Immunology Graduate Group

Admissions

Frequently Asked Questions About Application

Thank you for your interest in the University of Pennsylvania's Immunology Ph.D. program. Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) is the administrative home for all graduate groups that confer a Ph.D. in the basic biomedical sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. General admissions information can be obtained from the BGS website.  Since the Fall 2005 admissions season, we will only accept electronic applications. However, we still provide brochures with information on all of our graduate groups. To request printed materials, please complete our online request form.

Admission to study is offered to students having good undergraduate training in biology. Completed applications will be screened by the IGG admissions committee based on research experience, letters of recommendation, personal statement, grades, and GRE General Test scores. Interviews are also required as part of the admissions process. Applicants who are invited to be interviewed will be notified between December and February, with interviews taking place in January and February. Admissions decisions will be made following the interviews, with all decisions finalized by April 15th.

Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL. Scores are valid for two years from the test date. Applicants who have satisfactorily completed at least two years of study in an English-speaking university do not need to submit scores. It is important for non-US citizens and students applying from outside the United States to realize that positions for overseas students are very limited and extremely competitive. We are often unable to accept any students from outside the US.

All students accepted for admission into the Ph.D. program receive tuition and health insurance reimbursement, plus a twelve-month stipend for living expenses. The stipend for the 2008-2009 academic year will be $28,000.  In addition, applicants are urged to apply for scholarships from prestigious funding programs such as the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many applications do you receive and how many of those are admitted?

Last year we received 117 applications and made 29 offers of admission.

 

What are the average GPA and GRE scores of your admitted students?

The average GPA of students admitted for the Fall 2006 term was 3.65.  The average GRE scores were Verbal: 590; Quantitative: 700, and Writing: 5.0

 

What percentage of your students are women, underrepresented minorities, international, full or part time?

Of the currently 82 students in the program, 62% are women, 11% are underrepresented minorities, and 7% are international. 100% of our students are full-time; we do not have a part-time program.

 

Do you offer a Master's degree in Immunology?

No, we only offer the Ph.D. degree.

 

What courses are required for the program? Do you accept transfer credits?

Please see our handbook for a list of the required courses. While it is possible for us to accept up to eight units of transfer credit, in most cases, students will still need to take the majority of the required courses in the list, regardless of the number of transfer credits they have.

 

What other requirements exist?    

All students are required to complete two laboratory rotations lasting at least twelve weeks each (each taking place in the laboratory of a different IGG faculty member), as well as an “advisory rotation” completed during the first fall semester. To ensure breadth of the training experience, each rotation must be approved by the Graduate Group Chair prior to its initiation. It is usual, but not a requirement, that the dissertation laboratory be chosen from one of these two labs.

It is also expected that every student will attend the weekly Immunology Colloquium, participate in formal journal clubs of his or her choice, and attend the yearly IGG retreat. Weekly attendance at the IGG journal club and Colloquium is mandatory for first and second year students to remain in good standing in the program.

Is there a teaching requirement?

We do not have a teaching requirement.

 

Do you have qualifying or preliminary exams?

Yes, students take two preliminary exams, the second of which is their qualifying exam. Please see our handbook for a description of the preliminary exam format.

 

Is this a nine or twelve month program?

The Immunology Ph.D. program spans the entire calendar year. Although students only take classes during the academic year (September – May), they complete lab rotations or dissertation research during the summer months.

 

How are mentors assigned?

Mentors are not assigned, they are chosen by the students after speaking with various PIs, receiving advice from the IGG Chair and perhaps current students to determine the most appropriate match.

 

What kind of financial support do students receive?

All of our admitted students receive full financial support to include tuition, fees, health insurance, and a stipend. The stipend for the 2007-2008 year will be $26,520.

How does the dissertation process work?

Please see our handbook for a description of the research process, requirements, and the defense process.

 

What is the typical length of the program?

Although the time to complete the degree can vary, it takes our students an average of five years, start to finish, to complete the coursework, complete their dissertation research, and write and defend their theses.

 

Can you give examples of student research topics?

Dissertation titles of recent graduates have included the following:

• "Helper T cell differentiation as a model for chromatin-based gene silencing"
• "T cell diversity in the induction of systemic autoimmunity"
• "Modulation of Immune Complex Clearance by Fcgamma receptor Gene Therapy"
• "Structural Requirements for SLP-76 Subcellular Localization and Function in T Cell Signaling"
• "CD4+ T Cell Tolerance to Self and to Fetal Antigens"
• "B Lymphocyte Stimulator Promotes Survival in Peripheral B cells and their Progenitors"
• "An integration of cytokine pathways in the immune response to toxoplasmosis"

What positions do graduates of the program take?

Most of our graduates go on to do research in industry, post-doctoral positions in academia, or continuation of medical or veterinary school if they are in a combined degree program. Recent graduates have taken positions at Harvard University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, the Max Planck Institute for Immunology (Germany), La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Centocor, and Pfizer.

 

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