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MS Program Admissions

Prospective master’s degree students must apply online through the IUPUI Graduate Office. The deadline for applications is May 1 (domestic applicants) and February 1 (international applicants). Both deadlines are for matriculation in August of the same year. Applications are forwarded to the chair of the graduate student admissions committee.

Required Materials

In addition to completing the online application, applicants to the MS program must submit official undergraduate and graduate transcripts to Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Attention: Chair, Graduate Admissions Committee, IU School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Drive, MS 420, Indianapolis, IN 46202.

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology requires the application, GRE scores, TOEFL scores (if applicable), three letters of recommendation, and undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

Admission Requirements

Minimum admission requirements for the Master of Science degree include undergraduate courses in basic biology, including cell biology and genetics, general and organic chemistry, physics, and mathematics, including calculus. Biochemistry is recommended. Coursework deficiencies should be addressed during the first year of enrollment. Applicants must have an overall grade point average of at least 3.0 (B). Scores on each section of the GRE general test should exceed 55 percent. For international students, an IELST score of 6.5/7 is required; TOEFL would be approximately 100. The master’s program does not allow for conditional acceptance of applicants. MS students are not financially supported by the department and must pay for own courses and fees.

Application Process

Applications are given a first review by the graduate student admissions committee, which decides whether to proceed with the application process or to reject the applicant (typically for not meeting minimal standards for admission). The admissions committee chair informs the student of the preliminary decision. This notification occurs within six weeks of receipt of the application.

Applicants approved to proceed identify one faculty member within the department to take the applicant into the faculty’s laboratory for a rotation of four weeks, with the understanding that, upon successful completion of the rotation, the faculty member will take the student into the faculty laboratory and serve as that student’s mentor. Students are responsible for contacting and securing an interview by a faculty mentor. Faculty members must complete and return to the chair of the graduate student admission committee a mentor selection form indicating that the applicant has been interviewed in person, by Skype or by phone and is willing to consider the applicant for admission to the faculty’s laboratory for research training within the MS program.

Mentor selection forms are available from the chair of the graduate student admissions committee. The interview and mentor selection form must be completed and returned to the admissions committee chair within six weeks of the applicant being notified to proceed with this step. If the interview and mentor selection forms are not completed and returned to the admissions committee chair within six weeks of the applicant’s notification to find a mentor, the application may be rejected with no further action taken on it.

The admissions committee chair sets up additional interviews for the applicant with members of the admissions committee so that there is a total of three interviews for each student. At least one interview is conducted by a member of the admissions committee not seeking to mentor that student in the faculty’s own lab.

The admissions committee reviews the application and comments from the three interviewers and votes on acceptance or rejection. The admissions committee chair brings the results of the committee’s decision to the full faculty for a vote, either in a departmental faculty meeting or by email.

If the departmental vote is negative with respect to acceptance, the applicant is notified by the admissions committee chair with a formal letter or email. If the departmental vote is positive, the application materials are forwarded to the graduate division for the final admissions decision.

Applicants offered admission must have in place one laboratory in which they can do a rotation, and that faculty mentor must initially be willing to take that student on for MS thesis research. The potential faculty mentor must indicate willingness to mentor the MS student by signing and submitting the MS mentor selection form.