Timeline of the US Graduate School Application

Instead of giving out an "ideal" timeline for the application, I would like to make a table according to my own experiences. Of course, the timing of some event may not be controllable (e.g. exchange period). I hope this will be good as a simple reference.

Periods	What to do
1st Semester	Attend briefing on exchange programs
2nd Semester	1. Study and play 2. Apply exchange programs
1st Summer	1. Travel 2. Got selected for exhange in US next Spring
3rd Semester (Sep-Nov)	Visa, housing and ticket stuff
3rd Semester (Dec)	Departure
4th Semester	Find an advisor for research
2nd Summer	Research and Travel
5th Semester	Research and going back to own country
6th Semester	Find an advisor for final-year projects
3rd Summer	1. Continue your research projects 2. Register for GRE General, Subject Tests and TOEFL 3. Research for schools you are going to apply
7th Semester (Sep-Oct)	1. Start to find recommenders (at least three) 2. Prepare GRE and TOEFL
7th Semester (Oct)	Take the GRE General Test
7th Semester (Nov)	Take the GRE Subject Test
7th Semester (Dec)	Finish up your online application and essays
8th Semester (Jan-Feb)	Continue to apply schools according to their deadlines
8th Semester (Feb-Apr)	Wait for the letters
4rd Summer	Visas, Housing, Ticket and all stuff that need to be done before departure
4th Summer	Have FUN =)