Graduate School Application Tracker

Graduate School Application Tracker – Faculty Overview

The Graduate School Application Tracker is a downloadable Excel tool that helps students organize every component of their graduate school applications in one clear, structured place. It reduces confusion, supports planning, and allows students (and faculty advisors) to monitor progress on deadlines, requirements, and submission status across multiple programs.

This tool is especially helpful for juniors, seniors, post-bacc students, or anyone applying to competitive graduate, clinical, or professional programs.

Why You Might Use This Tool

  • Helps students stay organized and on track. Applications include many moving pieces—deadlines, fees, tests, transcripts, recommendations—and this spreadsheet gives students a way to manage them.
  • Supports advising conversations. Faculty can quickly see where a student is in the process and where support is needed (e.g., prerequisites, LORs, statements, test scores).
  • Promotes early planning. Encourages students to map out programs and requirements well ahead of deadlines.
  • Easy to adapt for any field. Works for graduate programs in psychology, social work, counseling, STEM, humanities, business, health fields, and more.

How to Use or Download the Spreadsheet

  1. Download the Excel file.
  2. Share it with students as an organizing tool in advising sessions, capstones, internship courses, or graduate school prep workshops.
  3. Invite students to:
    • List each school they are applying to
    • Enter deadlines, fees, and test requirements
    • Track tasks such as transcripts sent, LORs requested/submitted, SOP and writing sample progress, and application completion
  4. Optional: Ask students to upload a completed or partially completed version before a meeting so you can review their timeline and readiness.
  5. Optional for courses: Turn it into a graded planning assignment to encourage early preparation.

What Students Track

Columns include:

  • School & Deadlines
  • Application fees + payment status
  • GRE / Subject test info
  • Transcript and prerequisite completion
  • Letters of recommendation (number needed, sent?, notes)
  • Statement of purpose / writing sample progress
  • Resume/CV updates
  • Funding resources
  • Application portal login info (if they choose to store it—optional)

Students can color-code their progress or use the existing green/pink status indicators (Y/N).

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