Admissions
Thank you for your interest in the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group!
Applications for Fall 2023 admissions were accepted starting in October 2022. The deadline was December 1st 2022.
The Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group (CAMB) is part of Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS), an umbrella organization administered through the Perelman School of Medicine that includes CAMB and other biomedical-related graduate groups. Within this integrated graduate group are six discipline program areas: Cancer Biology (CB); Cell Biology, Physiology, and Metabolism (CPM); Developmental, Stem Cell, and Regenerative Biology (DSRB); Genetics and Epigenetics (G&E); Gene Therapy and Vaccines (GTV); and Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology (MVP). You can apply for one of the six CAMB programs through the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) Admissions process. BGS also offers certificate programs in medicine, public health, and environmental health sciences. Please see Life at Penn for information about campus life.
All application components are crucial for our holistic evaluation. We ask applicants to share their meaningful research experiences in the research statement. Request a letter of recommendation from at least one of your research mentors, preferably your most recent one. We encourage sharing of personal history, identity, and experiences that motivate your PhD pursuit, as well as any challenges overcome. Use the personal statement and community question of the application for this purpose. More info and FAQs can be found here.
As of July 2018, we no longer require or accept the general GRE test. Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take an English proficiency exam (either the TOEFL or the IELTS); this requirement is waived for applicants who have or will have obtained a degree from a US or other approved English-instructed institution. There are no minimum score requirements. In order for your application to be considered complete, official TOEFL or IELTS score reports must be received by the BGS office by the application deadline. It is important for students applying to this program from outside the United States to realize that funding for overseas students is very limited, and thus the application process is extremely competitive.
2023 Admissions Season
We had 1178 applications to our PhD program for entrance in Fall 2023; 616 from US citizens or permanent residents of the US, and 562 from international citizens. 127 were accepted. Our incoming class has 61 students (62% identify as female, 43% under-represented minority, 28% economically disadvantaged, and 14% international). The average GPA was 3.72.