Admissions

The UA Little Rock/UAMS Joint Graduate Program in Bioinformatics offers a Master’s and Doctoral degree in Bioinformatics. The joint program was approved by the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education on October 22, 2004. UA Little Rock also offers an undergraduate minor in Bioinformatics.

Admission Dates

Application to the bioinformatics graduate program is handled by the UA Little Rock Graduate School. Please view the steps to apply. While admissions applications may be considered at any time, the majority of the applications will be considered as a group twice per year:

Entry Semester Application Deadline Notification Date
Fall April 1 May 1
Spring Oct. 15 Nov. 15

The deadline requires submission of all required items. Students will be notified of admission status by the UA Little Rock Graduate School on or before the notification date. Except as noted below, all communication concerning submission of application materials and questions concerning admission status should be addressed to the UA Little Rock Graduate School.

Admission Requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D.

Applicants are required to submit:

  • Transcripts
  • Three letters of references
  • GRE scores (general test only) or GRE Waiver Form
  • A Statement of Intent describing the student’s reason for applying and career aspirations.
  • A Resume or Curriculum Vitae listing your educational background, research, and any teaching or service experiences.
  • International students who have not matriculated from a college or university in a country whose primarily language is English must also submit TOEFL scores.
  • Minimum admission requirement of a GPA of 3.0 or a GPA of 3.3 or greater on their last 60 credit hours as an undergraduate

Applicants are expected to have a minimum of a four-year undergraduate degree (B.S. or B.A.) in the life sciences, statistics, or information/computer sciences. Students with an undergraduate degree in another field may be considered for admission if they have either relevant work experience in one of these three areas or complete sufficient remedial course work.

Students who have not satisfactorily completed the following courses or their equivalent as part of their academic studies will be required to complete them on a remedial basis:

  • Genetics: A junior-level, life science course equivalent to UA Little Rock’s BIOL 3300 Genetics
  • Statistics: A junior-level, calculus-based course equivalent to UA Little Rock’s STAT 3352 Applied Statistics I
  • Programming: Some programming experience; a sophomore-level introduction to Java programming equivalent to UA Little Rock’s IFSC 2300 Object-Oriented Technology course is preferred
  • Databases: A junior-level course equivalent to UA Little Rock’s IFSC 3320 Database Concepts is recommended

Learn more about the specific program requirements for the Master of Science and the Ph.D. in Bioinformatics.