Biophysics Admissions Guidelines

The Biophysics Admissions Committee will evaluate the OVERALL application when considering an applicant for admission. The Committee will carefully consider an applicant's grades, exam scores, letters of recommendation, research experience, publications, research interests, and the personal statement.

The requirements below are general guidelines and are not meant to dissuade potential applicants from applying. Please keep in mind that an applicant can be "weak" in an area, but strong in all other areas of their application. For example, a student who may not have excellent grades, but excels on the GRE's, and has good research experience with excellent letters of recommendation, would still be considered for admission.

Grades
Applicants should have a grade point average (GPA) equivalent to at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (4.0 = A) in their last 2 years of undergraduate level study. This is equivalent to a 'B' average. Grades received in science and mathematics courses will also be closely evaluated.

When reporting gpa's, students should not convert their scores to the US 4.0 system, but should report the scores based on their home institution's grading system (e.g., 80%, 7/10).

GRE
Most of the applicants accepted into our Program have analytical and quantitative GRE scores in the 70% to 90% range. In October 2002, a new analytical section of the GRE was established, which is scored between 1-6. Most successful applicants have scores of 4.5 and above.

The Biophysics and Computational Biology Program does not require a subject GRE for admission.

TOEFL
TOEFL scores for international applicants whose native language is not English must meet the University minimum of 550 (or 213 on the computer exam). The Biophysics Admissions Committee looks for TOEFL scores near or above 600.

Applicants who apply after 2007 will be taking the iBT TOEFL. The University minimum score on the iBT is 79. The Biophysics Admissions Committee will look for scores on the spoken section of the exam to be near 24 - the minimum required to teach at the University.

TSE/IELTS
The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is not required for admission. However, teaching assistant duties require that international students pass a similar exam with a score of 50 or higher before being allowed to teach at the University. The fact that a student has taken the TSE and received a passing score will be taken into consideration when decisions on international applicants are made.

In lieu of the TSE, the IELTS will also be accepted. Students who receive score of 8 on the spoken section of the exam would be eligible to teach. The University minimum score is 6.5.