Admissions and Application Process FAQs
The university considers only those applications that have an overall GPA of > 2.75. However, meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. The average GPA in the applicant pool is increasingly competitive every year and is considerably higher than the minimum requirements.
Applicants must have completed 5 of the 7 equivalent core science courses listed below, prior to matriculation:
- Introduction to Biology or Zoology
- Human Physiology
- General Chemistry with lab (2 semesters)
- Organic Chemistry with lab (1 semester)
- Biochemistry
- Food Microbiology or General Microbiology with lab
- Basic Human Nutrition (One of the five MUST include this course)
Applicants must have completed the following courses or their equivalent prior to matriculation:
- Introductory Biology (1 semester)
- Human Physiology (1 semester)
- Microbiology (1 semester)
- General Chemistry (2 semesters)
- Organic Chemistry (1 semester)
- Biochemistry (1 semester)
- Statistics (1 semester)
- Basic Nutrition (2 semesters)
Without a previous Master’s degree or relevant research experience, we do not recommend going directly into the PhD program. In general, successful applicants who matriculate in the PhD program either have a Master’s degree and/or research experience.
All applicants are required to take the GRE. A waiver is considered only for those individuals who hold an MD, JD or a doctoral degree in another field.
No, you do not need to select a specific professor. We do our best to match student and faculty interests. However applicants may contact individual faculty members about specific research interests if desired.
No, the general GRE is sufficient.
Our department offers admissions to students in the Fall session and Spring session, each year.
Deadlines:
Fall Session – February 1
Spring Session – October 1
This varies from year to year (and by semester). We generally have fewer applicants for the spring semester.
This varies by year and semester. We may accept as many as 5-10 graduate students depending on how many students have graduated and how many faculty are seeking additional students to work with.
To be considered for admission, only scores of tests taken 5 years prior to the anticipated matriculation date are considered valid.
If you are not able to turn in all relevant admission materials by the indicated deadline for each admission cycle, we recommend you to apply for the next cycle.
The answer to this question depends on your future goals:
- A Master’s degree will take longer than a second Bachelor’s degree, but it may also provide you with more employment opportunities.
- If you have 3-5 years of experience in the field of public health, then an MPH program with a focus in nutrition may be considered (either on campus or online)
- If your goal is to become a Registered Dietitian (RD), you would need to take the 6 DPD classes in addition to either the Bachelor’s or Master’s program course requirements. Completion of these courses makes you eligible to apply for a 9-11 month dietetic internship. Upon completion of the internship, you would be eligible to sit for the Registration Exam.
Regardless of the choices listed above, you will have to take all the pre-requisites associated with each of the program (see related FAQs).
Applicants are sent a login and PIN code when they apply which can be used to check the status of their application. Go to https://webapp.spire.umass.edu/admissions/htdocs/applicant/gradapp_logon.html
It is recommended that you inform your referees prior to sending them an online recommendation request. Additionally, it is always beneficial to tell your referees to check their SPAM box, as some mailbox filter settings direct these emails into the SPAM box. You can also re-send the request by clicking on the ‘Send Reminder’ link on the application website.
Transfer classes are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- Completed Graduate School Application and forms
- Official Transcripts from all higher secondary institutions attended
- GRE General Test scores not older than 5 years
- Two letters of references
The MPH program is targeted towards those individuals with an advanced degree (such as MS, MD, PhD, etc.) in a health-related field, those who are Registered Dietitians, or those individuals who have 3-5 years of relevant post-bachelor’s experience and have taken two courses in nutrition.
- Completed Graduate School Application and forms
- Official Transcripts from all higher secondary institutions attended
- GRE General Test scores not older than 5 years
- Two letters of references
- Various prerequisite courses (see related FAQs)
- Completed Graduate School Application and forms
- Official Transcripts from all higher secondary institutions attended
- GRE General Test scores not older than 5 years
- Two letters of references
- Various prerequisite courses (see related FAQs)
Additionally doctoral applicants should have earned a Bachelors degree and have demonstrated basic research competency through a required thesis (M.S. thesis, Honors thesis or equivalent research experience).
The university requires a minimum general GRE score of 450 (new scaling system: 150 Verbal and 141 Quantitative). However, our department generally expects ≥ 500 (new scaling system: 153 Verbal and 144 Quantitative).
The institutional code for UMASS is 3917.
For information about faculty research interests, please go to our Faculty Directory.
All application materials including official transcripts and paper letters of recommendations (if applicable) should be sent to the graduate school, not the nutrition department.