, for each program. Some programs only accept paper recommendations, while some prefer online recs. Some programs, like the graduate school at U of Minnesota, do not even require official transcripts until you have been accepted (which means that you can send photocopies of unofficial transcripts, thereby dodging transcript fees). On the other hand, several schools require two official transcripts up front, including Penn and some UC schools. I failed to see Penn’s requirement until I was on the log-in page of the online application, months after I’d ordered what I thought was the perfect number of transcripts. To mix it up even more, there are also schools, like SUNY Binghamton, that require two transcripts, but they can be unofficial. Like the first option, they will request official documents only after you are accepted.