How to Apply to the Biomedical Informatics Program

Required Documents

• Unofficial electronic transcripts
• Official course-by-course evaluation for any institution attended outside the United States
• 3 letters of recommendation
• Candidate statement
• Resume/CV

Unofficial Electronic Transcripts

One transcript from each university (undergraduate and graduate) attended must be uploaded within the application. We accept unofficial transcripts for application evaluation. If you are offered admission, one official transcript for each university attended will be required prior to the first day of the term. An unofficial transcript for undergraduate coursework is still required even if you hold an advanced degree(s).

Applicants will be expected to have introductory level competency in:

• Statistics: Can be fulfilled by a course such as Introduction to Statistics or Biostatistics
• Health Sciences or Clinical Care: Can be fulfilled by a survey or overview course in health sciences or a clinical degree

You may fulfill these requirements through the Graham School or other university courses prior to matriculation. In your application, please be sure to indicate in your personal statement which courses in your transcript fulfill these requirements or how you plan to fulfill these requirements.

Official Course-By-Course Evaluation for International Transcripts

If you graduated from or attended an international university or college for more than half of a completed degree, we require a course-by-course evaluation by a NACES Evaluator for each international institution to be submitted by the application deadline. A course-by-course evaluation must translate courses, degree, grades, and GPA to United States equivalencies. Please visit naces.org/members to find an evaluator.

All evaluations must be sent directly from the evaluator to one of the options below. Evaluation reports should be emailed to: mscbmi@uchicago.edu. Or mailed to:

The University of Chicago Professional Education

Attention: MScBMI Admissions

455 N Cityfront Plaza Dr., Suite 950

Chicago, Illinois 60611

In order for this to be received by the application deadline listed above, we recommend you submit your transcript to be reviewed by a NACES evaluator no later than one month prior to the application deadline.

Letters of Recommendation

Your application must include three letters of recommendation from people who can assess your academic or professional qualifications.

You do not need to wait for all your letters to be received before you submit your application. As long as you have added your recommenders' names and email addresses, and they each submit their recommendation before our application deadline, their letters can arrive after you hit the submit button.

Recommended sources for letters of recommendation include:

• Professors
• Supervisors or Managers
• Professional Mentors

We DO NOT accept letters of recommendation from family members, friends, or peers.

Candidate Statement

Applicants are required to demonstrate the motivation, academic potential, and ability to undertake work at the University of Chicago by writing a candidate statement (double-spaced, not to exceed four pages) highlighting their qualifications and describing their interest in biomedical informatics.

Resume or CV

You will submit an up-to-date resume or CV as part of your complete application.

English Language Requirement

• Minimum TOEFL 104 or IELTS 7 (no sub-score requirement)
• Waived if citizen of the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or South Africa
• Waived if studied in full-time status and graduated from an institution in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or South Africa

English Language Requirement Explanation

If your native language is not English, we require an official TOEFL or IELTS test score submitted by the testing body by the application deadline. Our TOEFL and College Board code is 1832. The required proficiency standards include a score of 104 on the TOEFL or seven overall on the IELTS. Note that students are required to take the Academic Reading/Writing test within IELTS, not the General Training Reading/Writing test. If your score is lower than the required proficiency standard in the total score, we recommend you retake the test.

The English language requirement may be waived if the applicant is a native of or has studied in full-time status for at least one academic year within the last five years in one of the following countries:

United States United Kingdom Ireland Australia New Zealand English-medium universities in Canada or South Africa (Study in English-medium universities and in other countries does not qualify for a waiver.)

Waivers apply to students from the countries listed above only. Students who qualify for a waiver will have it automatically applied to their account, based on the information that is entered. Read more information on language requirement waivers.

WHERE TO SEND SCORES

TOEFL Scores:

Request the scores to be sent to the University of Chicago. The institutional code is 1832.

IELTS Scores:

Request that scores be transmitted to our e-download account. Please contact your test center and request that your scores be sent to the following IELTS e-download account:

University of Chicago – Graduate Enrollment

970 East 58th Street, Third Floor

Chicago, IL 60637

The University does not accept paper IELTS test report forms.

Please note, It may take up to a month for your official test scores to be uploaded to our application system. In order to avoid late score submissions, we highly recommend you take the test no later than one month prior to the application deadline listed above. If we do not receive your score by the application deadline, we will not review your application.

Application Fee

The application system will prompt you to pay the $75 application fee once you have completed the appropriate sections of the online application. This fee is nonrefundable.