BS/MS Accelerated Degree Program

The Biology Department offers a program for selected students to get both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Biology in as quickly as five years.

The accelerated degree program requires admission in the Spring Term of your Junior year. Prospective students should also have a special interest in research in biology.

Admission Criteria

  1. At least 90 credits (planned graduation with a BS in Biology from Rutgers-Camden at the end of the next year)
  2. GPA of 3.5 in major and overall
  3. Three supportive letters of recommendation
  4. A personal letter indicating interests
  5. GRE scores will not be required

Timetable

Spring, Junior Year

    1. The student should apply and be admitted by the pre-registration period. The successful applicant will receive a letter of admission.
    2. During pre-registration, the student will be advised in their senior year schedule and, using a special permission number, will register for one graduate course in the fall of the senior year. This course will be taken along with the regular undergraduate courses. The undergraduate tuition rate will be charged for it, and the credits will be double counted (i.e. they will be part of the 120 credits required for the BA and will also be counted toward the MA or MS).

Fall/Senior Year

      1. The student should follow the registration procedure described above, and register for one or two graduate course for the spring of their senior year.
      2. The student must complete all requirements for the BA degree and graduate.
      3. The student will formally apply to the Graduate School, following all normal procedures except for the normal requirement of GRE scores.

Summarizing, with the permission of the instructor, a maximum of three classes of course work at the 500 or 600 level may be taken during your time as an undergrad. These classes may be counted toward the 120 credits required for your BS and may also be counted toward your graduate degree should you be subsequently accepted into the graduate program. You will still need to apply for admission to the program through our regular application process after receiving a pre-acceptance letter signed by the graduate program director and taking the G-prefix courses. The application information and portal can be found here.

Upon being admitted, the student may begin graduate school in the summer after graduation. And upon entering graduate school, the student will already have completed two (or three) of the courses required for the Master’s degree. The student will also have saved approximately $2000 in graduate tuition.

Contact

If you are interested in applying to the accelerated degree program and meet all the above requirements, please submit the filled BSMS_Accelerated Degree Program Form to:

Graduate Program Director
Department of Biology
Rutgers University
315 Penn Street
Camden, NJ 08102-1411
Phone: (856) 225-6142
Fax: (856) 225-6312
Email: gradbio@crab.rutgers.edu