Our non-thesis master’s curriculum permits dental and medical track students to finish in one year. While most students can complete the Biomedical Sciences MS program in 12 months (three semesters), the program may be extended beyond that time frame based on academic performance or individual circumstances. Students starting in Fall or Spring terms, will typically begin with 13 credits; students starting in the Summer term, will typically begin with 10 credits. All dental and medical students must complete 35 credits and must pass the comprehensive exam to earn the MS degree. All students who pursue a research curriculum are placed on a 2-year track, must complete 34 credits, and are required to complete a capstone project to earn the MS degree.
A strategic approach for medical and dental track students is to focus on academics and apply to professional school after at least completing two semesters of full-time graduate coursework. This will allow professional schools to have new information about how students perform in a graduate level program to factor into their decision processes. While waiting a cycle takes time, it often saves a great deal of application effort and preserves financial resources.
Each completed application is reviewed by our faculty admissions committee. The committee's goal is to admit students who will aptly manage our rigorous curriculum, commit to scientific learning and demonstrate sound professional capacity. While the review process considers each element of an application, we place a strong focus on overall academic performance, specific science pre-requisites, upper level science coursework, academic performance trend, and analysis of any patterns of withdrawals or repeated courses.