Additional Requirements for Students with BS or Non-thesis MS

Policy for BS to PhD option 

The BS to PhD option is reserved for an exceptional student with a BS in Nutrition.

Criteria for admission is listed below. (All criteria should be met to be considered for direct admittance from BS to PhD.)        

Criteria:

• GPA of 3.5 or better
• GRE percentile of 50% or better (when available)
• English Proficiency Requirement (one of the following):
  • TOEFL LISTENING Score of 22 and SPEAK Score of 24 or higher
  • IELTS Speak Band Score of 7.5 or higher
  • Duolingo English Test Score of 125 or higher
  • Degree from a U.S. American University
• Written statement of support from secured mentor justifying direct admittance from BS to PhD. 

Review of students being considered for this option will be conducted at the faculty applicant review meeting where applicants are being considered for the following semester. If a student does not meet the criteria for PhD, the student will be placed into the applicant review spreadsheet as an MS applicant.    

Additional Requirements for Admitted Students with BS or Non-thesis MS, Applying for PhD Program

Additional requirements apply to students with limited or no research experience who need to elevate their research experience prior to initiating their PhD project.

The student must be admitted to the PhD program, following the standard NS admittance processes, which include securing a faculty mentor.

The process for elevating research experience prior to starting PhD project is as follows:

• Admitted students will work with their secured mentor to submit a publication to a PubMed Indexed Journal.
• Admitted students will have their first 2 semesters to submit their publication.

Note: If more time is needed, graduation may be delayed.

While working on a publication to submit, the following courses will be taken:

NS 7000-Independent Study for developing and submitting a publication  (6 hours)

Remaining 12 hours in two semesters could be obtained as follows:

• NS 5330-Introduction to Nutrition Research and/or 6350-Advanced Research Methods (3-6 hours)
• NS 5342-Biostatistics in Nutrition (3 hours)
• NS 5365-Vitamins and Minerals (3 hours)
• NS 5370-Carbohydrates, Proteins and Lipids (3 hours)  

Mentors will work with their admitted students to assemble a committee (3 faculty members-including mentor).

• This committee will collectively approve project and provide advisement for publication.    
• The required publication can be a review paper or a paper based on a research project—whatever is agreed upon by the committee as the best way to train the student in research methods.