FAQ

What percentage of students that complete the program go on to medical school?
In a recent assessment of outcomes over a 6-year period, 93% of those students applying to MD, MD/PhD or PhD programs following MSBS were successful entering those programs. In one recent year, 85% of students applying to MD programs gained entrance and more than 90% seeking PhD training enrolled. 

How common is it for your students to move along to another degree within the same institution?
This varies from year to year and students do gain admission to our medical school as well as the PhD and MD/PhD programs.  Please note that there is no guarantee that graduating from the MSBS program will provide you acceptance to our PhD or medical school. However, as an MSBS student you you will be a member of our educational community. 

What is the MSBS community like?
Our community is a supportive educational environment where we work hard to help our students succeed in getting to the next step in their professional development. Our students also have time to immerse themselves any number of Student Clubs and organizations, which you can check out  here.

Is there career advising for students looking to go into med school? 
Yes, there is plenty of support through the directors, scientists and physicians affiliated with the program.

How do you help students find a laboratory?

• Our faculty are excited to have the MSBS students join their labs!
• We give you access to a searchable database of all faculty and their labs which will allow you to search labs according to your interest.
• During orientation, our director will also send you a list of all the faculty who indicated that they have an interest in recruiting MSBS students to their labs.
• We also hold a research symposium where the faculty who are looking to recruit students present their labs and students are able to network and ask questions.
• Every student has an academic advisor based on their areas of research interest who will help find a lab.

Is the Master's program more geared towards fulfilling medical school requirements, or can it also be helpful for someone mainly looking to go into industry?
The three primary paths that students take after MSBS are med school, PhD programs or industry. Our program will help our students in all of these pathways. One of the benefits of our degree is that it will prepare you for a wide variety of career paths. We do not offer undergraduate courses, so if you need to fulfill premed requirements you would need to do that elsewhere, but our courses do provide a great foundation of biomedical knowledge that will be valuable in medical school.

Are students able to balance research and course load with volunteer work?
Since most of our students are planning to go on to further academic training after MSBS, they often need to gain additional experience. As long as you are not struggling academically or in the laboratory, there will be no problem with you doing some extracurricular work.

How many people apply to the program and how many of them get accepted?
In the 2021 admissions cycle, we received 350 completed applications and 48 students were enrolled in the program. For the 2022 cycle, we expect to see an increase in the number of applications submitted, and we plan to take about 50 students into the program.

Is there subsidized housing that is provided for other grad students?
Our master students at Mount Sinai, do not have access to subsidized housing. We do have resources available to help you find housing options and we have partnerships with some real estate companies who are able to prioritize Sinai students here.

Is it possible to contact PI’s when a prospective student is interested in exploring labs and can newly admitted students begin research prior to the official start date of the program?
Yes, we strongly encourage you to reach out to our faculty when you're exploring programs. Many of our faculty are very happy to talk to you about their students. Furthermore, students are able to join labs prior to enrolling, but it is important to note that you will do so as a volunteer in the lab and not as a student. You will not start as a student until school begins in early August.

What are the application requirements?

• Undergraduate science major or fulfillment of all pre-med requirements.
•  A year of college biology and a year of general chemistry.
• Prior research experience- at least 3 mos.
• 3.0 or higher college GPA
• International students must provide TOEFL or IELTS scores unless they went to college in an English-speaking country
• Three letters of recommendation - at least one needs to be from a research mentor

How many credits can I transfer?
You can transfer up to 16 credits. You can see which graduate level courses qualify for transfer at the Registrar’s Office.

Can I take med school courses?
Yes. There are three first-year medical school courses open to you: Medical Physiology, Medical Microbiology, and Immunology. These courses are usually taken during the second year but can be taken in the first year. Learn more about our first year medical courses.