Rahbar Elaheh, Diaz-Garelli Franck, Wang Vincent M, Vandevord Pamela, Weaver Ashley A
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, 575 N. Patterson Ave. Suite 530, Winston Salem, NC 27101 USA.
Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES), Blacksburg, VA USA.
Biomed Eng Educ. 2022;2(2):101-112. doi: 10.1007/s43683-022-00080-5. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
Graduate school applications in Biomedical Engineering (BME) are steadily rising, making competition stiffer, applications more complex, and reviews more resource intensive. Holistic reviews are being increasingly adopted to support increased diversity, equity, and inclusion in graduate student BME admissions, but which application metrics are the strongest predictors of admission and enrollment into BME programs remains unclear. In this perspectives article, we aim to shed light on some of the key predictors of student acceptance in graduate school. We share data from a three-year retrospective review of our own institution's graduate BME applications and admission rates and review the influence of grade point averages (GPA), standardized test scores (e.g., GRE), and prior research experience on graduate school admission rates. We also examine how the waiver of GRE requirements has changed the landscape of BME graduate applications in recent years. Finally, we discuss efforts taken by our institution and others to develop and implement holistic reviews of graduate applications that encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to apply and successfully gain admission to graduate school. We share five key lessons we learned by performing the retrospective review and encourage other institutions to "" and examine their historical graduate admissions data and past practices. Efforts aimed at engaging faculty to overcome their own implicit biases, engaging with underrepresented students in hands-on, research-intensive programs, and networking with diverse student populations have strong potential to enhance the diversity of BME graduate programs and our STEM workforce.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-022-00080-5.
生物医学工程（BME）专业的研究生申请数量在稳步上升，竞争愈发激烈，申请流程愈发复杂，评审所需资源也更多。为了在研究生BME招生中支持增加多样性、公平性和包容性，全面评审的方式越来越多地被采用，但哪些申请指标是BME项目录取和入学的最强预测因素仍不明确。在这篇观点文章中，我们旨在阐明研究生录取中一些关键的预测因素。我们分享了对本校研究生BME申请和录取率进行的为期三年的回顾性审查数据，并审视了平均绩点（GPA）、标准化考试成绩（如GRE）以及先前研究经历对研究生录取率的影响。我们还研究了GRE要求豁免在近年来如何改变了BME研究生申请的格局。最后，我们讨论了本校和其他机构为制定和实施研究生申请的全面评审所做的努力，这些努力鼓励来自代表性不足背景的学生申请并成功被研究生项目录取。我们分享了通过进行回顾性审查学到的五个关键经验教训，并鼓励其他机构“……”并审视其历史研究生招生数据和过往做法。旨在促使教师克服自身隐性偏见、让代表性不足的学生参与实践型、研究密集型项目以及与多样化学生群体建立联系的努力，极有可能增强BME研究生项目和我们STEM劳动力的多样性。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s43683 - 022 - 00080 - 5获取的补充材料。
