University of California-Berkeley (Plant Biology)

Although Berkeley is a top school, their plant biology program doesn't sound that great. Coming from an ecological background, there isn't much offered here; it's all molecular and cellular biology. It may be better to go for Environmental Science, Policy, and Management if you want to go to Berkeley for plant ecology or a similar field of botany. Nevertheless, there are some really cool sounding courses. The GRE scores don't have to be too terribly high to get in, and they offer full funding, which is promising since it is so expensive for out-of-state students. TA'ing may be a hard requirement to get waived, and their pre-requisites may be difficult to meet if you don't have a background in botany. Overall, I can't recommend this school for this program, unless you are insterested in doing something with plants that involves the molecular and cellular side of them.

Areas of Emphasis: Basic Plant Research, Development of Biotechnologies, Molecular, Cellular, Genetic, Biochemical, Physiological, Developmental, Structural, Plant Microbe Interactions

Degrees offered: PhD only

Min. GPA: 3.0

GRE: No min. score required, but current enrolled students have an average of 620 on the verbal and 700 on the quantitative portions of the test.

Subject GRE: Not required, but recommended

Appealing Courses: Diversity of Plants and Fungi, Biology of Fungi, California Mushrooms, Biology of Algae, Environmental Plant Biology, Digital Imaging for Biologists, Plant Biochemistry, Plant Molecular Genetics, Plant Cell Biology, Grant Writing and Research

Total in-state Costs: $31,702
Total out-of-state Costs: $46,708

Financial Aid: Guaranteed support of approx. $25,500 stipend. (All students are completely funded, currently, with all students having health insurance.) Research Assistantships or TA positions support students during the second year and on. Out-of-state fees are covered as well for the first year, after which time students are expected to have gained California residency. Fellowships are also available.


TAing Requirements: Required for 2 semesters; no information on whether or not it can be waived.


Pre-requisites: They say that you should have an undergraduate curriculum that is, "Roughly equivalent to undergrad program in Genetics and Plant Biology." The requirements for this major are listed below. They do not indicate if you can make up deficiencies or not.

• Chemistry (General and Organic)


• Physics (1 semester)


• 1 yr. Calculus


• Computer Literacy Statistics


• Biology focusing on the molecular, cellular, and development side of things


• Biology focusing on ecology and evolution


• Plant Morphology


• Plant Developmental Genetics


• Cell and Developmental Plant Biology


• Physiology and Biochemsitry of Plants


• Several Upper Division Plant, Chemistry, or Biology Courses

US News & World Report Ranking: 2/152

University of California-Berkeley: Molecular and Cell Biology

This program sounds intimidating to me, perhaps because I have no background in molecular or cellular biology but also because of the entrance requirements. It is a top school, so it would stand to reason that it would have more rigorous admissions policies. For all science programs at Berkeley, it seems you can only earn a doctorate. While they encourage students from all science disciplines to apply, strong applicants are those who have not only 2 semesters of calculus and 2-3 of chemistry, but also have lots of advanced coursework in genetics, biochem, and other aspects of cell and molecular biology. Plus, to get admitted, the subject GRE is strongly recommended, and the lowest score they tend to accept for the general is the 80th percentile! The costs of attendance are also high, especially for out-of-state students, and although they claim to fully-fund their students, I find it hard to believe that they would provide the full $46,000 for the first year. With such high standards, the program itself is probably highly demanding and terrifying as well, but if you have the background, go for it. I don't think I would unless I first had a master's in cellular and molecular biology, so if you're like me, you might want to find an easier program.

Areas of Emphasis: Neurobiology; Genetics, Genomics, & Development; Cell & Developmental Biology; Immunology & Pathogenesis; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Degrees offered: PhD only
min. GPA: 3.0
min. GRE: 80th percentile overall or in all subjects (they don't specify)
Subject GRE: Not required, but strongly recommended
Appealing Courses: Microbial Diversity Workshop, Advanced Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, other stem cell courses, Cancer and Immunobiology, Principles of Neuroscience, Molecular Biology of Animal Viruses Workshop, Dietary Determinants of Cancer, Heart Disease, and Ageing
Total In-state Costs: $31,702
Total Out-of-state Costs: $46,708
Financial Aid: All students receive full funding for 5.5 yrs, after which time you can apply for another semester of funding. This includes health insurance and out-of-state tuition and fees, and averages at around $27,000 a year. However, funding is competitive. NIH Training Grants are available as are fellowships. They expect students to gain residency as quickly as possible.
TAing Requirement: Yes. I can't find any information on getting the requirement waived.
US News & World Report Ranking: 2/152

Pre-requisites:

• 1 yr. Calculus
• 1 yr. Physics
• 1 yr. General Biology
• 2-3 semesters of chemistry, including general, organic, and physical
• Advanced coursework in such areas as: Biochemistry, Biophysics, Cell Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Neurobiology.

They don't call these pre-requisites. However, they say that a strong application will contain these components.