General Admission Requirements for Graduate School

All applications to the graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering (PIBE) MUST be submitted online. This is a change from past years, when hardcopy applications could also be submitted. If you do not have access to the internet to submit your online application, you may still obtain a hardcopy application and submit it, but there is an additional non-refundable fee of $75 to process hardcopy applications. Letters of recommendation should, whenever possible, also be submitted online (the process is completely described on the online ApplyYourself website). Official academic transcripts of your undergraduate studies should still be submitted by hardcopy, which we will then scan and enter into your online application. To be considered for admission, all students must complete and submit the following:

1. Complete and submit online the official application. If you do not have reliable access to the internet, then you may obtain a hardcopy application (which will require an additional $75 processing fee) as follows:
   
   1. download an official graduate application form
       
   2. call the Biomedical Engineering office at 631-444-2303
      
   3. write to the:

      Graduate Program Director
      Department of Biomedical Engineering
      Health Sciences Center T18-031
      State University of New York at Stony Brook
      Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181, USA

2. If you submit a hardcopy application, then it should be submitted directly to the Department of Biomedical Engineering (use address above).
   
3. A letter of introduction describing the student’s educational and career goals (submit online).
   
4. Three letters of recommendation, which should (if possible) be submitted online. You will be prompted online for the names and email addresses of your recommenders, and they will automatically be sent requests to submit their letters of recommendation using a secure server.
   
5. Two official copies of all previous college transcripts, sent by your university or college, which we will then scan into your online application. (Transcripts of both undergraduate and graduate work must be submitted. If a student attended a junior college and these credits are not listed on the senior college transcript with grades, a separate junior college transcript is required.) If transcripts are in a foreign language, certified English translations are required, in addition to the original documents. Stony Brook University uses a 4.0 grading system and if your institution does not use this system (e.g., many institutions in India use a different grading system), then you should request that the institution scale your grades appropriately. Do NOT submit transcripts from high school studies.
   
6. Scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General test.
   
7. A non-refundable application fee of $60 (paid online).
   
8. Proficiency in English for foreign students (see Foreign Students section in the Graduate Bulletin).
   
9. After acceptance, each student is required to file with the Student Health Service a completed and satisfactory health history and physical examination form. Transfer students may submit copies of their health forms from their former schools provided they contain the information required by the Student Health Service and are less than two years old.

To be admitted to the Graduate School, an applicant must have the preparation and ability that, in the judgment of the Program and the Graduate School, are sufficient to enable him or her to progress satisfactorily in a degree or certificate program. A United States equivalent bachelor's degree is required, with a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale; the student must present evidence that such a degree will be awarded by the time he or she begins graduate work. Admission into the Program in Biomedical Engineering requires a GPA considerably higher than the minimum required by the Graduate School itself (see below).

Deadline
Admission and financial aid applications for the Fall semester should be filed by January 15, including all letters of recommendation, transcripts and GRE scores. Late applications will not be considered for financial assistance. In general, there is no admission to the Spring semester for the Program in Biomedical Engineering.
 

Admission Requirements for the Program in Biomedical Engineering

Undergraduate Degree
The prerequisites for acceptance into the program are an undergraduate degree in engineering (e.g., biomedical, bioengineering, mechanical, electrical, materials, chemical), physics, applied math, or biological sciences with a quantitative (computational) focus, as well as a demonstrated interest in a professional engineering career. All applicants are expected to have completed at least one semester of undergraduate cell or molecular biology.

Applying to the Master’s or Doctoral Program
You should apply for the Doctoral Program if it is your intention to get a Ph.D. degree in BME at Stony Brook University. All new doctoral students (i.e., those with only an undergraduate degree) will get a M.S. degree as part of their course of study towards their Ph.D. degree. Hence, you should not apply to the Master’s Program if your ultimate degree is a Ph.D. Doctoral students receive a tuition scholarship (good for the duration of their studies, as long as they are in “good academic standing”) and a competitive stipend for work as a teaching assistant (TA) or research assistant (RA). RA positions come from individual BME faculty laboratories and are generally obtained at the end of the first academic year.

If you already possess a relevant M.S. degree, then you should apply to the doctoral program with “Advanced Standing” (AS). However, you should only apply for AS if you have already obtained a commitment of financial support (i.e., a paid Research Assistant position) from a specific BME faculty laboratory. Your application will not be considered until such time as you receive such a commitment. It is up to you to directly contact and interview with BME faculty to determine whether your background and skills would be a good match with a given laboratory. You should obtain this commitment in advance of the January 15th application deadline and make sure that the BME faculty member has submitted a statement of support to the Admission Committee. Relevant M.S. degrees would be considered as those in the same disciplines as are considered pre-requisites for regular admission (see above).

If you already possess a relevant M.S. degree but you have not obtained a commitment of financial support, then you must apply as a regular 1st-year doctoral student. You should make an explicit statement to this effect in your application. Applications for admission with advanced standing without a financial commitment from a BME faculty will not be processed.

You should apply for the Master’s Program if your terminal degree will be the M.S. degree. If you plan to obtain a M.S. degree and a Ph.D. degree from Stony Brook University, then you should apply for the Doctoral Program. The Master’s Program is designed for students who wish to get jobs in industry or government that do not require a Ph.D. The M.S. degree can be obtained with or without a M.S. Thesis. The latter is designed for those students who see themselves involved in research and development (R&D) as part of their career. Master’s students are not guaranteed financial support during their studies, though they are eligible to obtain paid research assistant (RA) positions from BME laboratories. Master’s students are also eligible for paid industrial internships in BME companies. M.S. students at the conclusion of their master’s studies may apply to matriculate into the doctoral program. Such applications are given favorable consideration as long as the student is in “good academic standing” and they obtain a commitment of a RA position in a BME faculty laboratory that is good for the duration of their doctoral studies. Generally, it takes about 3 years after a M.S. degree to obtain a Ph.D. degree in BME.

Am I competitive for admission?
The number of applicants always far outnumbers the available openings for new doctoral and master’s student positions. As such, the competition is fierce for obtaining an offer into either the doctoral or master’s programs. Generally, students have to be ranked as “outstanding” in all categories (undergraduate academics, GRE, research, engineering experience, maturity of focus) to obtain an offer of admission into the graduate program. The average GRE total score of the 2003 admitted doctoral class was 2130 (range: 1830 – 2310) and the average GPA was 3.61 (range: 3.15 – 3.96). Research and/or engineering design experience is not required, though it is highly valued. International students, for whom English is not their native language, are expected to demonstrate that they are fluent in English by scoring high on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).