GRADUATE STUDIES - ADMISSIONS

Admission Requirements

The Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at McGill University is committed to academic excellence. Only outstanding candidates are considered for entry into the graduate program. Applicants should have an academic background equivalent to that of a McGill graduate in the Honours or Major program in geology, geophysics, chemistry, or physics, and a CGPA of at least 3.0 out of 4.0. The admissions committee may modify the requirements in keeping with the field of graduate study proposed. In some cases a qualifying year may be required. A comprehensive list of the entrance requirements can be found here.

Students are strongly recommended to address the issue of research supervision before applying. Applicants who do not address this main issue prior to applying are rarely accepted.

Research Supervision

As Earth & Planetary Sciences only offers research-based graduate degrees, students interested in pursuing graduate degrees will not be accepted without having a formal commitment from a research staff member stating his or her intention to supervise and fund the research work. Students are encouraged to contact individual staff members with whom they share research interests directly. Letting a potential supervisor know that you are interested in working with them helps get your foot in the door and may even expedite your application. Visit the home pages of research staff in Earth & Planetary Sciences to find out which professor shares your interests.

Funding

Typical funding packages include a research stipend from your supervisor and a teaching assistantship from the department. This amount is the same for both international and Canadian students, as departmental top-ups help defray the higher tuition cost for international students. The exact amount changes each year due to rises in cost of living. The following amounts are for the 2011-12 year (before taxes but after tuition has been paid):

Ph.D. students: Disposable income of approximately $16,400/year.
M.Sc. students: Disposable income of approximately $15,400/year.

Scholarships are an additional source of support, and students are highly encouraged to apply for them. Please consult the Fellowships and Awards as well as external agencies (such as NSERC or various geological organizations) for scholarship possibilities. Some of the available funding opportunities in Earth & Planetary Sciences are discussed in "Part 1 - Financial Support: Where to look" on the Graduate Guide page.

A lack of available funding (at the supervisor or departmental level) is a common reason why students cannot be accommodated.

Admission Procedures

Application and Date for Guaranteed Consideration deadlines:

Fall (September) semester:

• International applicants:
• Date for Guaranteed Consideration: March 15
• Application submission final deadline: April 30
• Canadian applicants:
• Date for Guaranteed Consideration: March 15
• Application submission final deadline: June 30

Winter (January) semester:

• International applicants:
• Date for Guaranteed Consideration: September 15
• Application submission final deadline: September 30
• Canadian applicants:
• Date for Guaranteed Consideration: September 15
• Application submission final deadline: November 15

Make sure that your application is submitted before the Date for Guaranteed Consideration. Applications received after this date may not be reviewed for admission. McGill will stop accepting applications for the Fall term as of June 30 (April 30 for international candidates) and for the Winter term as of November 15 (September 30 for international candidates).

Please remember that the application fee is non-refundable.

Before applying to the Department, make sure that you meet all of the admission requirements outlined here by the Graduate and Postdoctoral Office. This will save you time, aggravation, and possibly some money! Please be sure to check out the rest of the information and links found on the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office Prospective Students page.

The application process within the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences is outlined below. Read these instructions carefully. Failure to follow the proper procedure may delay your application.

1. Complete the online application, the required method of application at McGill. A credit card is required. If for some reason you are unable to access or complete the online application, please contact us for help. To apply online, click here and follow the links to the online application. Applications completed online are automatically forwarded to the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences.

2. Have all original transcripts, reference letters and other supporting documents sent to the EPS Graduate Coordinator.

Transcripts must be originals and in sealed envelopes. In the case of transcripts that are in a language other than English, it is understood that they may not be in sealed envelopes as they will have had to have been opened for translation. In this case, it should be clearly visible that the transcripts are either originals or certified copies. Translations must bear the stamp of the official translator. Two official copies of both the original transcripts and the translations must be provided.

Two reference letters are required, although more are accepted if provided. At least one of the two letters must be from a reference in academia. Referees should email their letters directly to the EPS Graduate Coordinator, Kristy Thornton, at kristy.thornton@mcgill.ca, from their official university email address (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. addresses are not acceptable). If the referees would prefer to submit paper copies, then the reference letters must be originals on letterhead, signed in ink, and in sealed envelopes.

These supporting documents may be mailed individually by the applicant's referees and universities, or sent together as a package by the applicant. In the latter case, all documents must still be in their original envelopes, and either signed or stamped across the back to ensure that they have not been tampered with.

The mailing address is:

Graduate Coordinator
Earth & Planetary Sciences
3450 University Street, Room 238
Montreal, QC
H3A 2A7
Canada

Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to take a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) unless they meet one of the following requirements:

• At least one degree was obtained at a Canadian university in either English or French.
• At least one degree was obtained at a university whose language of instruction is English.

The Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences does not require a GRE as part of the graduate application.

3. Review of Application by the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. The application is then reviewed by the Graduate Admissions Committee in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. The quality of each candidate is assessed, and attempts are made to match the student with an appropriate supervisor, if the student does not already have one. Following this process, the student is either rejected or recommended for acceptance to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office. The final decision for acceptance is made by the GPSO.

At every step of the application process, we do our best to keep the applicants informed of the status of their application. The preferred method of correspondence is email. Students can also log in to Minerva to keep track of their application status up to and including accepting the offer of admission. If at any point in the process you have any questions, please contact us.