You may apply for the program and find more information about the admission timeline at this link . The application cycle will begin on August 1 for admission into the class beginning the next fall semester.  Admission to the IGP is granted for the fall semester only. No students will be admitted to start in the spring.

The application deadline is December 1. You may apply for the program and find more information about the admission timeline by clicking here. Applications are reviewed over several weeks after the application deadline. 

No. The IGP only accepts students for Fall Admission.

No. Neither the general GRE exam, which includes the Verbal, Quantitative and Analytic sections, nor the subject tests are required for admission. If you have taken the GRE and would like to include it in your application, you may do so and the admissions committee will consider it in their holistic review. The GRE Institution Code is 1871. The GRE Department Code for this program is 0202 (No department code is necessary, but you may use 0202 if you are required to enter one).

No. There are no minimum GPA requirements. When reviewing applications, we consider the entire application package, including previous research experience.

Starting with Fall 2018 applications, our application fee will be $95. We have a robust waiver process as a part of this in order to ensure that we continue to recruit those students coming from groups that could be disadvantaged by the fee.

In accordance with the interests of the US congress and its commitment to training well qualified and highly diverse students for careers in the biomedical sciences, fee waivers can be obtained for any student who has performed biological or biomedically-oriented research which has been supported by the NIH, the NSF, or any other agency or private foundation within the US.
Please see our application page for more information on fee waivers.

All materials are submitted electronically. We do NOT need copies of your official transcripts at the time of your application. You can upload an unofficial transcript at the time of application.  Should you choose to enroll at Vanderbilt, an official transcript for each school listed on your application will be required before matriculation. This is also true for GRE scores, should you elect to include them, and language test scores.

Your application status will not change online. You will be notified if you have been invited to interview for our program. Otherwise, we will contact you regarding your application status when all interview invitations have been extended.

Applications are reviewed over several weeks starting December 2. There is no advantage to submitting your application early, but you do want to make sure you application is submitted and complete by December 1. Only complete applications will be reviewed.

Applicants will be invited to interview in January through the end of February.

Unfortunately, this cannot be changed for your submitted names, even administratively. The only way to change this is to delete your recommender(s) and add them back in. You can do this before or after you submit your application.

Yes! This waiver does not depend on citizenship status.

Wonderful! Yes, we imagine that a majority of our applicants will qualify for the waiver. All you have to do is to check “yes” on the question regarding funded research on the “Experience” tab and you will not be asked to pay a fee. There is no code and no documentation needed!

No, We accept unofficial transcripts in evaluating your application. If you are offered admission and you accept the offer, you will then submit official transcripts.

NO! Neither the general GRE exam, which includes the Verbal, Quantitative and Analytic sections, nor the subject tests are required for admission. If you have taken the GRE and would like to include it in your application, you may do so and the admissions committee will consider it in their holistic review. The GRE Institution Code is 1871. The GRE Department Code for this program is 0202 (No department code is necessary, but you may use 0202 if you are required to enter one).

No. There are no minimum GPA or TOEFL/IELTS requirements. When reviewing applications, we consider the entire application package, including previous research experience.

TOEFL, IELTS, or DuoLingo scores are required for international applicants; however, this requirement can be waived if you have received a degree where the primary language of the country is English-speaking. The scores are self-reported for the application. If you are offered admission and you accept, you will then need to provide official scores.

You would also qualify for a waiver if you attended a University where English was the language of instruction. It may take up to 24 hours for the waiver to be processed after completing your application. Feel free to e-mail stephanie.richards@vanderbilt.edu with any questions.

Yes! A CV or resume is not required for the application. However, if you would like to upload one, you will see a place to upload it under “Experiences”. We would be happy to review this with your application, but it is not required or expected. Please still complete the “Experiences” tab of the application, even if you upload a CV or resume.

This is used for a fee waiver. We are happy to accept any document that shows you have received a Pell grant. More detail is given on the Online Application page.

We have very flexible expectations for this; however, we generally recommend you keep your statement between 1-3 pages single spaced. More statements are 1.5 – 2 pages long. This is just a general suggestion and if your statement does not fit in this range, that is fine!

Yes, you can submit your application before your letters arrive and they will be matched with your application. We will only review a completed application (3 letters submitted). We do require your application to be complete by the deadline, so please continue to monitor this progress.

Feel free to email Stephanie.Richards@vanderbilt.edu

Interview offers are sent on a rolling basis. Our admissions committee meets every Monday morning from around the beginning of December until the first week in April, except over Christmas/New Years. Because we meet so often, we review applications in smaller batches instead of all at once. Thus, if you do not hear from us early in the application cycle, this does not mean you should worry about the status of your application as we review applications until early spring. If an applicant has not received an invitation by March 15th, they are not being considered for an interview with the IGP program.

Typically we will send an email and ask for you to call us back at your convenience.  However, if you do not quickly respond to this email, we will send a follow up message or call to discuss times for the interview.

We will be conducting our interviews in person for Fall 2024. If invited to interview, you will be given instructions on how to make your travel plans and how to be reimbursed for your costs. Once here, the hotel and meals on the interview day are paid for by Vanderbilt.

No. The determination of the date for the interview is mostly related to when your application was reviewed, your availability, and which dates we are currently scheduling. This is not related to the application strength. You should not read anything into the specifics of when you receive an offer to interview.

Absolutely! You will meet with several faculty during your interview, as well as have an opportunity to hear from and ask questions of current graduate students, and tour some of our core facilities. You will be sent a list of the faculty you will meet and the schedule prior to your interview day. We also try to give you some free time to explore Nashville so that you can see what it might be like to live here.

The IGP admissions committee meets every Monday. The admissions committee could provide a decision within two weeks following your interview.

You have until April 15th to make a final decision.  However, once you have made a final decision (either way) we would be grateful if you share those plans with us.   It helps us as we consider other candidates in our rolling admissions process.  If you have anything else you would like to know during your decision making process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

No, the IGP is a Ph.D.-track program that feeds into the eleven basic science departments and programs in the School of Medicine as well as the Dept of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts & Science.

Yes, you can find our faculty in individual Department and Programs, or searchable list of some faculty by interest area here. Also, this is our current Training Faculty list.

Yes!  We prepare students for any career trajectory they are interested in. Please check out the website of our Office of Career Development!

We always shoot for a range, and this year the range is 70-75 for the combined IGP and QCB programs.

The number has been increasing for some time, but currently we have over 1,000 submitted applications between the IGP and QCB programs.

The number international students varies year to year, but currently 8.3% of our IGP and QCB students are international.

I’m glad you asked! Check out this website!

Yes, the IGP program offers full financial support and covers all tuition, fees, and student health insurance. In addition, students receive a stipend.  Compensation for 2023-24 will be $36,500 plus a relocation bonus of $2,000 to be used for upfront costs associated with relocating to Nashville. Starting in Fall 2023, incoming students will receive a laptop from the Office of Biomedical, Research, Education, and Training (BRET).

Our stipend is comparable to the amount given at similar institutions when adjusted for the cost of living.

No, we do not have guaranteed or subsidized housing. There are many housing options in Nashville, and many of our students live nearby within walking or biking distance, or use the bus. Others live further out and commute in. Ask about housing when you meet with our current students!

If you have additional questions about the IGP, you may contact:

Assistant Director of Recruiting – Stephanie Richards, Ph.D.
stephanie.richards@Vanderbilt.Edu

IGP Director – Barbara Fingleton, Ph.D.
barbara.fingleton@vanderbilt.edu