Graduate education in biology, biotechnology, or environmental science will open up opportunities for advanced careers with higher salaries, greater responsibility, and more specialization.
Timeline
Since deadlines for application with consideration for financial aid occur in January or early February (at the latest), applicants should begin preparing their application documents in the fall semester prior to application. Allow yourself ample time to collect and prepare your materials. Spring of your junior year is an ideal time to begin preparations.
Checklist
Junior Year, Spring
- Consider your areas of interest, and learn about the institutions, programs, and researchers associated with these interests. Keep in mind that during graduate school, you will probably work with a single mentor/advisor. Choosing a mentor is a very important step in this process, and you should spend a lot of time considering who would be a good fit for you. If you're not sure where to start, search research databases using your interests as the keywords.
- Make sure you meet or exceed all admission requirements. If you don’t meet the requirements but are a strong candidate, you may still receive a conditional offer of admission if you can make up any deficiency you have.
- Gain as much relevant experience as you can. This can include working as a lab assistant in ÐßÐßÊÓƵ courses, working as a research assistant over the summer with a ÐßÐßÊÓƵ professor, or participating in an off-campus internship or research opportunity.
- Register and prepare for appropriate graduate admissions tests (e.g., GRE, MCAT, DAT, LSAT, etc.) There are many study guides available to help you excel on these tests, some of which can be found online for free.
- Investigate national scholarship opportunities.
Junior Year, Summer
- Take required graduate admission tests.
- Write your application essay and statement of purpose. Ask your ÐßÐßÊÓƵ advisor and professors in your areas of interest for advice and editorial assistance.
- Check on application deadlines for programs you're interested in.
Senior Year, Fall
- Ask for letters of recommendation from professors who know you and your attributes the best. These would include anyone who mentored you in research and possibly someone who taught you multiple times or in an upper-level course. Be sure to request the letters well in advance of the deadline, and provider the letter writers with all of the information they need to know. Some professors may ask for a brief biography, CV, list of extracurricular activities, or statement of research goals and interests.
- Take graduate admissions tests if you haven't already done so.
- Send in completed applications and application fees, along with official transcripts sent directly from ÐßÐßÊÓƵ's Registrar’s Office.
Senior Year, Spring
- Register for financial aid services if required.
- Check with all institutions before the deadline to make sure your file is complete.
- Send a deposit to hold your institution of choice.
- Notify other institutions that accepted you of your decision so that they may admit students on their waiting list.
Financing
When you finish your undergraduate degree at ÐßÐßÊÓƵ, you may have some debt. With careful planning, you should be able to pursue graduate work in biology without incurring any additional debt. With the exception of some masters-level programs, most graduate students in biology and environmental science programs receive considerable financial aid, usually sufficient to cover not only all the costs of tuition and fees, but also to cover other living expenses. Many programs even provide health insurance for graduate students. While some programs may provide these benefits in the form of a fellowship, many will require you to work as a research assistant or a teaching assistant.
Programs
Graduate programs are not all alike, and you will want to carefully consider whether graduate school is right for you. Before deciding to apply for graduate study, you should talk to your advisor and other biology professors about your career goals to help determine what programs might be best for you. Professors may have connections or other insider knowledge to help you discover which programs will best serve your goals and which professors you may want to work with.
Degrees
- The two main types of degrees for graduate students in biology are the master of science (M.S.) and the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.).
- An M.S. degree requires one to three years of graduate work, which often includes a modest research project and a written thesis. After receiving this degree, it is likely that you will work under the direction of someone with a Ph.D. and be responsible for carrying out the research, but less responsible for obtaining grants, completing reports, and making presentations. These latter tasks are performed by someone with a Ph.D.
- A Ph.D. degree usually requires four to six years of graduate work. This track begins with one to two years of coursework, then after taking qualifying exams, you become a doctoral candidate. The focus then turns to several years of independent research followed by completion of a written dissertation, a public presentation, and a defense of your research with a committee of professors.
Other considerations
- For most students, we suggest applying to five to eight graduate programs. Apply to programs that you think will be a challenge for you to gain admission into and several schools for which you think you are well qualified.
- GPA requirements are quite variable. Many graduate programs will indicate the minimum GPA an applicant should have. To some extent, good scores on the required admission tests can compensate for a slightly lower GPA.
- Learn about the reputation of program and department dynamics. Before applying, ask your professors if they know anything about the program, department, and potential advisors.
- Schools often invite students who are seriously considering their doctoral programs to visit the campus during special visit days. Any program that offers such visits certainly deserves serious consideration. Graduate students are an investment for the program and the university, so the programs want to be sure that their student investments are going to be happy and productive. Serious graduate programs know that they are admitting persons who will be the future professors in the US, and the programs want to be sure that these graduate students will be successful in the long run. The campus visit isn’t necessarily an interview, though the visiting student will probably have several opportunities to talk about their scholarly interests and what they’ve been reading and writing about. The student will also probably have opportunities to meet current graduate students and professors, helping them gauge what the departmental community is like.
Graduate schools of ÐßÐßÊÓƵ biology alumni
Within the past 10 years, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ biology majors have been accepted into graduate programs at the following schools:
- Baylor College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program
- Barry University in Florida
- Benedictine University-Masters in Public Health
- Boston University for Masters of Science in Nutrition
- ÐßÐßÊÓƵ Theological Seminary
- Case Western Reserve Dental School
- Central Michigan University
- Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Downers Grove, IL.
- Clemson University
- College of William and Mary
- Colorado State University
- Colorado State University Master's degree in Bioagricultural Science and Test Management
- Columbia Medical School, Ben Gurion program
- Creighton University Pharmacy School
- Des Moines University
- Des Moines University Medical School
- Ferris State University
- Ferris State University, Michigan College of Optometry
- Finch University Physician Assistant program
- George Fox University
- George Washington University
- Grand Valley State University
- Grand Valley State University Physical Therapy program
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
- Indiana University - Purdue
- Indiana University Northwest
- Indiana University Optometry program
- Indiana University School of Optometry
- Kent State University
- Life Chiropractic College West
- Loma Linda University
- Loma Linda University, School of Public Health, studying Nutrition and Dietetics
- Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine
- Michigan College of Optometry
- Michigan State University
- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
- Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Michigan State University Industrial Microbiology program
- Michigan State University in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics PhD program
- Michigan State University Law school
- Michigan State University M.D./Ph.D. program
- Michigan State University PhD program in Plant Biology
- Midwestern University
- Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine
- Midwestern University, M.S. Physician Assistant program
- National University of Health Science Chiropractic school
- National University of Health Sciences
- New Jersey Medical School
- New York College of Podiatric Medicine
- Northwestern Medical School
- Northwestern University in the Interdepartmental Biological Sciences PhD Program
- Northwestern University Masters Genetic Counseling
- Northwestern University, Doctor of Physical Therapy program
- Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
- Ohio State Univeristy
- Oregon Health and Science University
- Pennsylvania State University
- Purdue University
- Queen’s University, Pathology Department
- Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in the Masters of Science in Biomedical Sciences program
- Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago IL, Physician Assistant program
- Rush Medical College
- Scripps Institute in immunology
- Southern California University of Health Sciences School of Chiropractic
- St. Louis University School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- University of Chicago School of Medicine
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
- University of Colorado
- University of Colorado-Health Sciences Center's Biomedical Sciences
- University of Connecticut
- University of Detroit Mercy Dental School
- University of Illinois Chicago PhD program in chemistry
- University of Illisois Dental School
- University of Kansas PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- University of Michigan
- University of Michigan Hospital & Molecular Epidemiology Masters of Public Health program
- University of Michigan School of Dentistry
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a Master's degree in Nutrition
- University of New Mexico Medical School
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Pennsylvania - Ph.D. in Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology
- University of Pittsburgh medical school
- University of Utah masters in Human Nutrition and Sports Dietetics
- University of Waterloo
- University of Western Ontario for MS in Molecular Biology
- University of Wisconsin - Madison for a PhD in Philosophy of Biology
- University of Wisconsin - Madison Vet School
- University of Wisconsin-Madison plant breeding and genetics program
- VanAndel Institute PhD program
- Virginia Osteopathic Medical School
- Washington University
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Wayne State University
- Wayne State University School of Medicine