Admissions

Prospective candidates must submit an application via the online Graduate Application and pay
the $30 application fee. Applicants must arrange to have official transcripts from all colleges
and/or universities attended and official test scores (TOEFL iBT/PBT, IELTS or DuoLingo) sent
by the corresponding official agencies directly to the FIU Graduate Admissions Office. Foreign
Transcripts must also be certified, and translated if necessary, by an official, NACES-affiliated
institution, with the information sent directly afterwards to the Graduate Admissions Office.

FIU has a rolling admissions policy. When the Admissions Office receives the student’s
application, application fee, transcripts letters of reference and test scores (if needed), the
completed file is referred to the Department of Biological Sciences for evaluation. In addition to
the information sent to Admissions, the student must have a letter from their faculty sponsor
submitted for the application to be considered complete.

The Department of Biological Sciences has one application deadline per year, which is for Fall
admissions. Applications for graduate assistantships for the Fall term must be received by
December 1. Decisions on assistantships for the Fall term will normally be made within eight
weeks of this deadline.

  • Deadlines

    The deadline for applications is December 1 for the following fall.

  • Requirements
    • Degree: Relevant bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
    • GPA: 3.0 average or higher during the last two years of the undergraduate program, or a master's degree in a relevant discipline
    • Applicant Statement/Letter of Intent
    • Current Resume
    • Letters of Recommendation: Required, 3 letters sent to the Biological Sciences graduate program director evaluating the applicant's potential for graduate work
    • Sponsorship by a faculty member with with graduate faculty status
    • Transcripts: Official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended (certified by a
      NACES-affiliated institution, if they are foreign transcripts)
    • Additional Requirements: International graduate student applicants whose native
      language is not English are required to demonstrate proficiency in English by achieving a
      minimum score of 80/550 on the TOEFL iBT, or a minimum score of 6.5 overall on the
      IELTS, or a minimum score of 110 on the DuoLingo test.
      • Approval from the department’s Graduate Committee


    For more information, consult the
    Graduate Catalog.

  • Funding