Application Process

Graduate students are admitted to the Graduate School rather than to the bioengineering department. Therefore, applications must be sent to the Graduate School for processing. For an application to be considered complete, the applicant must submit:

• a completed application form
• an application fee
• official transcripts from universities previously attended
• at least two letters of recommendation from previous or current teachers and/or employers
• official GRE general test score reported by ETS
• official TOEFL score reported by ETS (international students only)

Application Requirements

Each application is evaluated individually and based on undergraduate/graduate records, GRE scores and recommendation letters. In addition, the department will consider current project, lab, and research area availability when evaluating applicants. Past research experience or employment in areas relevant to bioengineering carry significant weight.

Generally, applicants will have

• an undergraduate GPA of 3.3/4.0 or higher
• GRE verbal score: 65 percentile or higher
• GRE quantitative score: 70 percentile or higher
• GRE analytical writing score: 70 percentile or higher
• TOEFL score: 100 or higher (international students only)

Bioengineering Department Entrance Requirements

The basic requirement for admission to a bioengineering advanced degree program is a bachelor’s degree from an accredited undergraduate engineering program. Students will most commonly be trained in materials, chemical or mechanical engineering, although students from the other traditional engineering disciplines are also accepted. Exceptional students in physics, chemistry and the life sciences are also considered. 

Because of the interdisciplinary character of bioengineering, it is to be expected that many students will have areas of deficiency that will have to be remedied during their first year of graduate work. The following is a list of courses that cover the areas in which all bioengineering graduate students must demonstrate competence:

Students with a B.S. in engineering or physics

Expected additional background of

• one course in organic chemistry or biochemistry,
• one course in either basic cell biology or introductory physiology including a laboratory experience.

Students with a B.S. or B.A. with majors such as biology, physiology, microbiology, zoology or biochemistry

Background required of engineers, plus

• Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations – (MTHSC 208)
• Engineering Mechanics: Statics – (CE 201)
• Introduction to Materials Science– (MS&E 210) OR Introductory Circuit – (ECE 307)
• Additional junior-level engineering course – e.g., Biomechanics (BIOE320), Biofluid Mechanics (BIOE321) Bioinstrumentation (BIOE370), Thermodynamics (MS&E 326), Transport (MS&E 327)

Students can enter the department prior to meeting all the prerequisites if approved by the admissions committee. These students must plan to complete the prerequisites during their enrollment in addition to the requirements stipulated for the M.S. or Ph.D. Course credits from prerequisites are not applied toward a graduate degree, and students can be restricted to a minimum assistantship until undergraduate prerequisites are completed.

Under special circumstances, some students might wish to waive prerequisites. A petition to the bioengineering department must be submitted.

Application Deadline

• February 1^st for August enrollment
• September 15^th for January enrollment

Tentative notification of admission status by department is:

• April 15^th for August enrollment
• November 15^th for January enrollment

Financial Aid

Applicants for the Ph.D. program will be preferably considered. The department does not provide assistantship support for M.S. students.

Applicants for August enrollment whose files are completed prior to January 15 will be given preferential consideration for financial aid in the form of research and teaching assistantships or University fellowships. Assistantship support might also be available for students considering January enrollment.

Contact

Maria Torres
Graduate Student Services Coordinator 
mariam@clemson.edu