The
Department of Biomedical Sciences offers a coursework Professional Master's Degree (MS-B) degree
with an emphasis in the disciplines of Human Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, or Neurobiology. Students choose a concentration (Human, Veterinary, Neurobiology), which determines their core curriculum for the program. The degree is
earned after satisfactorily completing 32 credit hours of upper division
and graduate-level courses in microscopic and gross anatomy, physiology,
cell biology, and neurobiology. The Department's Master's Program is designed
to provide increased academic strength to pre-professional students, those
seeking careers in biomedical education, and future PhD students. The proscribed
curriculum is completed in one year, beginning only in the Fall semester,
culminating in a final comprehensive examination on the core curriculum
usually at the end of May.
The Program is designed as a place for talented biomedical students to extend their education beyond that which the undergraduate curriculum can offer. Students in the Master's Program have many different career goals. Many are pre-professional students (pre-medical, pre-veterinary, dental, etc.) seeking to strengthen their applications with an impressive roster of upper division science courses. Others are looking to a career in education, where a Master's-level degree can expand the available opportunities to teach. Some of our former students have found careers in biomedical technology or have gone on to enter doctoral programs. The broad-based, rigorous curriculum of the Department of Biomedical Sciences' Master's Program is designed to help students meet the demands of a wide variety of biomedical career pathways.
The Master's Program in Biomedical Sciences is also intended to teach students
to make the step to graduate education. Thirty-two credit hours are finished
in two semesters, with most of these coming from 500-level "core"
courses in anatomy, physiology and neurobiological sciences. These courses
feature extensive laboratory instruction, hands-on dissection, and recitations
with problem-based learning exercises. Students are expected to take a proactive
approach to their education and learn to apply their knowledge outside the
didactic classroom. A required course in Managing a Career in Science makes
use of lectures, guest speakers, class discussions and a series of written assignments to mentor students and to further explore available career opportunities. Entering students
are counseled that the coursework in the Master's Program will not represent
a simple continuation of their undergraduate experience.
2012 Information Sessions: Interested in or have questions about our one-year Professional Master's program (MS-B)? Information Sessions will be held Mondays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 3 p.m. in Room 228 Physiology. Sessions start January 12 and continue through March. If interested, please RSVP to Erin Bisenius at (970) 491-6188 or bmsgradinformation@colostate.edu.
Three tracks of study are available in the Department's Master's Program: Human Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, and Neurobiology. Regardless of the concentration chosen, all students receive a Master's Degree in Biomedical Sciences. Each concentration requires the completion of 32 hours of coursework consisting of a core curriculum plus electives. The electives may be selected from university-wide offerings as long as they are 300-level or greater.
1) The Human Biomedical Sciences core curriculum includes:
Managing a Career in Science BMS610A (1 credit)-Fall semester
Mammalian Physiology I BMS500 (4 credits)-Fall semester
Mammalian Physiology II BMS501 (4 credits)-Spring semester
Neuroanatomy BMS545 (5 credits)-Spring semester
Human Anatomy Dissection BMS575/BMS619 (6 credits)-Fall semester
2) The Veterinary Biomedical Sciences core curriculum includes:
Managing a Career in Science BMS610A (1 credit)-Fall semester
Mammalian Physiology I BMS500 (4 credits)-Fall semester
Mammalian Physiology II BMS501 (4 credits)-Spring semester
Neuroanatomy BMS545 (5 credits)-Spring semester
Domestic Animal Dissection BMS531/633 (5 credits)-Spring semester
3) The Neurobiology core curriculum includes:
Managing a Career in Science BMS610A (1 credit)-Fall semester
Mammalian Physiology I BMS500 (4 credits)-Fall semester
Neuroanatomy BMS545 (5 credits)-Spring semester
Developmental Neurobiology NB503 (3 credits)-Spring semester
Neuronal Circuits, Systems and Behavior NB505 (3 credits)-Spring semester
As a graduate degree-granting program, we are subject to the rules and requirements of Colorado State University's Graduate School. Admission into our program is contingent upon acceptance by the Graduate School. Information, instructions and their application form may be found on the Graduate School website.
The Graduate School requires:
On occasion, applicants who do not meet the stated requirements have merited special consideration due to unusual individual circumstances. Students who do not meet the minimum GPA standards may be admitted after favorable evaluation of their situation by the admissions committee, and subsequent approval by the graduate school. An applicant does not request special consideration; this is determined by the admissions committee. If an applicant is accepted with a GPA below 3.0, he/she is enrolled on “Academic Probation” status and has one semester to remediate his/her GPA to regain good standing. Please see the CSU Graduate Bulletin for details.
This program assumes a fairly substantial and broad background in science courses. It is not for career-changers who lack a strong science background. Although applicants' background course work is evaluated on an individual basis, the strongest applicants have had some biology, chemistry, physiology, cell biology, genetics, etc. Entering MS-B students are expected to assimilate new material at a rapid rate; thus, we do not want our students exposed to some of these foundational concepts for the first time while in the program. Therefore, we strongly recommend completing background course work in physiology (BMS300) before applying. Additionally, applicants planning to do the Human or Veterinary concentration might also consider a background course in anatomy (BMS301 or BMS305, respectively).
Please visit our FAQs page. This link was created especially for you, and is guaranteed to answer at least one question you didn't know you had.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: APRIL 1 ANNUALLY
1. Complete the online application, which can be found at the Graduate School's website.
2. Pay the Office of Admissions a $50 non-refundable application fee. Applicants must pay by credit card or electronic check at the time of application submission.
3. Submit the Supplemental Application to our Graduate Coordinator via email or mail (address below)
4. Submit GRE scores (taken within the last 5 years). To be official, scores must be sent directly from the testing center to CSU; we do not accept paper copies. Once submitted, our Graduate Coordinator can access the scores from CSU's central database.
Although the Graduate School does not require the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Department Graduate Admissions Committee requires scores from a standardized examination. We will accept the GRE (Verbal, Quantitative and Writing sections), the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)*, or the Dental Admission Test (DAT)*.
*If you are submitting MCAT or DAT scores in lieu of GRE scores, please email a pdf version of the official score report to our Graduate Coordinator. More specific instructions for submitting MCAT or DAT scores are available on our FAQs page.
5. Submit TOEFL or IELTS scores (applies to international applicants only). To be official, scores must be sent directly from the testing center to Colorado State University; we do not accept paper copies. Once submitted, our Graduate Coordinator can access the scores from CSU’s central database.
6. All applicants should send supporting documentation to:
Graduate Coordinator
Biomedical Sciences
Room 134 Physiology
Campus Delivery 1680
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1680
Supporting Documentation for Domestic Applicants:
Supporting Documentation for International Applicants:
**Please refer to the International Application Materials Checklist for additional information.
Due to the number of applications we receive and the fast and furious nature of the application season, we cannot accommodate individual requests to check application status. However, rest assured that your application WILL NOT be discarded for incompleteness without giving you a chance to provide missing materials. Approximately 4 weeks before the application deadline, we will review every application received for completeness and contact each applicant by email regarding the status of his/her application. If you have not applied in time to receive our first status check, please submit your online application as soon as possible since we can only contact you if we've received it.
We only matriculate students into this program in the fall. The annual application deadline is April 1. All supporting application materials are expected to be in our possession by that date. If you are taking your MCATs or GREs after this date, your application will not be reviewed until we receive those scores.
In recent years, we have received nearly 300 applications for 50 positions. Therefore, applicants have approximately a 1 in 6 chance of being accepted. We do not offer any early decisions for this program. The admissions committee begins reviewing all applicants after the April 1st application deadline; we feel this is most equitable to all. We will contact applicants via email and/or mail approximately the first week of June to let you know whether you have been accepted, wait-listed, or declined. Due to the subset of applicants who are on waiting lists at various professional schools and who get accepted at these schools over the course of the summer, we often have positions in our program become available throughout the summer and until the start of the fall semester.
*For the fall 20111 entering class, we received 252 applications for 50 spots. This was the third consecutive year of having an applicant pool twice the size of its historical average (140 applicants per year is the historical average). While we cannot predict the size of next year's applicant pool, the trend suggests a more competitive selection process.
For the most recent estimate of graduate tuition and fees, please visit the Registrar's website. This program is designated as a "special program" by CSU. Thus, students are assessed an additional fee each semester (see above link) to cover the additional instructor and resource costs of this program. Tuition and associated fees for the 2011-12 academic year are approximately $25,000 for non-residents and $13,500 for residents.
This program is a self-funded program, which means there are no assistantships, fellowships or tuition waivers available for deserving students. Because this is not a research-based program, we do not have access to the research-generated monies which fund assistantships and fellowships. (Therefore, please disregard the February 15 deadline for priority financial aid consideration posted on the Graduate School's website.) Many students pay for the program by taking out federal student loans and this option is still available to you after acceptance into the program. Please visit the Student Financial Services website for more information.
As of the beginning of the current academic year, 95% of the students admitted to the Department of Biomedical Science's Professional Master's Program have successfully finished the degree. Many of our graduates have found careers in the biomedical industry or academia. Others have entered doctoral degree programs or professional schools. The program affords good students an opportunity to advance their education and compete with an edge in many biomedical fields.
For the 2011-12 MS-B class, the average incoming GPA is 3.5. The average GRE scores for incoming students are 1175 on the combined verbal and quantitative components, and 4.1 on the written component. Additionally, 26 is the average combined MCAT score. Based on the past few graduating classes for which we have statistics, roughly 48% of our graduating students with intentions to go to professional school at the beginning of the program have been accepted into professional school by program end. Though several students with professional school aspirations are accepted into professional school during the course of our program, historically our program enhances professional school acceptance rates after its completion.
Please visit our FAQs. Still have questions? Contact Erin Bisenius, our Graduate Coordinator, at bmsgradinformation@colostate.edu or (970) 491-6188.
2012 Information Sessions: Interested in or have questions about our one-year Professional Master's program (MS-B)? Information Sessions will be held Mondays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 3 p.m. in Room 228 Physiology. Sessions start January 12 and continue through March. If interested, please RSVP to Erin Bisenius at (970) 491-6188 or bmsgradinformation@colostate.edu.
Fort Collins boasts plentiful housing for students. University housing for graduate students is available in a wide variety of apartments. Information about University housing can be found at the Apartment Life website. Privately owned apartments also are available throughout Fort Collins. Please visit our local newspaper, The Coloradoan, or Housing Helpers for more information. Additionally, Off-Campus Student Services offers a wealth of resources, including an online database of apartment rentals and a roommate-finder service.
Fort Collins is a city of just over 120,000, situated on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, 65 miles north of Denver. The casual lifestyle with easy access to many recreational opportunities recently helped earn Fort Collins the designation of "Best Small Town in the West" by Money Magazine. In and around town, residents take advantage of the nationally renowned park system with extensive trails which offer scenic views of the Poudre River and the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Ski resorts, cross-country trails, and other winter recreational opportunities exist a short drive from the city, and summertime offers hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, camping, and more. Trout fishing and whitewater rafting are popular activities on the nearby Cache la Poudre River.
For more information about living in Fort Collins, visit the City of Fort Collins website.
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