Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Application Information

Inquiries should be directed to:

Director
Biological Sciences Program,
Life Sciences II, Room 368,
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Mailcode 6501 Carbondale, IL 62901-6505, USA,
Telephone: (618) 536-2032

Application materials are to be mailed to the address below and include:

Biological Sciences Application Form (for printable PDF version, click here)
Application information for admission to the Graduate School
Official Transcripts from all universities attended
Scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
Three (3) letters of recommendation
Completed "Financial Statement" REQUIRED FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS.
Copy of Passport page listing your name and date of birth.
TOEFL score of at least 550 (220 if by computer) in order to be eligible for admission.
"Official TOEFL scores" should be sent by the Educational Testing Service to:

SIUC Graduate School, c/o Ms. Debbie Anderson, Admissions Officer

Southern Illinois University, Mailcode: 4716

Carbondale, IL 62901 - 4716, U.S.A.

For Graduate School admission information click here.

Please note that this is a broad-based program by design. If your interests are more specific, then you should apply to one of the four participating life sciences departments, e,g., Microbiology, Physiology, Plant Biology or Zoology.

Admission Requirements

The applicant must possess a Bachelor's degree or will have completed all undergraduate degree requirements prior to the semester of admission.
The applicant must have earned an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.70 or better (A=4.0) in the acquisition of the Bachelor's degree, with a major in one of the Biological Sciences areas. The academic background required includes:
- 37 Semester hours of courses distributed among three of the Biological Science areas (Microbiology, Physiology, Plant Biology and Zoology).
- Organic Chemistry with laboratory or Biochemistry
- Physics
- Statistics
An applicant may be admitted with background deficiencies which MUST be completed before the third semester of registration in the program.
The applicant must have an advisor in order to be admitted to the program.

Degree Requirements

A. Non-Thesis Option - A total of 40 semester hours of 400- or 500-level courses is required with the following provisions:

A minimum of 26 semester hours of formal graded courses in the Biological Sciences with NO LESS than 8 semester hours including one 400- or 500- level laboratory course in each of three Biological Sciences departments.
A minimum of 15 semester hours of the total must be at the 500-level.
At least one semester of seminar in each of three of the Biological Sciences departments must be attended for credit.
A research paper is required demonstrating the ability to collect and analyze data and to report interpreted results in a scientific manner. A bibliographical search or other type of library research problem is acceptable, but must include an original contribution of analysis and interpretation. No less than 3 nor more than 6 semester hours of "Research" may be counted for credit in meeting requirements (Only those courses listed as "Individual Research," Introduction to Research" Research Paper, etc., may be taken for credit. Thesis Research" MAY NOT be used for this requirement").

B. Thesis Option - A total of 30 semester hours of 400- or 500-level courses is required with the following provisions:

A minimum of 21 semester hours of formal graded courses in the Biological Sciences is required with NO LESS than 6 semester hours in each of three of the Biological Sciences departments.
A minimum of 15 semester hours of the total must be at the 500-level.
At least one semester of seminar in two of the four Biological Sciences departments must be attended for credit.
A thesis embodying original research is required and may be counted for not less than 3 nor more than 6 semester hours of credit.

Advisement

Guidance of students shall be by a Research and Advisory Committee of three members including the advisor. Each committee member must be from a different Biological Sciences department. One committee member may be from another department at the discretion of the Program Director. The Program Director will serve as an ex-officio member.

Graduate work is taken in the departments of Plant Biology, Microbiology, Physiology and Zoology to obtain a Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences in the College of Science.

Applicants

This program requires a non-refundable $40.00 application fee that must be submitted with the Application for Admissions to Graduate Study in Biological Sciences. Applicants may pay this fee by credit card if applying electronically. Applicants submitting a paper application must pay by personal check, cashier's check, or money order made out to SIU, and payable to a U.S. Bank.