Graduate Admissions Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the criteria for admission to BME?
The admissions committee for Biomedical Engineering reviews GRE scores, performance at previous institutions/universities, at least 3 letters of recommendations, and a personal statement.

2. What are acceptance rates?
Since the department provides funding for all incoming PhD students for their first year, acceptance rates vary significantly from year-to-year for PhD students, depending on available funds.  In the past, entering students average to about 7 PhD and 7 MS per fall term.

3. Can you assess my chances of being accepted?
The average GPA and GRE scores of our students are provided below. We will not provide unofficial reviews of applications.  To begin the formal application procedure, please visit the Rutgers Graduate Admissions Website: http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu/

4. What are the average academic credentials for entering students?
PhD: GPA 3.6, GRE 530(V), 780(Q), 4.5(A)
MS: GPA 3.4, GRE 500(V), 740(Q), 4.5(A)

5. Who awards the graduate degrees in the department of Biomedical Engineering?
The graduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering are awarded jointly by both Rutgers University, through the Graduate School of New Brunswick, and the UMDNJ, through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

6. How long will it take to complete a Masters degree?
There are two types of MS students in BME: Plan A Thesis and Plan B Non-Thesis. Both tracks should finish their MS degree in 2-3 years.

7. Can I enter the program part-time?
Please contact the graduate program if you seek to pursue a part-time PhD degree.  We can help evaluate your prerequisites and help position your curriculum and research plans to give you maximum flex-time.  The program encourages part-time applicants particularly from regional high tech pharma and healthcare industry.  In order to support the work schedules of such applicants, the BME program has recently rescheduled many of its core courses from mornings to mid-to-late afternoons.  This should allow most part-time PhD students to register for one or two courses per semester while taking a half-day off from work.  Several new part-time PhD applicants have expressed interested in the program or already joined the program, including employees of Johnson & Johnson and Life-Cell.  This program should witness an expansion in the years to come.  

8. How long will it take to complete a PhD degree?
Students should complete their PhD degrees in 5 years with a max of 7 years.

9. Can I enter the PhD program directly without completing a Masters?
Yes, students must keep in mind that the entrance criteria into the PhD program are more stringent than that of the MS program.

10. I don’t find Rutgers-UMDNJ in the top ten BME departments in the US News and World Report. How does Rutgers-UMDNJ compare to the top ten?
Rutgers-UMDNJ compares exceedingly well with these department and even exceeds some of those listed in certain important objective categories. There are two main reasons that Rutgers-UMDNJ BME is not yet on the top ten list. First, the listing is largely determined by a vague and subjective value called “reputation” which is a complex function of history, public relations, quality, and how elite the sponsoring university is. The second reason is that BME at Rutgers-UMDNJ is fairly young; the department and graduate program were established in 1986, and the undergraduate program was established in 1999. Despite our youth, BME department is extremely dynamic and vibrant with a strong and well-funded faculty.

11. How do graduate students obtain support for their graduate studies?
All first year PhD students are supported by departmental or university fellowships, which provide stipend, tuition remission, and sometimes student fees for the first year. After the first year, students will be supported by their advisors through fellowships and graduate assistantships. There are also a number of multi-year fellowships available for advanced students through NSF and NIH training programs.  BME also has a limited number of teaching assistantships for graduate students who demonstrate outstanding teaching skills. 

12. Is there funding available for Masters Students?
Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers does not offer financial support for MS students.  Financial support must be initiated from the student.

13. How do students find thesis/dissertation advisors?
Through communication!  During the first year, the Bioengineering Student Society (BESS) sponsors a lunch seminar series where faculty members present research opportunities in his/her lab. Through these lunch meetings, the graduate student guide, and direct communication with faculty, students are asked to narrow their search to 3 candidate advisors during the second semester of the first year. Students also have the opportunity to do laboratory rotations during the spring and summer of their first year. A final selection is generally made, at the latest, by the beginning of second academic year.

14. How do students qualify for PhD dissertation status?
PhD students must take 15 courses (3 core BME courses, 1 Advanced Math course, 1 Advanced Biology course, 1 Life Science elective, 5 Developmental courses, and 4 Bioengineering electives). The next step is a written exam based on the core coursework designed to test the students’ ability to integrate across disciplines. The third step is the successful defense of a written thesis proposal.

15. What percentage of students passes the written exam?
In the past 3 years, >95% of students have passed their initial attempt. Students who do not pass the first time can: (1) take the exam again (in the case of a low score) or (2) take additional coursework or perform a special project (in the case of a border-line score).

16. Where do PhD graduates go after completing their studies?
To date, 74% of our graduates have taken industrial positions, 14% have taken academic positions, 7% are in government labs, and 5% are self-employed in their own start-up firms.

17. What are the advantages of Rutgers BME over other institutions?
Location, location, location! New Jersey has the #1 pharmaceutical industry and the #5 medical device industry in the country. The biotechnology sector is also very strong and growing. Doing graduate work at Rutgers puts you in the center of more high technology biomedical research than anywhere in the world. A second advantage is our industrious and talented faculty.

18. Do I need a biomedical engineering degree to enter the graduate program?
Some of our students do not have a BME degree when they entered our program. These students are encouraged to take prerequisite courses in areas they lack.  Mostly these courses include Cell Biology, Organic Chemistry, Physiology and Differential Equations.

19. What is the composition of the graduate student body?
As of Fall 2009, the student body averages ~100 students with the following breakdown:

69 PhD students
3 MD/PhD students
23 MS students

63% male
37% female
75% US citizens/Permanent Residents
25% foreign nationals
10% underrepresented minorities

Here is a sample of where our students have come from:

US: Johns Hopkins, Cornell, MIT, U Penn, UCSD, Rutgers, Tulane, U Virginia, RPI, WPI, Case Western, U Rochester, U Toledo, Northwestern U, Princeton, Stevens, Columbia, U Maryland, U Michigan, NJIT, UT Austin, U Minnesota, Cooper Union, Drexel, U Miami, U Arizona, Boston U, Delaware State, U Massachusetts, U Washington

Foreign: Kyoto U, Seoul National U, National Taiwan U, Tsingua U, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras, Nanyang Tech U, Nagoya Tech, Birla Inst Tech Sci, Huazhong U Sci Tech, U of Poona, U of Madras