Admissions & Recruitment

What we look for in Applicants

Please follow the directions on how to apply described on the Graduate School website.

Applicants can obtain a fee waiver from the university by submitting this form to gradadmission@binghamton.edu. Students in need of fee waivers who are unsure of their eligibility are encouraged to contact Dr. Diaz (mdiaz@binghamton.edu).

Admission to the graduate program is highly selective, which allows faculty to devote a great deal of individual attention to each of our students. Admission is based on:

- Academic performance as an undergraduate
- Work history and/or research experience
- Personal statement
- Letters of recommendation (extremely important)
- Contributions to Diversity and Inclusiveness
- GRE scores are not accepted or considered

Admissions decisions are also based on the fit between the research interests of a particular faculty member and those of the applicant. Preference is given to students with a clear research interest that matches that of a faculty member in the area. Collaboration across labs within and beyond the department is both permitted and encouraged.

Timeline for Applications, Interviews and Acceptance

For full consideration, applications are due by December 1st each year (for information about application fee waivers, refer to the previous section). However, we will review late-breaking applications on a space-available basis, so if you miss the deadline, that's OK - we can still review your application!

Faculty will review applications in mid-December and issue a first round of invitations for interviews before the winter break. The interviews will be held starting in mid-January. We will invite accepted students to campus shortly thereafter.

Initial acceptance of students will occur within 2 weeks after completion of interviews. Additional applicants will continue to be accepted until all available positions are filled.

The deadline for accepting offers is April 15th.

What to expect on recruitment day

The first round of interviews will be held in mid-January. You only need to attend one of these days, to be coordinated with the BNS coordinator, Dr. Terrence Deak. Here is what you can expect during the interview:

Overview of program by Dr. Deak (~45 min)
Individual interviews: each applicant will have 3-4 faculty meetings (~30 min each). Two faculty and one applicant will have ~30 min to talk. For us, these meetings offer the opportunity to get to know you, your past experience, and your future ambitions a bit better. For you, this is where you get to meet prospective mentors and other faculty with whom you will interact as a graduate student.
Break-out session with current trainees (no faculty will be present; ~60 min). Here, you will talk with some of our current superstars-in-training to get the inside scoop on what its like to train in our graduate program.
Wrap-up discussion with Dr. Deak (~30 min or until all your questions are answered).

How to prepare:

Read through this website and identify faculty whose work is of greatest interest to you.
Each faculty member has pre-recorded a short video summarizing their research interests, located under the Faculty page of this website. Watch these videos so you can get to know our work in advance of your Individual interviews. (Videos coming soon!)
Determine whether you are eligible to apply for a Clark Fellowship.
Be yourself and ask lots of questions!