Admission Procedure
Our online application for Fall 2026 closes on August 1, 2025.
The QCB faculty admissions committee reviews applications for fall admission only.
QCB Admissions Timeline:
| August 1 | Online application available online for the following fall semester |
| December 1 | Deadline for applications. Be sure the application is complete, and click Submit! |
| January-February | On-campus interviews conducted for selected candidates |
| April 15 | Deadline for candidates to accept offers |
About application requirements, procedures and deadlines
The above link takes you to the Vanderbilt Graduate School application and you have to specify which program within the Graduate School you are applying.
- Under Area of Study, select “Biomedical and Biological Sciences” or “Interdisciplinary Programs”.
- From the Program Selection menu, select the “Quantitative and Chemical Biology Program”.
In the application, you will be asked to submit transcripts, official TOEFL/IELTS/DuoLingo scores (if applicable), and at least three letters of recommendation (GRE scores are optional).
- Please feel free to upload your unofficial transcripts into the application; you will not need to send in your official transcripts until requested by the program.
- If you are submitting GRE scores and would like to report your official scores, the GRE institution code for Vanderbilt is 1871. GRE scores older than five-years old will not be accepted, however, we are happy to accept unofficial, self-reported scores.
- 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.
- You will be asked to provide the e-mail addresses of three recommenders. Vanderbilt will contact your recommenders by e-mail and provide them with instructions on how to submit their recommendations online. You may submit up to five recommenders.
The application deadline is December 1. There is no other deadline. You may apply for the program and find more information about the application timeline by clicking here. Applications will begin review on December 2.
No. The QCB only accepts students for Fall Admission.
Our application fee is $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. You will see a box on the Experiences page of our application for this waiver.
Please see our application page for more information on fee waivers.
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 when all interview invitations have been extended regarding your application status.
Please see this page for more information.
About interviews and admissions offers
Interview offers are sent on a rolling basis. If an applicant has not received an invitation by March 15th, they are not being considered for an interview with the QCB program.
Typically we will send an email and include a survey for you to select an interview date and share additional information. However, if you do not quickly respond to this email, we will send a follow up message. Be sure to check your spam folder!
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 on our waitlist. If you have anything else you would like to know during your decision making process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
About the program and degree
No, the QCB is a Ph.D.-track program that feeds into the thirteen 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! We prepare students for any career trajectory they are interested in. Please check out the website of our ASPIRE Office of Career Development.
About the numbers
We always shoot for a range, this year the range is 70-75 for both the combined IGP and QCB programs. We aim for a class of approximately 10-12 students in QCB.
The number has been increasing for some time, but currently we have over 1,200 submitted applications between the IGP and QCB programs.
About funding
Yes, the QCB program offers full financial support and covers all tuition, fees, and student health insurance, including vision and dental insurance. In addition, students receive a stipend. First year compensation for 2024-25 will be $38,000 plus a relocation bonus of $2,000 to be used for upfront costs associated with relocating to Nashville.