Graduate Education at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

Where should the GRE and TOEFL scores be sent?
The GRE and TOEFL scores should be sent directly from ETS to Cornell University, university code 2098. Xeroxed copies of student scores do not constitute official scores. You should plan to take the tests allowing enough time for the official scores to arrive before the Field deadline; generally this process takes 3-4 weeks; however, it is recommended that the tests be taken no later than October due to the large volume of testing that occurs after that time.

Are there Spring admissions?
For the Fields of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Pharmacology, and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, admissions decisions are made on an annual basis; spring admissions are not accepted. The Field of Zoology sometimes accepts Spring applications, but an applicant should check with the Field before applying.

Is there funding available for graduate students?
Acceptance into any of the Fields in the College of Veterinary Medicine entails financial support, which includes full tuition, health insurance and a stipend of the duration of the student's program (contingent upon satisfactory progress). An applicant to any of the Graduate Fields in the College of Veterinary Medicine will be automatically considered for financial support.

What is the percentage of students that apply and are admitted?
The number of student accepted each year is contingent upon a number of factors including the competitiveness of the applicant pool, funding sources and other internal factors. While the percentage of applicants who are admitted varies from Field to Field and year to year, the average is 15-20% of applicants to the College of Veterinary Medicine are offered admission.

Are international students admitted?
International students are admitted to the Fields in the College of Veterinary Medicine. There are no formal limits on the number of international students who can be accepted, but admission of non-citizens is a bit more complicated due to funding considerations. The percentage of international students who apply and are admitted is lower than for U.S. citizens; international students are, therefore, encouraged to examine their academic and research records closely before applying.

When are the admissions decisions made?
For the Fields of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Pharmacology, and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, admissions decisions should be made by the first week in February. At this time, domestic applicants being considered for admission will be invited by the Director of Graduate Studies of the Field to interview on Recruitment weekend – March 4-5; international students may be interviewed by phone at the discretion of the Field. The Field of Zoology generally makes admissions decisions in March.

How long does it take to get a PhD from Cornell?
Generally, a PhD program is completed in 4-5 years. A general program timeline is shown in the Current Student section of this site.

How does funding work?
The College of Veterinary Medicine expects that a student admitted into one of the Fields in the College will receive funding for the duration of his/her program (contingent upon satisfactory progress). During the first year of a baccalaurette student in the Fields of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Pharmacology, and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, the stipend of the student is paid by the Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program and administered through the Office of Graduate Education. Students with a DVM degree are initially funded through the DVM-GRA program, or one of the grants secured by faculty in the college. In subsequent years, this support is the responsibility of the student's faculty mentor. Students in the Field of Zoology receive support from their faculty mentor for the duration of their program. Students are also strongly encouraged to apply for funding from outside sources.

What course load can I expect?
The Graduate School has no course requirements. You can expect to take a number of courses for the first year or two and the remaining time is spent doing research and writing your dissertation. The courses you take will be chosen by you and your Special Committee.

How is a program structured?
Cornell's graduate program is designed to be individualized to the student's specific research interest. Generally, the first year is spent taking classes (under the advisement of the Director of Graduate Studies of the Field you are in) and determing your research project and choosing faculty for your Special Committee. PhD students take two exams, called the A- and B-exams. The A-exam is a comprehensive exam taken sometime after the second semester but before the seventh. The B-exam is the final exam, or dissertation defense. A general program timeline is shown in the Current Student section of this site.

How do I choose a Special Committee?
You should have a general idea of some of the science that you would like to work on before you get to Cornell; determine which faculty are working in your chosen area by looking at the Field websites and talking to people when you come to Interview/Recruitment Weekend. In the Fields of CBS, Immunology, Pharmacology, and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, you will be required to do rotations; this is the ideal opportunity to determine who should be on your Special Committee, or at least figure out who your Chair should be. In the Field of Zoology, you are matched with a mentor in your area of research prior to admission. A chair person can help you determine who else should be on your committee. You can choose all of the members or your committee, with the sole exception of the Field-appointed member in some Fields, who is appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies to insure that Field guidelines are followed.

Who can be on my committee?
The beauty of the Special Committee system is that the student has access to any of the members of the graduate faculty from the 104 Fields of Study in the University. Your committe chairperson must be chosen from the faculty of the Field you are admitted to; however, your minor members can be from an entirely different field! Your faculty mentor will help you to choose the faculty who can best enhance your research program.

How many courses do I have to take before I graduate?
Cornell graduate education is not based on credit hours, as is the case in most other universities, but on what are called "Registration Units" (RUs). One RU is equiavalent to one semester of satisfactory progress, whether it be in the classroom as a student or teaching assistant or in the lab. The Chairperson of the student's committee awards an RU, or portion thereof, depending upon the student's progress.

Is there a teaching requirement?
The Fields of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Pharmacology, and Molecular and Integrative Physiology are all members of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program; a student in this program is required to complete a teaching experience for one semester in their second or third year of study.
Students in the Field of Zoology are generally seeking a degree in order to teach at the college level. Thus, in order to get teaching experience and secure funding for their program, students in this Field generally act as teaching assistants for much of their graduate career. There are no limitations on the quantity of teaching experiences that a Zoology student may undertake.

What kind of research are Cornell faculty doing?
Areas graduate faculty research are just about as varied as the faculty themselves. Faculty in the College of Veterinary Medicine study a variety of topics -- from molecules, organs and tissues, to systems and whole animals. This research is focused on a variety of topics relating to various states of health and disease. While a great deal of research focuses on the animal model, much of it can be applied to humans as well. The best way to find out the details of faculty research is to examine the faculty pages of the Fields that you are interested in. This will give a general area of research for each faculty member. Click on the link provided to the faculty's homepage to find out more details of the research going on in their laboratory. Students are also encouraged to contact the faculty directly to ask about their research using the e-mail link provided on the faculty's web page.

What have the faculty published lately?
Cornell faculty publish articles in numerous scientific journals, such as Science, Nature, American Journal of Physiology, Journal of Physiological Genomics, Virology, Cell, Journal of Biological Chemistry. Students are encouraged to examine the publications section of a faculty's web page to determine where and what they have published recently.

How successful are Cornell faculty?
Cornell faculty are on the cutting edge in numerous fields of science. They are members of presitgious scientific organizations, both domestic and international and many are funded by organizations such as the National Institute for Health (N.I.H.), the United States Development Association (U.S.D.A.) and the American Heart Association.

How do I know if a particular faculty member is taking new graduate students?
Simply ask. Even if the faculty member is not taking students, you can still include them in your rotation choices and on your Special Committee, if you so choose.

How can I find an apartment?
There are a variety of housing choices available. Explore the Graduate Housing information on the Campus Life page for information about on-campus housing. If you prefer to live off-campus, the Office of Campus Life provides a search engine which allows you to look for a residence using a range of criteria, such as neighborhood, housing type and price range.

When should I start looking for an apartment?
You should start looking as soon as you find out that you have been accepted to Cornell. Because it is a "college town", housing in Ithaca is at a premium and the sooner you locate a place to live, the better off you are. Do not wait to start until August when classes begin!

Are there support networks available for students?
The Office of Graduate Education, College of Veterinary Medicine and Cornell University are committed to the success of the students enrolled here -- belief in the success of the student is certainly one of the reasons he/she was admitted in the first place! The Office of Graduate Education and the DGS of the Field are local avenues of support for CVM graduate students. There is a formal "Peer Support Network" sponsored by the College of Veterinary Medicine and the University Dean of Students Office of Student Support sponsors EARS (Empathy, Assistance & Referral Service). The Graduate School periodically holds discussion sessions on graduate student issues and the Big Red Barn, the graduate student center on campus, offers a place for students to meet other students for support and socializing.

What are recent graduates doing now?
Recent graduates are pursuing a range of different occupations: on college campuses as professors and post-doctoral research associates; in business & industry and government as researchers.

Can I contact current graduate students?
During Interview/Recruitment Weekend, you will meet many of the current graduate students in the Fields in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The College of Veterinary Medicine Graduate Student Advisory Council will also provide you with the name of a current graduate student who will act as your "mentor" in the transition to graduate school at Cornell. While the College of Veterinary Medicine Office of Graduate Education cannot provide student contact information (due to privacy issues), please feel free to exchange contact information with graduate students you talk to during the Recruitment weekend.