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 QCB 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 in December. 

No. The QCB 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.

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.
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.

Your application status will not change online. You will be notified via email 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 in December. 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 and February.

No, you do not need a faculty sponsor to apply to our program. All students rotate through 4 labs before joining what will be their research thesis lab.

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 “Experiences” page 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. You can submit an official transcript if you like, but it is not required for application review. 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).

There are no minimum GPA requirements. There are minimum scores for English proficiency exams that you can find here. 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. Find out more about language text requirements here.

You would also qualify for a waiver if you attended a University where English was the language of instruction. It may take up to 72 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 but it is recommended. 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” page of the application, even if you upload a CV or resume

We accept any document that shows you have received a Pell grant, and any communication from the financial aid office at your institution that indicates your status is accepted. Do not share financial statements or tax statements. You do NOT have to write a statement.

We ask that your statement be 1-2 pages in length. There is no specific word count, or font size. Remember to be mindful that reviewers will be reading your application on a screen, so do not make the font too small.

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</a

Interview offers are sent on a rolling basis. Our admissions committee meets in December to review applications and issues invitations to interview by January.

Typically we will send an email and include a link to a survey, which will walk you through choosing an interview date.  However, if you do not quickly respond to this email, we will send a follow up message.

We will be conducting our interviews in person for Fall 2025. 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. If you are located outside of the country, you will be invited to a Zoom interview.

No. The determination of the date for the interview is mostly related to 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 QCB admissions committee meets a week after the last interview day. The admissions committee could provide a decision within a few days of that meeting.

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 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, you can find our faculty in individual Department and Programs, or searchable list of some faculty by interest area in this is 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!

Animals not associated with research being performed are not permitted in laboratories that have a biosafety level designation. Limited exceptions for a service dog may be granted to those who work in laboratories designated as Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1), which have the least risk. To justify an exception, the university must conduct a needs and risk assessment to determine feasibility and safety for the animal, the research, and the people in the lab. For questions regarding service animals, employees should contact the office of Equal Opportunity and Access (EOA) at 615-343-9336, and students should contact Student Access at 615-343-9727.

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 1,100 submitted applications between the IGP and QCB programs.

The number international students varies year to year, but currently 12% of our IGP and QCB students are international.

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

Yes, the QCB program offers full financial support and covers all tuition, fees, and student health insurance. In addition, students receive a stipend.  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.

Compensation for 2024-25 is $38,000 plus a relocation bonus of $2,000 to be used for costs associated with relocating to Nashville. A cost comparison for other cities is shown below.

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. There is more information on the Living in Nashville page. Ask about housing when you meet with our current students!

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

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