Because admission is selective and academic preparation is emphasized during the first year, the success rate for achieving candidacy is high. The Program fully supports and strives to graduate all students admitted to the program. Selecting a thesis adviser is the most important decision the student will make in graduate school. An informed and thoughtful choice requires experience in the labs of several investigators. Students in the Program usually participate in three lab rotations during their first year of enrollment.
Rotations can range widely, even across programs.
The unusual flexibility of the Division makes it possible to tailor laboratory rotations to the interests of each individual student. More than three rotations can be arranged, if necessary. Likewise, the length of the individual rotations is flexible. Students most often choose one of the labs in which they have worked and begin their thesis research. This decision usually occurs just before or during the second year.