There are several routes to graduate studies at SDSU, and members of the Edwards lab come from all different routes. Each program has different entrance requirements, forms, and protocols, so you should contact the graduate advisors for each of the programs to seek further advice.
Master's Degrees
Students very often enter into one of the masters programs as it allows them to show their research ability, meet the students and professors, and decide whether they like the lab. They then transfer into the PhD programs as they progress.
The Computer Science Masters program has a usual CS focus, with core courses in CS as you would expect. We also have some great certificate programs in mobile and web application development that teaches cutting edge development.
The Computational Science Masters program has a more applied focus than the CS masters program. Many of the core courses are about the application of computational thinking to scientific problems.
The biomedical informatics masters program covers biology and computer science, with some statistics. This program will set you up as a bioinformatician, and teach the basic skills you need to cross from biology to CS or vice-versa.
The biology masters program is, as you would expect, a biology program. However, students also take some bioinformatics classes with Dr. Edwards (and others, of course) and biology students with computational interests work in Edwards lab.
Ph. D. programs
There are two strong Ph D programs at SDSU that students in the Edwards lab come from: computational sciences and cell and molecular biology. Entry into the Ph D programs is extremely competitive and so bring your best!
