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Guaranteed admission into the BMS Graduate Program will be granted to those students
that fulfill the basic requirements, including a minimum of one year in the IMSD
Program, a GPA above 3.0, a passing grade of B in a BMS graduate course, and a strong
recommendation letter from the mentor. However, we expect that some scholars might
prefer to apply to other graduate programs for a variety of reasons. Those students
will be assisted in the application process. Similarly, some scholars may not have
time to take the graduate course that is required. These students can still apply
to the BMS Ph.D. program through the regular application mechanism. The IMSD Program
will also assist these students in preparing their applications. A major requirement
for the admission to graduate school is a high GRE score. Students will be enrolled
into GRE training courses to teach them how to achieve a high GRE score and
ensure that they are well prepared for the exam. Each session provides 20 hours
of training over a two month period. The cost of these courses will be covered by
OGS. A second component for a successful application is to demonstrate scientific
experience. We believe that our mentor-research laboratory program is the best demonstration
of hands-on bench experience. Ideally, students should have abstracts in a national
meeting and/or publication, which itself are demonstrations of scientific experience.
Students will be assisted in writing their personal statements. Lectures during
summers are directed at achieving this objective. Moreover, tips on how to conduct
a personal interview will be included in these classes. These workshops are routinely
provided by OGS. In addition, mentors will provide students with strong recommendation
letters. Collaborators of the mentors that are in direct contact with the scholars
will also provide recommendation letters. Finally, the IMSD Principal Investigator will
write an overall evaluation of each scholar that will be sent as part of his or
her application package. Students, in conjunction with their mentors and the Principal
Investigator, will select the best program to apply to based on scientific and personal
initiative from the student. Special emphasis will be given to those schools where
our undergraduate students have been successful. A personal relationship with people
in charge of student selection is a key to guaranteeing admission into a graduate
program. Mentors or the Principal Investigator will make phone calls to different institutions
indicating the level of achievement of the student. Regardless of the student’s
potential on paper, we will never take anything for granted. The goals are that
the student gain an interview for the admission process and get accepted into a
Ph.D. program. |
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