Main features: 

♦ PhD and MS applications for Channel 2 are due January 15, 2025. This due date is for admission to start in the program the following fall semester (i.e., apply on Jan 15, 2025 to start a PhD on Aug ~15, 2025).

♦ Both PhD and MS applicants are considered for admission through Channel 2. This is the  only  admissions channel available to MS applicants.

♦ Applications submitted through Channel 2 are NOT reviewed competitively. Instead, each applicant is evaluated individually on their own merits without comparative ranking (i.e., reviewers are only asked to evaluate whether each applicant is qualified, or not, to enroll in their desired program). This evaluation is made using a comprehensive and holistic rubric, in addition to an assessment of the applicant’s overall performance during online and/or campus interviews.

♦ PhD or MS students admitted through Channel 2 must secure funding from a source external to the CMB program (i.e., CMB-managed funding sources are not offered in this case).

Acceptable external funding sources include: 

• GRA or GTA funding managed by a CMB faculty member
• External fellowships provided by governmental entities or research foundations
• Financial support from the US military offered to active service members or veterans

Note that personal wealth, family financial support and student loans are not acceptable funding sources. 

♦ Applicants must have an external source of funding already identified and committed to them by the application due date. Alternatively, applicants may provide documentation showing they have applied for an external funding source (e.g., a confirmation of application receipt from a scholarship foundation). Channel 2 applications that do not contain evidence of external funding, either already secured or pending, will be declined without further review.

♦ Applicants who secure a GRA or GTA funding commitment from a CMB faculty member join that laboratory directly, and therefore do not participate in first year rotations.  For this reason, such direct-to-lab arrangements are only approved when both applicant and faculty member make a compelling argument that they expect to have a successful mentoring partnership. The faculty member must communicate this expectation of a successful alignment to the CMB Director before the application is submitted. The faculty member will be asked to provide an letter endorsing the application, to be reviewed with the other application materials. If after review the applicant is considered qualified to enroll in the program, the faculty member will be required to sign an additional letter confirming their formal commitment to mentor and to fund the student.

♦ Applicants who receive external funding from governments, foundations, military, or similar sources are eligible and encouraged to participate in laboratory rotations. In these cases, a commitment from a CMB faculty member is not required.

♦ PhD applicants who initially applied through Channel 1 may request to have their application also considered through Channel 2, but only if they are able to secure the required external funding source before February 1.

The review of applications can begin with two (2) letters of recommendation; however, we require a total of three (3) letters of recommendation to be received before we can offer admission to the program.