u/Early-Remove652

Hi everyone, I’m an international student and I’d really appreciate some honest advice about my chances for the University of Toronto Molecular Genetics PhD program.

Background:
Missouri State University (dual degree with a Chinese University)
Plant science major (molecular biology)
GPA: 3.6/4.0
Undergraduate research focused on plant molecular mechanisms and CRISPR gene editing
Research/output:
One co-first-author SCI paper (IF=7.1
One review/conference paper (minor contribution)

I applied this cycle and was directly rejected from U of T’s PhD program (since they don’t accept thesis-based MSc students from outside Canada), and other Canadian universities all gave me non-thesis programs offers.

Therefore, I decided to continue in the US with a 2-year thesis-based MS in Biology at Boston University to strengthen my research background.

My long-term goal is still U of T Mol Gen PhD. I know it’s extremely competitive, but I’d love to hear:

1. How competitive is this program realistically?
2. What kind of profile usually gets admitted?
3. During my master’s, what should I focus on most (papers, research fit, network, etc.) to maximize my chances?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone, sorry if this is a basic question 😭 I’ve gone through the BU website a few times but I’m still confused about how tuition is structured.

I’m an incoming MS student (thesis) in the College of Arts & Sciences. The program is 2 years (4 semesters) with a total of 32 credits.

I saw that international students are generally only allowed to be part-time in their final semester, so I’m trying to understand how this works in practice:

- Would this mean 3 full-time + 1 part-time?
But full-time seems to be at least 12 credits per semester, so 3 full-time semesters would already be 36 credits, which is more than the 32 required?

- Or is it something like 2 full-time + 1 part-time?
Then what happens to the remaining semester in a 4-semester program?

I feel like I’m misunderstanding something but can’t quite figure it out 🥲

If anyone in CAS (or similar BU MS programs) has gone through this, I’d really appreciate hearing how your credit load and tuition actually worked.

Thank you so much!!