Admission and Program Requirements

With help from your advisor, you can design a customized degree program that meets your goals and needs.

Apply on GradCAS

Apply to this program through a centralized application service: GradCAS. Review the sections below before you begin.

Application deadlines

Make sure you've submitted your application by the following dates.

For program admission

  • Spring semester: Jan. 11
  • Summer semester: June 7
  • Fall semester: Aug. 16

For teaching assistantships

  • Fall semester: Feb. 15
  • Spring semester: Oct. 15

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Traditional master's
Accelerated master's

Tips for success

Program admission

  • Whether we have space in a particular research lab could affect your admission outcome. Contacting faculty, prior to them seeing your application file, can be beneficial.

Teaching and research assistantships

  • The decision to award teaching assistantships is separate from that of admissions.
  • Decisions on teaching assistantship are made primarily in March or April (for fall semesters) and in October or November (for spring semesters).
  • Research assistantships are decided directly by faculty that have advertised positions in their labs, which changes based on current external funding for a given faculty member.

Program requirements

  • This is a research-oriented degree. You should expect to spend more time on your thesis project research and writing than on all of your coursework combined.
  • To complete your degree in two years, start your thesis work as early as possible. Identify a graduate advisor and a thesis project. Email faculty members individually and discuss the possibilities of working in their labs.