Admission Requirements

Prior research experience
GPA ≥ 3.2 Recommended, GPA ≥ 3.0 Required*
Personal statement, 1 – 2 pages
Diversity statement, 1/2 – 1 page**
3 letters of reference (at least one from research faculty with whom you have worked)
TOEFL/IELTS for international students***

*We utilize a holistic approach to application review, which takes particular life circumstances into account. You may apply with a GPA lower than 3.2 but we ask you to please explain reasons for the lower GPA in your personal statement. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for admission, as we are not able to provide graduate assistantships to applicants with a GPA below 3.0.

**Guidelines for diversity statement: Virginia Tech and the MCB program strongly believe that everyone needs to work together to minimize inequalities and discrimination. One of Virginia Tech’s guiding principles is InclusiveVT, which is the commitment to increase diversity among students, faculty and staff and to ensure a welcoming, affirming and safe climate for everyone. We are curious to learn from you if and how you think you can support these goals.

***TOEFL/IELTS score can be waived if you have a degree from a university where courses were held in English. More information here. For the MCB program, specifically, your TOEFL score needs to be higher than 100; speaking subtest needs to be 25 or higher, all other subtests need to be 20 or higher. Your IELTS score needs to be 6.5 or higher and no subtest can be lower than 6.0. Applications with scores below the minimum requirement will not be offered admission, as we are not able to provide graduate assistantships to these applicants. Duolingo cannot be accepted.

All applications need to be submitted through the Virginia Tech Graduate School. Please see here for instructions on how to direct your application to the MCB program committee.

Your questions

Information on our webpages may not be sufficient to answer your questions, in particular if your circumstances differ from those of most applicants. We are always happy to answer questions. Send us a message, and we’ll get back to you.