MS in Biomedical Sciences Admissions

• General Biology I and II with lab (will consider upper level biology)
• Inorganic (General) Chemistry I and II with lab
• Organic Chemistry I and II with lab
• Physics with lab

• General Biology I and II with lab (will consider upper level biology)
• Inorganic (General) Chemistry I and II with lab
• Organic Chemistry I with lab
• Physics I and II with lab

Current Tufts undergraduates and alumni of Tufts bachelor’s programs can take advantage of an expedited process that reduces administrative steps and costs.

Benefits:

• No Application Fee: The $75 fee is automatically waived upon submission.
• Transcript Convenience: With your permission, we will obtain your unofficial Tufts undergraduate transcript on your behalf. To enable this, please complete the invited viewer process and add Nathaniel Ware, Admissions Counselor, as a SIS viewer of your record.
  • You are responsible for providing transcripts from non-Tufts institutions and official transcripts from all institutions including Tufts prior to enrollment.
• Fewer Recommendations Required: Submit two academic letters instead of the standard three.

This process makes it easier for Tufts students and alumni to continue their academic journey at Tufts without duplicating effort.

If you applied to the MBS program in the previous cycle but were not admitted, you may reapply the following year through an expedited process. This option is only available for one year after your original application. This process reduces duplicate work, allowing reapplicants to focus on strengthening their application without starting from scratch. 

To take advantage of this, you will need to complete the MBS Reapplicant Request Form to opt in. Once submitted, your prior application will be cloned, and you will have the option to make updates before resubmitting.

Benefits: 

• No Application Fee: The $75 fee is automatically waived upon submission.
• Transcript Transfer: All transcripts from your prior application will carry over.
  • You only need to submit unofficial transcripts for any new coursework and official transcripts from all institutions attended prior to enrollment.
• Personal Statement Reuse: Your prior personal statement will be included automatically.
  • You may choose to submit a revised statement if you prefer.
• Test Score Reuse: Standardized test scores from your previous application will carry over.
  • You may upload new scores if you have retaken a test.
• Flexible Recommendation Options:
  • If using the same recommenders, simply add them to your application and ask them to email mbs.admissions@tufts.edu with permission for Tufts to reuse their letter.
  • If you wish to use new recommenders, enter their contact information and a new request will be sent.

In a short essay, please help the Admissions Committee understand the experiences, inspirations, and challenges that have shaped you as a person and your interests in health care. Your essay should be unique to the MBS Program and typed, double-spaced, and approximately 5,300 characters or fewer.

Your resume should be comprehensive, up-to-date and organized into the following sections: work, academic, volunteering, and shadowing experience. Please provide either inclusive dates or estimate the total number of hours for each experience.

• Three letters of recommendation are required—one must come from an academic source.
• We recommend a second letter be from a faculty member that can assess your academic performance. We also recommend that if you have significant health care experience, that a letter be provided by the attending physician or their designee.
• We do accept letters written for medical/dental school—they do not need to be written specifically for the MBS Program
  • We are not able to retrieve letters sent to Tufts University School of Medicine for an MD application or to Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. You may use the same letters, but they must be sent to our office directly using a process below.
• Letters should mention the relationship of the applicant to the recommender so they can be put into the proper context
• Recommendation letters may be submitted electronically through our secure website or by mail
  • If mailed, letters should be in a sealed envelope with the author’s signature across the seal and sent to our address at the bottom of this page
  • If you elect to provide three separate letters of recommendation (not a Committee Letter or an Interfolio packet) you will be asked to provide the name and contact information of your recommender. We will then send an email to the people you identify with a link to our secure website to upload your letter of recommendation. We encourage you to contact your recommenders in advance so they are aware this request will be forthcoming.

You have three options for fulfilling the recommendation requirement to the MBS application:

1. Each of your three recommenders submit their own recommendations
2. Request that your pre-health advising office submit a committee letter or a packet of letters on your behalf (committee Letters must be the full letters from which the composite was made, NOT a letter formed from excerpts)
3. Submit three letters through Interfolio or another document sharing service
   • If you are submitting your recommendation letters via Interfolio, please send them electronically at tusmgp.admissions@tufts.edu

If you are applying for the medical track using a practice exam score, the Committee suggests the following resources:

• MCAT: There are low-cost, scored practice exams available through AMCAS. To submit these scores, save a PDF or take a screenshot of your exam results to upload to your application.

If you are applying with an official test score, please follow the instructions below: 

• Unofficial copies of ALL undergraduate and graduate transcripts (e.g., transfer credit, EMT courses, study abroad, summer courses, post-bacc.) are required for review
• Official transcripts are required prior to matriculation for all degree granting schools, as well as prerequisites
• Students who obtained their degree abroad must submit an official course-by-course WES or NACES member evaluation, sent directly from the agency. This includes Canadian degrees with a grading system that differs from the U.S.

If you’re uploading an unofficial transcript to your application:

• Copy/scan/screenshot your transcripts for each college/university attended
• Upload all pages of your transcript(s) and one example of the back page to provide us with your university’s transcript key. This can be found on the back of your official transcript or on your registrar’s website.
• PDF files are preferred but additional formats are accepted (e.g., .doc, .jpg,.tiff)
• Scanned documents must be clearly legible and on standard U.S. 8.5” x 11” paper. Be sure no text is cut off when scanned.

If you are sending official transcripts from your college or university:

• Don’t upload anything in the transcripts section if you’re sending an official transcript. The system will inaccurately count this as your transcript, and review of your application will be delayed.
• Official transcripts may be sent electronically to mbs.admissions@tufts.edu or mailed via the U.S. Mail to:
  Tufts University School of Medicine
  Office of Graduate Student Programs
  Attn: Admissions Team
  Medical Education Building
  145 Harrison Ave., Suite 813
  Boston, MA 02111
• Transcripts are only considered official if they are sent directly from the registrar's office of your institution to our office in a sealed envelope. If you scan your official transcript to your application it becomes unofficial.

Tufts University School of Medicine uses computer-based testing for many of its courses. Exams are conducted using Examplify. Therefore, each student is required to have a laptop. Please note that Examplify cannot be used on virtual operating systems such as Microsoft's Virtual Machine, Parallels, VMware, VMware Fusion or any other virtual environments, unless approved by the institution.

View Examplify Requirements

International applicants are eligible to apply to Tufts University School of Medicine, but should be advised that we admit very few and give strong preference to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. We also give strong preference to applicants who have (or will have by the time of matriculation) completed their undergraduate work at a U.S. college or university. The international students admitted to Tufts School of Medicine are usually students who have earned Bachelor's degrees in the United States.

International applicants are citizens of any foreign country (including Canada) who do not hold a United States permanent resident visa (green card). Permanent resident visa status is equivalent to U.S. citizenship for the purposes of our admission process and U.S. federal student loan programs.

Please note the following:

1. Given the current U.S. shortage of physicians and the uneven advanced training opportunities for non-citizen/non-green card holders, Tufts School of Medicine and the applicant must have a compelling reason for the applicant to study here. This might include a student’s interest in a program offered here that may not be offered elsewhere.
2. Accepted international students must be prepared to absorb the high cost of U.S. medical education, and have a full understanding that international students are not qualified for traditional U.S. educational funding including loans and most scholarships.
3. Accepted international students should have a full understanding that they may have limited options in terms of post-graduate training, both geographically and in within specialties. Because of this, students who are not likely to be able to compete for a full range of career training opportunities and programs beyond medical school will only be considered for admission under unique or compelling circumstances.

Admitted students will have three weeks to reply to their offer through most of the cycle. To accept the seat, students must complete the Candidate Reply Form and pay the non-refundable $500 deposit.

All supporting application credentials noted above should be sent to:

Tufts University School of Medicine
Office of Graduate Student Programs
Attn: Admissions Team, Nate Ware
136 Harrison Avenue, Suite 142
Boston, MA 02111

or emailed to mbs.admissions@tufts.edu.

Students enrolled in the MBS program will be billed by the for two semesters (fall and spring) at the tuition rate listed above for their first year in the program. Most students remain enrolled in the second year working on their thesis, and are billed the continuation fee only for each semester they remain in the program until their thesis is completed.

A limited number of need-based $13,000 scholarships are available to all students regardless of citizenship status. No separate application is needed. For more details, please reach out to mbs.admissions@tufts.edu.

Students that will be utilizing financial aid are encouraged to submit their FAFSA early in the application process.  This will ensure the Office of Financial Aid has time to provide eligibility information before an admissions decision is required.

View Financial Aid and Scholarship Information

Beginning July 1, 2026, federal rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) will change how graduate students can borrow federal financial aid. Graduate students may continue to have access to Direct Unsubsidized Loans; however, new federal borrowing limits and eligibility requirements are being implemented.

In addition, the federal Direct GradPLUS Loan will be eliminated for new borrowers starting in 2026-27, meaning students who need funding beyond the Unsubsidized Loan may need to consider private loans or other options. 

The Tufts University School of Medicine Office of Financial Aid is reviewing these developments and will share updated guidance and resources as more information becomes available.  Please watch for more detailed information to be shared by them on their website as more information becomes available.