BME: Graduate Application Assistance Program

The BME Graduate Application Assistance Program (BME GAAP) is a student-run initiative at the University of Michigan that supports prospective applicants from non-traditional paths or historically disadvantaged backgrounds, as described below, by pairing them with current graduate students who can help review application materials throughout the process of applying to a BME Ph.D. program.

The graduate students who serve as mentors are acting as volunteers, and make no guarantee that students who participate as mentees will be accepted into the University of Michigan BME Ph.D. program or any other academic program.

The BME GAAP is now accepting applications for the Fall 2024 cycle until November 1st, 2023.

Our Mission

The BME GAAP aims to support students in applying to BME Ph.D. programs. These students may come from a variety of educational, economic, cultural, and/or geographic backgrounds that are non-traditional, historically disadvantaged, or underrepresented within STEM, thus contributing to a lack of support and/or guidance in their pursuit of higher education. We support these students by providing improved accessibility and guidance throughout the application process. This program aspires to support students applying to any BME Ph.D. program, not exclusively to UM BME. The goal of BME GAAP is to increase representation in all BME graduate programs; to make the national and international BME community more diverse, inclusive, and representative.

How The Program Works

BME GAAP is designed for prospective BME Ph.D. graduate students that may lack support and/or guidance in their pursuit of higher education. Accordingly, to be eligible for the program, an applicant must be in the process of applying to a BME Ph.D. program (at the University of Michigan or otherwise) and meet one or more of the following criteria:

Being from an educational, economic, cultural, and/or geographic background that is non-traditional, underrepresented, and/or historically disadvantaged in STEM,
Being a first-generation student, or
Having a disability (visible or invisible).

1

Submit an Application

The assistance application consists of questions to help us understand your background and the type of assistance you would like to receive! We also require that you submit any graduate application materials (personal statement, SoP, CV, etc) you have prepared. They do not need to be final drafts, we will accept materials at any stage!

None of this information will be shared with University of Michigan graduate admissions.

The application opens on September 1, 2023, and will close on November 1, 2023.

APPLY HERE!

2

Get a Mentor

When we receive your materials and application, we will pair you with a current Ph.D. student in the UM BME program to review your materials. Once paired, you and your mentor can discuss ways to improve your application and other topics related to the graduate application process. While mentors can provide assistance, they cannot guarantee that mentees will be accepted into the University of Michigan BME Ph.D. program or any other academic program.

Types of assistance include but are not limited to:

General review of application materials
Comprehensive assistance with application materials
Advice about graduate degree programs

Important Notes

This assistance program is operated on a rolling admissions basis, meaning that once the application opens, mentors will be available to receive your application and provide assistance. We encourage students to apply early as we may not have enough mentors available for the large number of applicants we expect. You may be placed on a waitlist and will be matched with a mentor when/if they become available.
Please be mindful of the fact that the graduate students involved with BME GAAP are volunteering time and effort to support interested prospective students. Please feel free to email us at BMEAAP-Board@umich.edu if you have any questions.