MS/PhD Students > Prospective Students > Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

The Comparative Biomedical Sciences (CBMS) Graduate Degree Program offers a path to the MS or PhD degree. To qualify for admission, you must meet the minimum requirements of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School and of the CBMS degree program.

Application Deadlines:

  • January 1 for the following fall or summer semester
  • June 1 for the following spring semester

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Comparative Biomedical Sciences Degree Program Requirements:

  1. Graduate School Requirements: All applicants to CBMS meet (and preferably exceed) the requirements of the UW-Madison Graduate School.
  2. Grade Point Average: Although grade point averages (GPA) of 3.0 (on a scale of 4.0) meet the requirements of the Graduate School, most applicants accepted into our program have at least a 3.2 GPA.
  3. Graduate Record Examination: Our program requires that you take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and that GRE scores be submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison using code 1846. Although there are no minimum GRE scores required, most accepted students have scores greater than 70% in each of the exam components.
  4. TOEFL: Students who received their bachelor degree in a non-English speaking institution must take and pass the Test of English as a Second Language. Additional details may be found on the Graduate School Admission Requirements page.
  5. Coursework requirements: To ensure that all students have the background to complete the coursework required for the CBMS degree program, we require that you have completed undergraduate coursework in the following three areas:
    • Biology:  Four courses distributed among three of the following areas:  biochemistry or physiological chemistry, genetics, structure and/or function of organisms, and populations or ethology of organisms.
    • Chemistry:  Two semesters of general chemistry including laboratory, plus one semester of organic chemistry with laboratory. The lab may be waived if biochemistry or physiological chemistry has been taken.
    • Mathematics:  Three courses distributed among at least two of the following: physics, statistics, computer science, or calculus, including differential and integral.

Students lacking one or two of these courses may take them after admission, but these courses cannot be counted towards degree requirements.