The Department of Biological Sciences offers graduate degrees in three program areas: Ecology and Evolution, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, and Neurobiology. Prospective students apply to the Department of Biological Sciences, indicating their program area(s) of interest. Application materials are then reviewed by faculty committees representing those area(s). Priority is given to students pursuing the Ph.D. degree; however, well-qualified applicants for the M.S. degree may also be considered. Students are considered and admitted for fall semester only.

Our primary season for review is January through March. While December 1st is a department guideline, rather than a deadline, we strongly encourage applicants to submit all materials by that date in order to receive fullest consideration.

To our applicants for Fall 2013 admission:

Thank you for considering graduate study in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Please note: For fullest consideration, we strongly encourage submission of all materials by December 1, 2012.

For Fall 2013, UIC has instituted a new system which allows you to submit your application form and fee on-line; to upload all required and optional forms and materials in support of your application; and for your recommenders to upload letters.

Please note that applicants no longer send hard copy academic documents/transcripts to UIC as part of their application, but rather scan and upload these documents to the system for the department and central graduate admissions to then access and review. Submission of official sealed hard copy (or official electronic) academic documents/transcripts becomes a requirement only if an applicant is admitted. Otherwise, although the method of submitting materials has changed, the set of required
materials that constitutes a complete application are the same:

• Personal statement [upload]
• Resume or curriculum vitae/CV [upload]
• 3 letters of recommendation [system generates request to recommender with instructions; recommender uploads to system]
• 'Application for Graduate Appointment' Form [upload]
• 'Degree / Research Area / Potential Faculty Advisor' form [upload]
• List of in progress and planned courses (if any), with institution, course # and name, term, credit hours [upload]
• 'Research Area / Degree' form [on-line form accessed on system checklist]
• GRE general exam scores [request that ETS transmit official score reports to UIC]

Optional materials (research documents, cover letter, 4th recommendation,
miscellaneous academic and other support documents) may also be uploaded for
inclusion in your application file.

To begin your application process, go to the UIC Admissions website and scroll down to 'Section 2 - All other applicants.' You will need to choose either 'Domestic-degree-seeking' or 'International-degree-seeking'. The system will prompt you to create a user id and password. You can then enter your application information (contact information, educational history, etc.). Once you finalize and submit this information and the application fee, the system will send you further instructions (typically on the next business day) on using the application checklist to upload materials and enter information to generate requests to your recommenders for letters.

Please note that you do not have to enter and submit all application information, or upload all materials, at one sitting. You can return to the system as many times as you need to. You can also return to the system checklist as often as you like to see what materials have been successfully uploaded, and subsequently verified as received by the department.

Thank you again for your interest in graduate study in the Department of Biological Sciences at UIC. If you have any questions regarding the program, application / review process, or the completeness of your application, please don't hesitate to contact me at any time.

Best regards,

Margaret Kleist
Graduate Admissions Coordinator
Department of Biological Sciences/UIC
kleist@uic.edu / 312-996-2931