Accelerated Master of Science Degree Program

The purpose of this degree program is to enable undergraduate students to complete the requirements for a B.S. and M.S. degree in less calendar time than would be required through normal sequential enrollment. This intensive program is targeted toward high achieving undergraduate students who are seeking a quicker path to a graduate degree. Students interested in the accelerated M.S. program must apply to the Graduate School for admission and acceptance into the M.S. program. Students in the M.S. program must re-apply to the Graduate School for admission and acceptance to the PhD. program. Consult the Graduate School website for application procedures and deadlines. Admission into the accelerated master's program will be decided by the Nutrition Department Graduate Admissions Committee. Students graduating from this program will earn both a B.S. and an M.S. degree. Students interested in this program should contact both the Undergraduate and Graduate advisors.

Timeline

Students can apply to the accelerated master's program in February of their junior year. This means that they will need to have completed the general GRE by fall of their junior year. In order to aply students will need to have earned a GPA of at least 3.5 and have completed the following courses:

  • Nutrition 230
  • Nutrition 372*
  • Nutrition 430*
  • KIN 270 and 272
  • BIO 151
  • CHEM 111, 112
  • CHEM 261 or 250

*Students may take these classes in the spring semester they apply to the 4+1 program. All other undergraduate requirements, including BIOCHEM 420, NUTRITN 230, and NUTRITN 352 must be completed prior to starting the MS.

Course Requirements - Graduate Level

    # of Credits
BIOSTATS 540 Introductory Biostatistics 3
EPI 630 Principles of Epidemiology 3
NUTRITN 630 (prereq NUTRITN 430) Advanced Nutrition and Metabolism 3
NUTRITN 640 Public Health Nutrition 3
NUTRITN 714 Vitamins and Minerals 3
NUTRITN 741 Methods in Nutrition Research 3
NUTRITN 793A Graduate Seminar 1
NUTRITN 794A Graduate Seminar 1
NUTRITN 697W Advanced Writing Seminar 1
TOTAL CREDITS FROM REQUIRED COURSES 21


Nutrition Electives


Students choose any 4 courses from list below.  Three (3) of these must be Nutrition Courses. One (1) course may be from another department. Students cannot use courses that were counted toward their undergraduate degree.

NUTRITN 572 Community Nutrition            3  
NUTRITN 575  Culture Nutrition and Health             3 
NUTRITN 578  Nutrition Problems in the Developiong World             3
NUTRITN 580

Medical Nutrition Therapy

           4
NUTRITN 585  Practical Skills in Nutrition Counseling             3 
NUTRITN 597G Nutrition and Food Policy             3
NUTRITN 597J Nutritional Genomics             3
NUTRITN 597R  Nutrition and Reproductive Health             2
NUTRITN 597S Nutrition and Cancer             3
NUTRITN 678  Topics in International Nutrition             3
NUTRITN 715  Advanced VItamins and Minerals            3
Other Elective = 500 level Course from another department               3 
                          TOTAL CREDITS FROM ELECTIVES         12-13
                                                   TOTAL # CREDITS         33-34

 For more information about the B.S. program, contact Undergraduate Program Director Claire Norton at: cpnorton@nutrition.umass.edu.