Information for Prospective Students
If you are interested in becoming a member of my lab, you should:

1. Review the statement of current research interests on this website.
2. Read some of the papers that my students, collaborators and I have written in recent years.
3. Send me an email or a letter if you decide that your interests coincide well with my own.
   You should include the following:
   • detailed statement of why you want to attend graduate school and why my lab is a good fit for you,
   • any publications you have produced (or the citations for them if they are already published and you don't want to send the reprint),
   • the names and institutions of the people you will ask for letters of recommendation (letters are not necessary in this packet)
   • your GPA and GRE scores (including your percentile scores, not just the raw scores),
   • a list of the courses that have mattered the most to you in biology (and other fields if relevant)
   • a list of the math, statistics and other quantitative courses you've taken
   • a CV
4. Plan to apply BOTH to the Department of Integrative Biology and to the Graduate School at Michigan State University. All the information you need to do this can be obtained at https://integrativebiology.natsci.msu.edu/ and/or http://admissions.msu.edu/graduate.asp NOTE THAT APPLICANTS ARE RANKED BY MEMBERS OF THE GRADUATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY, AND ADMITTANCE IS A JOINT DECISION OF THE ENTIRE COMMITTEE.
   
5. A few weeks to a month after sending these things to me, drop me an email just to check in and confirm that I've received them.
6. If, after reviewing the materials listed in #3 above, I believe there is a good fit between what you hope to accomplish as a graduate student and my future research directions, I may request that you plan to visit my lab before the end of January of the year you hope to matriculate.
7. Please send all application materials, and have your letters of recommendation arrive in the Integrative Biology Department office, by 1 November. Although this is well before the formal application deadline, having all application materials early allows me to nominate top applicants for recruiting fellowship support, and arrange to invite them to campus for site visits and interviews.
   

Related Links
Email Kay Holekamp
Preparing a CV (from MIT)
Integrative Biology Department: Graduate Progams
The MSU Graduate School