Admission - MS Biology Program

Minimum prerequisites for admission to the graduate program in biology are: 16 semester hours of biology beyond first year biology, one semester of organic chemistry, one semester of physics, one semester of calculus, last 60-hour undergraduate GPA above 3.0, and a sum of the GRE verbal and quantitative sections above 1000.

Graduation Requirements

A student desiring a Master of Science in biology will need to complete 32 semester hours of graduate work. A minimum of 26 hours will be biology; the remaining hours may include cognate courses (e.g., in chemistry, education, or computer science) approved by the graduate coordinator. Of the total 32 hours, fifteen hours must be classroom courses (i.e., non-independent study), one hour must be in Thesis Proposal Preparation (BIO 500 Thesis Proposal Preparation), and twelve hours must be taken at the 600 level. The Thesis Proposal Preparation course should be taken between 9 and 18 hours. Students will not be allowed to enroll in the 19th program hour without completing BIO 500 Thesis Proposal Preparation. The graduate coordinator must approve the entire course of study.

The student must pass a comprehensive oral exam focusing on basic biology content, the science content of the research proposal and the science content necessary for the student to successfully complete the proposed research. The student will be given specific information on the exam format and content before the exam. The oral comprehensive exam must be completed no later than the semester immediately following completion of the Thesis Proposal Preparation Course.

All biology graduate students must complete an independent research thesis and enroll in six hours of thesis (BIO 699 Thesis). In the student’s first year, a committee of three members of the graduate faculty (including the thesis advisor) will be chosen in consultation with the graduate coordinator. A majority of committee members must be from the faculty of the Department of Biology at Bradley University. This committee will advise the student in his or her thesis research. The student must submit a thesis proposal to his or her thesis committee while enrolled in the Thesis Proposal Preparation course. The student will be permitted to enroll in BIO 699 Thesis (thesis) only upon written acceptance of the proposal by the thesis committee. Upon completion of the thesis, a student will present a departmental seminar. The student must then successfully defend the thesis to the committee members. Full-time students should anticipate requiring a minimum of four semesters for completion of the biology graduate program.