Application & Admission

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Explore UBC's Graduate Programs

Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies offers a wide range of options for course-based or research-based master's and doctoral students. We offer students an intellectually challenging education through programs that are international in scope, interactive in process and interdisciplinary in content and approach.

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Check Your EligibilityMinimum Academic Requirements | English Language Requirements | Other Tests

Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants. Check first if you can meet those absolute minimums. Keep in mind that

  • each graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements that you will find in the Graduate Degree Program listing and on the program website
  • entry to UBC is competitive, i.e. each year we receive way more applicants who meet all our requirements than we can accept. Meeting minimum and program requirements is not a guarantee that you will be admitted.

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application.

Some of our programs require additional components, such as GRE or GMAT scores, as well as certain course or degree requirements.

Check your eligibility now

 

Meet Deadlines

All deadlines are program specific and can range from November of the previous year to April of a year for a September intake. The most important deadline is the application deadline. Without meeting the application deadline, a file may not be considered for evaluation. No changes can be made to the application after submission. Graduate programs can set two other deadlines - which may be the same as the application deadline or provide slightly more time to complete specific actions:

  • Transcript deadline: Deadline to upload scans of official transcripts through the applicant portal in support of a submitted application. Information for accessing the applicant portal will be provided after submitting an online application for admission.
  • Referee deadline: Deadline for the referees identified in the application for admission to submit references. See Letters of Reference for more information.

You have full access to all deadlines in the degree program listing or review an overview of application deadlines below.

Review program application deadlines

See the graduate degree program listing for additional deadline details.
Program Namesort descending Intake Canadian Applicant Deadline International Applicant Deadline
Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) May 2025 03 January 2025 07 October 2024
Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition (DMA) September 2025 01 December 2024 01 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD) September 2025 15 December 2024 15 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) January 2026 01 June 2025 01 June 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) September 2025 10 January 2025 10 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) May 2026 01 September 2025 01 September 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Art History (PhD) September 2025 08 January 2025 08 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Art History (PhD) September 2026 08 January 2026 08 January 2026
Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy (PhD) September 2025 01 December 2024 01 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) January 2026 15 June 2025 15 June 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) September 2025 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) September 2026 15 January 2026 15 January 2026
Doctor of Philosophy in Audiology and Speech Sciences (PhD) September 2025 01 April 2025 01 April 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Audiology and Speech Sciences (PhD) January 2026 01 August 2025 01 August 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Audiology and Speech Sciences (PhD) May 2026 01 August 2025 01 August 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) January 2026 30 April 2025 30 April 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) September 2025 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) September 2025 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) September 2025 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) September 2025 01 February 2025 01 February 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) January 2026 01 July 2025 01 July 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Accounting (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Finance (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Information Systems (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Science (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Marketing and Behavioural Science (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Organizational Behaviour (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Strategy and Business Economics (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Urban Land Economics (PhD) September 2025 31 December 2024 31 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) January 2026 31 August 2025 31 August 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) September 2025 31 March 2025 31 March 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) May 2025 01 December 2024 01 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) September 2025 01 February 2025 01 February 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) September 2025 15 February 2025 15 February 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) September 2025 31 January 2025 31 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Classics (PhD) September 2025 03 January 2025 03 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) January 2026 15 December 2024 15 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) September 2025 15 December 2024 15 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Craniofacial Science (PhD) September 2025 28 February 2025 28 February 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) September 2025 15 December 2024 15 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) September 2025 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) January 2026 01 June 2025 01 June 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) September 2025 10 January 2025 10 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) May 2025 15 January 2025 15 December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) September 2025 15 May 2025 15 April 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) September 2025 10 January 2025 10 January 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) January 2026 01 June 2025 01 June 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) May 2026 01 September 2025 01 September 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) September 2025 01 February 2025 01 February 2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) January 2026 01 June 2025 01 June 2025

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Prepare Your Application

 

Apply Online

Once you have collected all your documents and are ready to apply, find out how to best move through the online application, what questions to expect, tips and tricks for your application and how to pay the application fee.

Apply Now

 

Next Steps

Prior to an admission decision

While you wait for your application to be evaluated, there are a few things to bear in mind.

  • Check your online application portal for the status of your application, references, English language scores (if applicable), and any additional information or documentation requested by the program.
  • References should be received and recorded in your online application portal by/before the References deadline.
    • If a reference isn’t recorded as having arrived as the deadline draws near, please contact the Referee to ensure the following:
      • That the Referee received the request (ask them to check junk filters)
      • That the Referee actually clicked the Submit button. They may have uploaded the reference but overlooked the final submission step.
  • If you have multiple email addresses, ensure you’re checking the one you used in your application as you’ll be alerted to the program decision, or requests for additional information, by email.

Please be patient, and resist the temptation to ask the program about the status of your application. UBC receives approximately 20,000 applications to graduate school. Rest assured that your program is working hard to evaluate applications and make admissions decisions as efficiently as possible. Most admission decisions are made in February and March, but this is highly dependent on the program to which you have applied and therefore, offers and declines can also be expected before and after this peak.

After an admission decision

Successful Applicants

Congratulations! Please go to the newly admitted student checklist to see your next steps.

Admitted Student Checklist

Unsuccessful applicants

Given that the number of applicants exceeds the number of positions available, a record that satisfies basic entrance requirements does not guarantee admission to graduate studies.