Prospective MS Students

The UMass Department of Kinesiology offers two MS options: a thesis option and a non-thesis option. Students seeking the thesis option must secure permission with a specific graduate faculty advisor prior to acceptance into the program. Dr. St. Laurent is currently accepting new MS students under the Physical Activity and Movement Neuroscience areas.

What is the process for prospective UMass Kinesiology MS thesis-option students?

1. Potential Masters students should first review the MS in Kinesiology page to learn more about the UMass Department of Kinesiology graduate program.

2. If you are interested in the thesis option, read through the Requirements for the MS Thesis Degree in Kinesiology document to learn the expectations of the program. Generally, thesis students are assigned graduate assistantships to receive tuition remission and a stipend (typically for 10-20 hours/week each fall and spring semester). However, there are still some fees that students are responsible for each semester (which can be deducted from their biweekly paycheck) and summer funding is not always guaranteed.

3. Explore the faculty profiles and research lab websites. To be accepted into the program, you must receive a commitment from a specific faculty member to serve as your advisor.

4. Reach out the faculty member or members that you are interested in working with. Each faculty member may have a different application/inquiry process.

5. If a faculty member agrees to advise you, they will inform the graduate program director and you should submit your formal application to the UMass Graduate School.

6. Prior to accepting your graduate school offer, be sure that you and your advisor have communicated about graduate student funding (e.g., research or teaching assistantships) and lab/research related expectations.

I am interested in working with Dr. Christine St. Laurent. What should I do?

1. First, be sure to familiarize yourself with our website and check out some of the lab's publications.

2. If you are interested in working with Dr. St. Laurent, send her an email (cstlaurent@umass.edu) to share some information about yourself. Please tell her a little about yourself and background, why you are interested in the UMass graduate program, why you are interested in the Moove and Snooze Lab, what you hope to get out of your research experience, and what you could potentially add to the our research (e.g., different experiences, methods, perspectives, etc.).

3. Dr. St. Laurent will do her best to set up a virtual meeting with all prospective students when she is accepting new students. Please be prepared to:

expand on the information you provided in the initial email,
ask questions about the program and lab, and
discuss your preferred mentoring style.

At the end of the meeting, she will inform you of next steps.