DOCTORAL STUDENTS
AUGUST 1
Graduate application opens
MARCH 1
Graduate application closes
Deadlines & Eligibility
A conferred bachelor's degree is the only requirement for applicants interested in applying for the doctoral program.
Our admissions committee reviews each candidate’s entire application and weighs each piece equally, which we call a holistic review. We don’t eliminate applicants based solely on test scores or GPA. Students with lower GPAs can bolster their application by using their personal statement to explain why they earned the grades they did, including a resume that describes their research experience, submitting a strong writing sample and having stellar recommendation letters.
Since each application undergoes a holistic review, we do not have required minimums.
The average scores for previously accepted doctoral students are as follows:
| Cumulative Undergraduate GPA | 3.47 |
| Cumulative Graduate GPA | 3.66 |
| TOEFL Scores | 101 |
| IELTS Scores | 7.0 |
Fall Semester
Graduate admissions application opens: August 1
Early decision deadline: November 1
Final admissions deadline: March 1
*We do not offer admission during the Spring and Summer semesters.
Steps to Apply
You will need to pay a $50 non-refundable application fee when you submit your application.
The application will not be considered complete until the fee is paid. If the fee is not paid by the application deadline, your application will not be reviewed. This fee is payable by credit card.
We cannot waive application fees due to personal hardship.
Application Fee Waivers
You may qualify for an application fee waiver based on your participation in certain programs. To receive an application fee waiver, you will need to provide proof of eligibility through the online application portal.
Eligible programs include:
- Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) attendance
- Bridges to the Doctorate
- Completion of GSU's Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni's 25 to Thrive Program
- Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program
- Honorably Discharged U.S. Veterans, Active Duty Military, Guard or Reserves
- Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD)
- Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
- Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) U-STAR
- Ph.D. Project: Business Doctoral Programs for Minorities
- Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
- Research Initiative for Scientific Advancement (RISE)
- Ronald E. McNair Scholars
- Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Conference attendance
You will need to submit academic transcripts from each college and/or university attended regardless of whether or not a degree was conferred.
Note:
- Unofficial transcripts are sufficient for an admission decision. If you are extended an offer of admission, you will need to submit official transcripts before the start of courses.
- Course by course credential evaluations are acceptable for an admission decision, however, transcripts will still be required in the event that you are admitted.
- Documents such as self-printed academic histories, web-based academic evaluations, or anything handwritten are not acceptable for an admission decision.
You will need to submit a resume/cv and a personal statement.
Personal Statement - The personal statement is your opportunity to communicate who you are, your goals and your potential for being a good match for the Translational Biomedical Sciences program.
Overall, your personal statement should address the following questions:
- What are your research and career goals, and how will completing this program help you meet those goals?
- Do you have research experience? If so, please briefly describe relevant skills and/or experience(s).
- What area of research are you interested in pursuing? Are there any IBMS faculty members who you would be interested in working with during your time in the program?
- Are there any potential “red flags” in your application that you would like to further address?
You will need to submit a writing sample. This document should be a substantive body of work that exhibits your ability to synthesize ideas, concepts or theories, logically draw conclusions and defend them.
Note:
- Please do not submit a document that contains more than 20 pages. One to two pages is preferred.
- Examples of acceptable writing samples include an abstract, a general research paper, a capstone project, a master's thesis, a research proposal, an article review, a lab report, a case study or a term paper.
- An abstract is the preferred document.
You will need to submit at least 3 letters of recommendation with your application. These letters should speak to your ability to be successful in a graduate program. Professional and/or academic letters are required.
- On the "Recommendations" tab, click "Add Recommender."
- Complete the form, and click "Send to Recommender."
- Your recommender will receive an emailed link to complete the electronic recommendation.
Note: Use your recommender's institutional or corporate email address. Submissions from anonymous email addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo) may be subject to additional review.
GRE scores are not required for admission.
English Proficiency
In addition to meeting all other applicable requirements for admission, non-native speakers of English must demonstrate sufficient English-language proficiency. Proof of English proficiency can be demonstrated through one of the following:
- Proof of baccalaureate or graduate degree completion inside (from an accredited institution) or outside the U.S., where English is the official language of academic instruction – see list of countries below
- TOEFL scores (paper or Internet-based)
- IELTS scores
- Completion of a University System of Georgia approved ESL program
The English Proficiency Exemption list can be found here.
All accepted doctoral students will be awarded funding in the form of a graduate research assistantship with their admission.
Doctoral applicants are not required to contact available faculty or secure a lab match before they are eligible to submit an application. At the start of the program, accepted doctoral students will be matched with 1-2 labs based on faculty interest, space availability and student research area preferences. To ensure satisfactory lab rotation placements, applicants should be sure to thoroughly and accurately complete the “Graduate Assistant” questions on the “College/program” tab of the application.
It is strongly recommended that you thoroughly review the Faculty website, as well as PubMed and Google Scholar, to familiarize yourself with our most common research areas and current research projects happening within the Institute before completing this section of the application. Your answers will be used to assign lab rotations.
Application Tips & FAQs
Want the inside scoop on how to submit your best application? Learn more about our GRE waivers, the optional writing sample, international student requirements and more.
Doctorate Program
The test score profile for previously accepted doctoral students is a good place to determine your competitiveness. Compare your GPA and English proficiency scores with those posted in the test score profile to obtain an idea of how you compare to students previous admitted to the program. Review our Do I Qualify section for more information.
No. Applicants are not required to find a faculty match/lab placement before applying to the program. After the applicant's educational credentials are vetted by the admissions committee and they are admitted, the student is either matched with 2-3 faculty members for 4-week rotations (doctoral students) or placed into a lab (master's students) at the start of their program. There is a section in the application that will ask you to indicate your interest in 3 IBMS faculty members, and we will use this information as a guide to assign rotations/lab placements.
All accepted doctoral students are awarded funding in the form of a graduate research assistantship (GRA) during the admissions process. GRAs work in one of our faculty member's labs an in exchange for a full tuition waiver and a monthly stipend of at least $2,500. This leaves the student responsible for mandatory student fees including health insurance and a $37.50 registration fee. All assistantship offers are dependent on the student's ability to successfully verify legal presence.
As of summer 2020, GRE scores are no longer required for admission into the Institute for Biomedical Sciences graduate programs.
IBMS offers a limit number of merit-based application fee waivers each entry term. Eligible applicants will hold at least a 3.8 GPA and/or relevant wet-lab experience. To request a waiver, send your transcript(s) and resume/CV to [email protected].
The Graduate School at Georgia State University also provides application fee waivers for applicants who have participated in a range of programs designed to diversify graduate programs. To receive the application waiver, you will need to verify your eligibility in the application portal.
PROGRAMS:
- Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) U-STAR Program
- Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD)
- Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
- McNair Scholars
- Bridges to the Doctorate
- Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) attendance
- Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program
- Research Initiative for Scientific Advancement (RISE)
- Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
- PhD Project: Business Doctoral Programs for Minorities
- Annual Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Conference Attendance
- Completion of GSU's Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni's 25 to Thrive Program
- Honorably Discharged U.S. Veterans, Active Duty Military, Guard or Reserves
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide application fee waivers for financial hardship.
Since applications for both the master's and doctoral program are reviewed in batches, applicants can expect to receive an admission decision or request for an interview within 6-8 weeks after each application deadline.
All applicants who submit a completed application for admission into an IBMS graduate program will automatically be considered for a graduate assistantship appointment during the admissions process. Applicants are not expected to complete a separate application for consideration.
- IBMS - Institute for Biomedical Sciences.
- BMSC - the course abbreviation for all IBMS courses.
- BIS - Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
- IDS - Interdisciplinary Studies.
- BSEN - Biomedical Science and Enterprise.
IBMS does not currently offer English proficiency waivers. Applicants are expected to fulfill the English proficiency requirements as described by Graduate Admissions.
The personal statement is your opportunity to communicate who you are, your goals and your potential for being a good match for the Translational Biomedical Sciences program.
Overall, your personal statement should address the following questions:
- What are your research and career goals, and how will completing this program help you meet those goals?
- Do you have research experience? If so, please briefly describe relevant skills and/or experience(s).
- What area of research are you interested in pursuing? Are there any IBMS faculty members who you would be interested in working with during your time in the program?
- Are there any potential “red flags” in your application that you would like to further address?
Yes. As long as applicants are able to submit a final transcript, including their posted degree before the start of the fall semester (mid-August), they are eligible to apply for the upcoming semester.
Our admissions committee reviews each candidate's entire application and weighs each piece equally, which we call a holistic review. We don't eliminate applicants based solely on test scores and GPA. Students with lower GPAs can bolster their application by using their personal statement to explain why they earned the grades they did, including a resume that describes their research experience and having stellar recommendation letters.
No. Any prerequisites needed are built into the doctoral program curriculum.
Most international students take the TOEFL, but we also accept the IELTS.
Because the Institute for Biomedical Sciences reviews applications for admission holistically, we do not have a minimum required IELTS score for either program. Competitive applicants will have a total overall score of 7.0.
Yes. The Institute for Biomedical Sciences accepts the IELTS Academic score. The recommended minimum is a score of 7.
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses the language ability of candidates. More information about this test, including testing sites and pricing, can be found at https://www.ielts.org/.
Applicants may apply at any time. Test scores must be received by the application deadline for admission consideration. Applications will not be considered if TOEFL scores are not received by the deadline.
Because the Institute for Biomedical Sciences reviews applications for admission holistically, we do not have a minimum required TOEFL score. Competitive applicants will have a total score of at least 100.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures your ability to use and understand English at the university level. More information on the test, testing centers pricing, etc., may be found at www.ets.org/toefl.
Students who are non-native speakers of English are required to demonstrate proficiency through one of the following:
- Completion of a bachelor’s or graduate degree from inside (from an accredited institution) or outside the U.S. where English is the official language of academic instruction
- TOEFL scores (paper or Internet-based)
- IELTS scores
- Completion of a University System of Georgia-approved English as a Second Language program
An applicant whose country of birth is an English-speaking country (as listed below) is not subject to the English proficiency requirement.
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Ascension Island
- Australia
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Christmas Island
- Cook Islands
- Dominica
- Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Great Britain
- Grenada
- Guam
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- Jersey
- Malawi
- Montserrat
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Pitcairn Islands
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin
- Saint Vincent/ Grenadines
- South Africa
- St Helena
- The Bahamas
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tristan da Cuhna
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Uganda
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Virgin Islands
No. You should complete the international immigration form at the time of application. If admitted to the program, you may submit required supplemental information.
Yes. Submit a copy of your passport with your application materials.
Contact the Office of International Student and Scholar Services if you have questions related to immigration regulations and studies. Visit https://isss.gsu.edu/about/contact/ for contact information.
Review the rules and regulations on the Tuition Classification page: https://sfs.gsu.edu/tuition-fees/tuition-classification/.
E-mails should be sent to:
Office of Admissions - Graduate Programs
[email protected]
Official Electronic Transcripts should be sent to:
Regular mail should be sent to:
Graduate Admissions, The Graduate School
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 4018
Atlanta, GA 30303
In-person deliveries and courier packages should be sent to:
Graduate Admissions, The Graduate School
Georgia State University
55 Park Place NE, Suite 308
Atlanta, GA 30303
Yes. Good photocopies or scanned copies of transcripts are acceptable for a decision. This can either be an official electronic transcript or a paper copy you have scanned and uploaded. The document must have one or more of the following features: registrar’s seal, registrar signature or watermark of the institution.
Documents such as self-printed academic histories, Web-based academic evaluations and anything hand-written are not acceptable for the review process. Official transcripts will only be required if you are subsequently offered admission by Georgia State.
Yes. You must submit a copy of your transcripts from each institution attended regardless of the number of classes you took or whether or not you received a degree at that institution in order to be considered for admission. Once admitted, you will be required to submit one official transcript from each institution attended by the first day of classes for the term of admission.
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About Us
The Institute for Biomedical Sciences is a degree-granting institute that offers innovative, unique academic programs that prepare our graduates for success in the biomedical industry.
Learn About Tuition
Find out more about the costs to enroll in our undergraduate and graduate degree programs and ways to finance your education.
Application Status
Use your Panther ID number to track your progress and ensure you meet deadlines and other requirements.
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