harvard molecular and cellular biology phd acceptance rate

Molecular and Cellular Biology

Undergraduate Program

The Molecular and Cellular Biology concentration emphasizes the intersection of modern research in cellular biology with medicine and society. MCB is ideally suited for students who wish to study molecular and cellular processes at the heart of both normal physiology and disease. MCB concentrators will acquire an understanding of scientific logic and approaches as they explore a wide range of contemporary subjects.

Graduate students in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) are members of an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary training program called Molecules, Cells, and Organisms (MCO). The program’s mission to advance biological research beyond traditional boundaries is motivated by a passion for discovery and supported by innovative research centers and state-of-the-art facilities. Graduates are trained to be the next generation of life scientists: creative, independent, and productive researchers working in academia, medicine, industry, law, business, or the non-profit sector.

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• Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

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Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology / Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology is located in Cambridge, MA.

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• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

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Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)  is an area of study within the Division of Medical Sciences, an administrative unit based at Harvard Medical School that coordinates biomedical PhD activities at the Longwood Medical Area. Students who study in BBS receive a PhD in medical sciences. Prospective students apply through the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS). In the online application, select  “Division of Medical Sciences” as your program choice and select "Biological and Biomedical Sciences" in the area of study menu.

This program trains you in the biosciences starting with core training in contemporary genetics, biochemistry, and molecular, cellular, and mechanistic biology. You can customize your curriculum to align with your research interests.

You will have access to a vast wealth of resources, including more than 700 faculty, top scientists, core facilities and hospitals, cutting-edge research, and an extensive alumni network. You will be in close proximity to top nationwide hospitals and research centers and more than 130 biotech, biopharma, and pharmaceutical companies that have biological and biomedical sciences (BBS) alumni on staff.

Examples of specific student projects include “Development of nucleic acid detection methods for object provenance and viral diagnostics,” “Interrogating genetic diversity in Mycobacterium abscessus with transposon-sequencing,” and “Sexual dimorphism in hair follicle stem cells.”

Graduates of the program have secured faculty positions at such prestigious institutions as New York University, University of Minnesota, Harvard University, and University of Illinois. Others have gone on to careers with leading companies such as Novartis and the Broad Institute. Derrick Rossi, cofounder of Moderna, is a graduate of the BBS program.

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GRE General: Not Accepted GRE Subject: Not Accepted iBT TOEFL minimum score: 100 IELTS minimum score: 7

See list of Biological and Biomedical Sciences faculty

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Chance of Admission to Harvard Grad School?

I’m an Undergrad student studying in Canada and just applied to PhD Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard university. It’s my reach school, but I was just wondering how my stats look compared to other applicants?

GPA: 3.5/4.0 Degree: Bachelor of Sciences with Honours in Biochemistry Extracurricular:

2.5 years of research (by next September, includes 8 months of full time research), 1 presentation no publication yet

1 year of teaching Biology at a Learning Centre

5 years of tutoring

2,000 hours of translation in medical field with Advanced Medical Training certificate

1 year as a Vice President in Biochemistry Student’s association

some more teaching volunteer role here and there, though not significant

about 15 awards and scholarships

Thank you in advance!

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Applicant Checklist and Deadlines

APPLICATION : You are required to complete the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Admissions Application to apply to the Ph.D. Program in Biological Sciences in Public Health, located at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS : Application information and instructions are available at  https://gsas.harvard.edu/admissions/apply

NUMBER/NAME : Program Number: 8500 Program Name: Biological Sciences in Public Health

SUBJECT : Name/Number: BPH/85

DEGREE : Ph.D.

APPLICATION DEADLINE : December 1, 2024.  Please note that we request that all of your materials are received by no later than December 1, as our committee reviews all applications immediately after the deadline.  Late materials will not be considered. We do not have rolling admissions, so there is no advantage to submitting application materials early. [NOTE: the next application cycle will open in the fall of 2024]

INTERVIEW DATES : For those invited, in-person interviews will take place from February 6-7, 2024.   Please make note of these dates as we only offer one interview opportunity.

FEE : $105 U.S. – Payable to Harvard Griffin GSAS-Harvard University. This fee must accompany the application for admission; applications will not be processed without the full fee. Application fee waivers can be requested directly through the online application.

REQUIREMENTS: Matriculants are required to have at minimum a bachelor’s degree.

GRE TESTS: GRE General Test scores will not be considered when applications are reviewed.

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

If English is not your native language, there are only three acceptable ways to demonstrate English proficiency: 1) Hold a bachelor’s degree from an institution at which English is the language of instruction; 2) Score at least 100 on the TOEFL iBT Test; 3) Score at least 7.5 on the IELTS test. Please note that Harvard Griffin GSAS does not accept scores from the TOEFL ITP Plus examination.

TOEFL TEST : TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

When requesting TOEFL score reports, be sure to indicate the receiving institution as Harvard University, Graduate Division, Arts & Sciences code R-3451.

More information can be found on the Harvard Griffin GSAS Application instruction website .

IELTS TEST : IELTS Academic Test (International English Language Testing System)

For those students planning to submit IELTS scores, please note that we will only accept official IELTS Academic scores submitted electronically by the IELTS test center via the E-Delivery service. Scores from the IELTS General Training module are not accepted. At the time of test-taking, please specify Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences as a score recipient. We do not accept IELTS paper test Report Forms nor do we verify Test Report Forms (TRFs).

RECOMMENDATIONS : 3 recommendations are required.  It is suggested that you communicate to recommenders you listed on the application so that they submit their recommendations before the deadline.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The statement of purpose is a particularly important part of the application. We suggest that applicants take time to familiarize themselves with program faculty to assess compatibility with their scientific interests and align their purpose and goals with the program.  A well-crafted statement should address the following:

• Your motivation in seeking doctoral-level training in the BPH Program
• Specific aspects of the BPH Program that motivated you to apply
• A description of any past research experience
• Your current research interests
• The BPH faculty members who most closely match your interests and reasons why you would like to work with them
• Your current career aspirations
• If applicable, a brief description of any hardships, adversity or extenuating circumstances that you feel provide important context for other components of your application

PROGRAM START DATE: The PhD Program in Biological Sciences begins in July 2025.

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Update on Harvard BBS Acceptance Rate

By PhDHopeful3 January 12, 2017 in Biology

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PhDHopeful3

Hi everyone,

I just heard some information that surprised me today that I wanted to share (as it's quite different than previous post-interview acceptance rates that I had heard for Harvard BBS). There are ~70 people attending the first (January) interview weekend, and ~50 people attending the second (Feb) interview weekend. They're also still expecting to hear back from a few more people who haven't yet signed up.

They are looking to fill 65-70 spots for this cycle. 

I was quite surprised, because I'd heard for Harvard BBS that if you get an interview, you're pretty much good (~90% post-interview acceptance rate), but these numbers don't indicate that.

Just wanted to share this info, as I know people are often talking about acceptance rates!

I should have added that I was told that, yes, more offers go out than the 65-70 spots that they're looking to fill (makes sense, as we know students will choose other programs for various reasons). But absolutely not to the tune of 80-90% of interviewees receiving an offer of admission.

• Kaede and DecCat

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Kaede 10 posts

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hippopotamus 8 posts

PhDHopeful3 7 posts

Jan 17 2017

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Epigenetics.

January 14, 2017

I can tell you fundamentally none of what you're saying is true. Yes they're trying to fill ~65 spots, because the program is large, but that is the post-acceptance matriculation number. They expect a

January 17, 2017

I actually found some data on HILS website and did some math based on the data. The result confirms what @Epigenetics just said: (source: https://gsas.harvard.edu/programs-of-study/divisions/harv

February 6, 2017

Got an offer via a phone call from BBS. Good luck to everyone!

Thank you for this information! Better to go in with a competitive environment than feeling overconfident.

• bioapplerobot

Exactly! I think I was feeling too confident before I found this out!

I don't think this is as bad as it seems at first glance. 70 admits out of a group of 120 is approximately a ~60% acceptance rate, but you have to consider that even top programs don't have 100% enrollment rates. The students that end up getting offers from Harvard are going to be getting offers from other excellent schools, so they always have to send out more offers than they have spots in order to fill out their incoming class. This means that the the actual post-interview admissions rate has to substantially higher than 60% - I figure that somewhere around 80% is reasonable based on the numbers you mentioned.

Edit: Didn't see OP's edit to his original post. But I do think it's reasonable to expect an 80% rate.

• Nomad1111 and hippopotamus

I can tell you fundamentally none of what you're saying is true. Yes they're trying to fill ~65 spots, because the program is large, but that is the post-acceptance matriculation number. They expect a large number of people not to attend, so if they anticipate a matriculation rate of 50% (from what I've heard that's about what they expect) then they have to accept 130 people to get that. I know for a fact their post-interview admission rate is 90-95%. Source: I work in a BBS lab.

• hippopotamus , Nomad1111 , MCF10A and 2 others

1 hour ago, Epigenetics said: I can tell you fundamentally none of what you're saying is true. Yes they're trying to fill ~65 spots, because the program is large, but that is the post-acceptance matriculation number. They expect a large number of people not to attend, so if they anticipate a matriculation rate of 50% (from what I've heard that's about what they expect) then they have to accept 130 people to get that. I know for a fact their post-interview admission rate is 90-95%. Source: I work in a BBS lab.

Whew! That is reassuring!

2 hours ago, Epigenetics said: I can tell you fundamentally none of what you're saying is true. Yes they're trying to fill ~65 spots, because the program is large, but that is the post-acceptance matriculation number. They expect a large number of people not to attend, so if they anticipate a matriculation rate of 50% (from what I've heard that's about what they expect) then they have to accept 130 people to get that. I know for a fact their post-interview admission rate is 90-95%. Source: I work in a BBS lab.

Wow that really relieved me! I feel kind of surprised by the ~50% yield rate tho, given that the MD and MD-PhD program at HMS both have 75%+ yield rates. Maybe many people who get in Harvard BBS tend to have multiple offers from other top programs, but getting into multiple top schools for MD/MD-PhD is way harder?

I actually found some data on HILS website and did some math based on the data. The result confirms what @Epigenetics  just said:

(source:  https://gsas.harvard.edu/programs-of-study/divisions/harvard-integrated-life-sciences )

(1)Last year all programs in HILS (BBS, BIG, MCO, immunology, chem bio, etc) accepted~396 students (2331 total applicants*17% admission rate), and the entering class is 210, which makes the yield rate ~53% .

(2)Since BBS is the largest cohort in HILS (~31% of the HILS), let's assume that the yield rate of BBS is similar to that number of the whole HILS. 

(3)In order to fill 65 spots, BBS needs to accept 65/0.53=122 students . If the # of spots to fill is 70, they need to accept 132 .

(4)~120 people will attend two interview weekends, and there are more internationals do Skype interview. Harvard BBS has ~30% intl students, let's assume that among 30%, half (15%) reside in the US and are already included in the 120, and the remaining 15% will do skype. The total interviewee number (onsite+skype)=120/(1-0.15)=142 . 

(5) The conclusion: BBS will interview ~140 students and accept 120-130 students, which makes the post-interview acceptance rate 86-93% . Not bad at all.

• desmond.bo , Nomad1111 , 564654899865 and 2 others

5 hours ago, MCF10A said: I actually found some data on HILS website and did some math based on the data. The result confirms what @Epigenetics  just said: (source:  https://gsas.harvard.edu/programs-of-study/divisions/harvard-integrated-life-sciences ) (1)Last year all programs in HILS (BBS, BIG, MCO, immunology, chem bio, etc) accepted~396 students (2331 total applicants*17% admission rate), and the entering class is 210, which makes the yield rate ~53% . (2)Since BBS is the largest cohort in HILS (~31% of the HILS), let's assume that the yield rate of BBS is similar to that number of the whole HILS.  (3)In order to fill 65 spots, BBS needs to accept 65/0.53=122 students . If the # of spots to fill is 70, they need to accept 132 . (4)~120 people will attend two interview weekends, and there are more internationals do Skype interview. Harvard BBS has ~30% intl students, let's assume that among 30%, half (15%) reside in the US and are already included in the 120, and the remaining 15% will do skype. The total interviewee number (onsite+skype)=120/(1-0.15)=142 .  (5) The conclusion: BBS will interview ~140 students and accept 120-130 students, which makes the post-interview acceptance rate 86-93% . Not bad at all. So guess we can just chill      

5 hours ago, MCF10A said: I actually found some data on HILS website and did some math based on the data. The result confirms what @Epigenetics  just said: (source:  https://gsas.harvard.edu/programs-of-study/divisions/harvard-integrated-life-sciences ) (1)Last year all programs in HILS (BBS, BIG, MCO, immunology, chem bio, etc) accepted~396 students (2331 total applicants*17% admission rate), and the entering class is 210, which makes the yield rate ~53% . (2)Since BBS is the largest cohort in HILS (~31% of the HILS), let's assume that the yield rate of BBS is similar to that number of the whole HILS.  (3)In order to fill 65 spots, BBS needs to accept 65/0.53=122 students . If the # of spots to fill is 70, they need to accept 132 . (4)~120 people will attend two interview weekends, and there are more internationals do Skype interview. Harvard BBS has ~30% intl students, let's assume that among 30%, half (15%) reside in the US and are already included in the 120, and the remaining 15% will do skype. The total interviewee number (onsite+skype)=120/(1-0.15)=142 .  (5) The conclusion: BBS will interview ~140 students and accept 120-130 students, which makes the post-interview acceptance rate 86-93% . Not bad at all. So guess we can just chill

Was told by the secretary during Sys Bio interview that the acceptance rate was ~60%

hippopotamus

Does anyone know if Harvard BBS sends out the list of faculty that you'll be interviewing with?

1 hour ago, hippopotamus said: Does anyone know if Harvard BBS sends out the list of faculty that you'll be interviewing with?

Don't think so. Still waiting on that.

Got contact with my student host though.

8 minutes ago, desmond.bo said: Don't think so. Still waiting on that. Got contact with my student host though.

Did your grad student host contact you directly?

32 minutes ago, hippopotamus said: Did your grad student host contact you directly?

Yep. I suppose they are doing these independently. 

• 2 weeks later...

Does anyone know when we hear back from Harvard BBS?

20 minutes ago, hippopotamus said: Does anyone know when we hear back from Harvard BBS?

From looking at the previous two years, it looks like the first round of interviews hears today.... not sure if that's the case this year, but that's how it has been previously.

10 hours ago, PhDHopeful3 said: From looking at the previous two years, it looks like the first round of interviews hears today.... not sure if that's the case this year, but that's how it has been previously.

Nothing happened to me today. Did you guys heard about anything?

56 minutes ago, desmond.bo said: Nothing happened to me today. Did you guys heard about anything?

i don't think anything came out today. maybe tomorrow

Nothing today!

Nothing in the results section either

Come on BBS, let's try for today for week 1!

• PhDHopeful3 and MCF10A

jeanetics17

Maybe they're adjusting how many people they admit this year based on last year's results which they told us was a very big class (~70-75). Since so many people accepted last year, they probably think a similar trend will occur this year, and of course those are huge numbers in terms of cost for the program. When we didn't hear back last week, I suspected something was up and perhaps (I suspect) the 1st group of interviewees won't hear back until after the 2nd interview. Basically, I think they are going to pool all interviewees and cut from that instead of each weekend (reducing the amount accepted in total). 

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Undergraduate Neuroscience

Neuroscience.

“The way I approached choosing a concentration was simply going through the handbook, looking at the required classes for each concentration, and deciding what appealed to me – neuroscience had the greatest number of courses that I would have chosen to take as electives anyway, so it was an obvious choice! The diversity of classes available to choose from also allowed me to tailor the concentration to my particular interests, and has led to an incredible experience overall!”

In Neuroscience, students investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie behavior as well as how brains process information. We study the nervous system at every level: from the macroscopic (behavior and cognition) to the microscopic (cells and molecules).

Consequently, the questions that neuroscientists ask are wide-ranging: how do electrical and molecular signals allow neurons to process and transmit information from the environment? What guides the development of the immense number of precise connections in the nervous system? How can the complex signals of many thousands of active neurons be recorded and interpreted? What causes the profound behavioral deficits in Alzheimers disease or Autism Spectrum Disorders?

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/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="harvard molecular and cellular biology phd acceptance rate"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Molecular and cell biology ph.d. (ithaca), field of study.

Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology

Program Description

The graduate program in the Field of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology (BMCB) offers a Ph.D. degree only. The goal of our program is to introduce and educate students about the fascination of this scientific area, as well as provide them with the tools necessary to succeed in it. The program offers the opportunity to undertake forefront research with access to the latest technology and equipment. Our program includes both core and flexible coursework that intends to provide a depth and breadth of knowledge in the scientific areas encompassed by the field, develop written communication skills, and inform on research ethics. In addition to coursework, students are required to complete three research rotations in the first year and a one-semester teaching experience (in the second year).

Students in the Field of BMCB can select the Biochemistry PhD or Molecular and Cell Biology PhD degree during the application process. Core curricular requirements are maintained across the BMCB and GGD degree programs. The Molecular and Cell Biology PhD offers coursework and research opportunities that focus on understanding the molecular basis of biological activity within and between cells. More details can be found on the BMCB program website (provided below). Degree selection during the application process should be informed by an applicant’s current area of research interest. The flexibility of our training program allows students to move between the BMCB and GGD degree programs at the end of the first year if their research interests evolve.

Contact Information

107 Biotechnology Building Cornell University Ithaca, NY  14853

Concentrations by Subject

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Fall, Dec. 1; no spring admission

Requirements Summary:

Candidates come from many academic backgrounds; however, matriculating students will have commonly majored in one of the many areas of biology, chemistry, or physics. There are no set standards; rather we are searching for applicants who we believe can flourish in the program. The Admissions Committee considers the potential for each applicant to succeed, and past or ongoing research experience is considered an important indicator for success in the program. A holistic review takes into account not only the applicant's academic background and research experience but also the applicant’s accomplishments, character, and life experiences. The academic record (GPA) and research experience are considered alongside the statement of purpose and letters of recommendation. There is not a grade point average minimum or cutoff. We value diversity in all its forms.

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• Current transcripts, all colleges attended 
• Three letters of recommendation
• Statements of Purpose (Academic and Personal)
• Proof of English language competency
• Curriculum Vitae

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Upon completion of a Ph.D., students will be able to:

• Make an original and substantial contribution to the field.
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of one area of expertise.
• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of theory and research across several sub-disciplines in the field.
• Learn and follow ethical guidelines for working in the field.
• Write and speak effectively to professional and lay audiences about issues in the field.

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