Thank you for your interest in the Genetics Counseling program at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
Applicants to the MSGC Program are individuals with an undergraduate degree who can balance high academic achievement with excellent written and verbal communication skills, adequate advocacy experiences and insight into their choice of genetic counseling as a career.
Applications are open September 15, 2025 through January 9, 2026.
National Matching Services fee waiver:
GCEA (Genetic Counselor Educators Association) has established a waiver for the $100 fee associated with the NMS Match. Prospective students who demonstrate financial need AND have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater can apply for a match fee waiver. Prospective students should apply for a fee waiver BEFORE registering for an NMS number. Match fee waivers cannot be awarded to applicants who have already registered for the Match and paid the registration fee.
Applications for the match fee waiver are due by October 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified by October 31, 2025 as to whether they have received a waiver. There are a limited number of waivers, so not all applicants will receive a waiver. Instructions for how to register for the NMS match will be provided to those who receive a waiver.
Waivers are non-transferable to future match cycles or other prospective students. Prospective students who are applying for a match fee waiver will be required to write a short essay and to upload at least one of the following documents demonstrating financial need:
- A copy of a letter verifying unemployment benefits received within the past two years.
- A copy of a letter on official letterhead from a government agency verifying that you or your family have qualified for public assistance based on low income criteria anytime within the past 5 years
- A copy of your financial aid award letter from another / previous institution dated within 5 the past years
- A copy of your approved GRE fee waiver (for tests taken within 5 years of the application deadline)
- A copy of your federal Student Aid Report (SAR) that verifies you qualified for financial aid within the past 5 years based on a family contribution of:
- Not more than $1,500 if the student is a dependent student
- Not more than $1,900 if the student is an independent student
To apply, click here: https://natmatch.com/gcadmissions/applicants/register.html
Please direct any questions about the Match Fee Waiver process or requirements to [email protected]
Transcripts:
- Bachelor’s degree from a U.S. institutionally accredited college or university or equivalent
- Required: At least one quarter or semester of college-level coursework in genetics (designed for life science majors such as biology, molecular and cell biology) to be completed at an institutionally accredited college or university within USA or Canada or its equivalent
- Recommended: At least one quarter or semester of college-level biochemistry, psychology or sociology and statistics or biostatistics
- Unofficial transcripts should be submitted from all post-secondary colleges or universities attended, including from those at which the candidate took only one or a few courses to satisfy pre-requisites. Admitted students must submit official transcripts
- All prerequisite science courses must be taken within the last 10 years from the time of application
International students can access information regarding LLU requirements for International students
- Per LLU School of Medicine policy, applicants from schools in countries other than USA and Canada are required to present verification of academic credentials and a U.S equivalency report.
- Minimum overall GPA of 3.00
Curriculum Vita
Personal Statement and Values essay (1000 words): Describing personal motivating factors in genetic counseling as a career choice, a self-assessment of strengths and potential anticipated challenges and how they tie in with Loma Linda University's mission of whole person care.
Advocacy Experience: Compensated or volunteer advocacy experience(s) in a counseling or support role in health care, health behaviors or similar agencies. Applicants may have experiences in different settings, both in-person and remote, including crisis hotlines, Planned Parenthood, domestic abuse shelters, homeless shelters, hospice care facilities or facilities catering to individuals with physical or intellectual impairments, interviewing participants in a research setting etc.
Shadowing experiences and internships: Shadowing or interning with a genetic counselor is ideal, but not required.
Three Letters of Recommendation: Letters must be from individuals who can address the readiness of the applicant for graduate school and for the profession. One letter must be from a mentor in the applicant’s advocacy or counseling experience, which should be of substantial duration. All letters to be submitted electronically.
National Matching Services (NMS): All applicants must register with the Genetic Counseling Admissions Match through National Matching Services (NMS) and must provide a Match ID number to be considered for admission.
GRE: The GRE is not required for admission.
Interviews: Personal interviews with the LLU MSGC Program Admissions Committee will be scheduled between February and early April. Deadlines for the GC Admissions Match Process is usually available in the fall of the previous year.
Graduates of the LLU MSGC Program will be eligible to take the board certification examination administered by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.
330 North Wabash Avenue
Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 313-321-6879
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.abgc.net
Requirements for genetic counseling licensure vary slightly from state to state in those that require a license to practice as a Certified Genetic Counselor (CGC®). More information available at the ABGC and the NSGC.
Frequently Asked Questions
The curriculum of the MSGC program at Loma Linda University strikes a balance between science, counseling, research, and fieldwork rotations to provide students with a strong foundation on which to build their future genetic counseling careers.
- The strength of the program is in the wide-ranging and in-depth clinical fieldwork opportunities.
- The program works closely with Loma Linda University Health's clinical genetics services for both didactics as well as clinical supervision.
- The program offers courses from Loma Linda University's Schools of Allied Health Professions, Behavioral Health and Public Health with the added incentive of promoting interprofessional collaboration in healthcare education.
Yes, the program received accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) on June 17, 2024.
We are planning to have four students in the first cohort and seven students in the second cohort.
Students will start fieldwork observations in the first year and will start rotations in the summer after the first year.
- Students will have opportunities to observe and work in prenatal, pediatrics, adult cancer, adult specialties and clinical genetics laboratory.
- They will work with medical geneticists and in multidisciplinary teams with a variety of providers
Here is an example of a grid of rotations for the first cohort, as an example.
Summer | Fifth Quarter | Sixth Quarter | Seventh Quarter |
LLU MFM | LLU Peds Genetics | LLU Lab; LLUAdult Speclty | LLU Cancer (GI+RUHS) |
LLU Peds Genetics * | LLU Cancer (GI+RUHS) | LLU MFM | LLU Lab; LLUAdult Speclty |
LLU Cancer (GI+RUHS)** | LLU Lab; LLUAdult Speclty | LLU Peds Genetics | LLU MFM |
LLU Lab; LLUAdult Speclty*** | LLU MFM | LLU Cancer (GI+RUHS) | LLU Peds Genetics |
| * Peds General Genetics + Peds Specialty Teams (cardio, craniofacial, metabolic, neuro) |
| **Cancer Genetics clinics are in Adult GI and Riverside University Health System |
| *** Split rotations of ~5 weeks each. Adult Specialty clinics: International Heart Institute, Neuromuscular, Adult Metabolic |
Students may be placed in external fieldwork rotation sites that we have affiliation agreements (AAs) with them. We are working on AAs with several sites, primarily in Southern California.
Please check the University’s financial aid office.
The program has a budget of $2,500 for each enrolled student to attend the annual conference of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) in the second year of the program.
The Genetic Counseling Matching Program (GC Admissions Match) provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions in masters-level genetic counseling programs of their choice, and to help programs obtain applicants of their choice. The GC Admissions Match was the first matching system used for graduate-level school admissions in North America.
Students at Loma Linda University are diverse in their religious beliefs and come from many faiths. The Clinical Ethics course offered by the School of Religion will incorporate aspects of faith as it pertains to ethics in biomedical and clinical research and provide a framework of discussion. The weekly chapel service every Wednesday is required. It is a chance for the campus community to come together to reflect and reconnect. The chapel service will not be required once fieldwork rotations start.