To apply for admission to the Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology M.S. program, you must complete and submit the online Application for UCLA Graduate Admissions by April 22, 2025. All application materials, including letters of recommendations, are due by this date.

Applicants are expected to have:

• Completed a Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or have taken at least four upper-division core courses in a STEM field.
• An overall scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better, or its equivalent if the letter grade system is not used, and in any post-baccalaureate study. The program requires a minimum GPA of 3.3 in upper-division undergraduate coursework.

In addition, it is preferred, but not required, that applicants have some exposure to a research experience, such as active or remote participation in a laboratory-based undergraduate research project, or in a discovery-based laboratory science course.

Note: Students who wish to apply for admission to our graduate program for the 2025-2026 academic year are not required to take the GRE or MCAT or submit a GRE or MCAT score report as part of their application package. Applications with GRE or MCAT scores will not be given greater weight than those that do not include scores.

A Few Notes about the Application…

• Our program requires three letters of recommendation from professional and/or academic references. Letters of Recommendation must also be received by April 22, 2025.
• All applicants will submit a Statement of Purpose, outlining past research experience, a description of their areas of potential research interest, and the names of at least one to three prospective faculty members with whom the applicant would like to perform thesis research.

For information concerning the faculty and their research interests, check out the faculty section of our website. Applicants are encouraged to communicate directly with the faculty prior to the application process.

FUNDING

A sample budget for graduate programs is available on the Graduate Student Fees, Tuition & Living Expenses webpage. Specific charges for tuition and fees and non-resident supplemental tuition are listed on the Registrar’s Office’s Fees & Residence webpage.

Student financial support funds at UCLA are provided to graduate students in the form of grants, fellowships, traineeships, teaching assistantships, and graduate student researcher appointments. Applicants to the MCDB Master’s degree are admitted with no offer of financial support from the department. Students are encouraged to seek both need-based and non-need based funding sources offered by UCLA. Information and resources regarding aid may be found through the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office. Support based solely on need is also provided, in the form of work-study and loans.

MCDB Master’s students will be required to complete one quarter as teaching assistants in department-approved courses, as part of program requirements, but we encourage students to consider additional quarters of teaching assistantships as a means of financial support.