The City College offers an M.S. degree in Biochemistry. Detailed information on the M.S. curriculum is available from the CCNY Graduate Bulletin (Biochemistry program pages) The full bulletin and other application materials, tuition rates, etc. can be obtained through the CCNY admission office. Most questions can be answered by the Graduate Bulletin. However, the CCNY Graduate Bulletin is usually out of date and may contain inaccurate information. If you have questions about the M.S. Biochemistry program which are not addressed in the Graduate Bulletin contact Prof. Ryan by email.

The typical applicant admitted into the CCNY Biochemistry Master’s program has successfully (B grade or higher) taken the following undergraduate courses at an accredited U.S. college, university, or equivalent institution:

Two semesters each of General Chemistry (i.e., Freshman chem.); Organic Chemistry; Calculus; Physics, Biology. One and more semesters of Biochemistry;  Physical Chemistry (P-Chem is sometimes waived for high-GPA applicants from U.S. institutions). Less common but desirable is one semester of Analytical Chemistry or Quantitative Analysis.

Note to International Applicants:

To be competitive, International applicants should have all transcripts evaluated (i.e. “credentialed”) by a service approved by at least one professional transcript and degree program credentialing service. These two services are recommended:

    1. National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) is an association of 19 credential evaluation services with admission standards and an enforced code of good practice.
    2. Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE) is an association of 10 credential evaluation services with a board of advisors and an enforced code of ethics.

The reports on credentialing should be sent directly to the Program Coordinator, Prof. Kevin Ryan (kryan@ccny.cuny.edu). A copy may be included with your application materials but is not required. The original transcript must still be submitted directly from your undergraduate institution to the CCNY Admissions office as part of your application. International students should be aware that the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry cannot guarantee that nine credits of Biochemistry MS coursework will be offered every semester. Many non-degree courses are however available.

M.S. Biochemistry application deadlines are May 1 and November 1.  Contact Prof. Ryan if you think your letters of recommendation will be late and if your application is otherwise complete. This deadline has been open-extended in 2020 due to Covid-19 related delays.

Students who miss the deadline may register for courses in the program as non-degree students. A maximum of 10 credits (out of the program total of 30 credits) may be taken in this status. If you later matriculate, then the credits will count towards your degree requirements. Normally, this is only possible for students who are already living in the NYC region. Currently, though, all courses have gone online, so students anywhere in the world may try out our program remotely, as non-degree students under this status. To apply as a non-degree student, visit the CCNY Graduate Admissions website.

Current Students (curriculum advising)

We no longer wait until current semester grades are finalized before registering for the next semester. Advising can now be initiated in November/December (for spring semester classes) or April/May (for Fall semester classes.) But bear in mind that if your final grade in the previous semester is low, you may have to de-register and retake the course in which you did poorly before proceeding.