[Kate*]

If you're set on starting grad school as soon as possible, you'll want to apply before you finish or you'll end up delayed at least a semester because of deadlines and time it takes to gather your materials. If you don't mind waiting to start, then that's less of an issue, but I wouldn't suggest waiting only to see how your grades come out. Also, if you don't have them yet, recommendations are much easier to get if you're still in school and it will be better to ask professors in person before having to resort to email, especially if you run into a problem with one and have to track somebody down. Calculating all of your GPA's (overall, major, last 60 hours)now should give you a pretty good idea where you stand unless you have a lot of classes left, are doing really poorly in one, or something crazy happens.

I'm personally weary of fully-online schools or programs because sometimes they don't have to maintain the same standards and can run you into financial issues. Start with online programs from brick and mortar schools before opting for well-known online ones. If fully online schools make sense for you, make sure they're ACCREDITED regardless of what the program is for. It's possible for a school to be accredited and for the program not to be, you want accreditation for both the school and the program you choose. Also, make sure it's not-for-profit. The for-profit ones are the ones you hear stories about where people can't escape their debt later.