Admission Requirements

Admission to a doctoral program requires a minimum of:

• submitted evidence, usually references from qualified referees, of the applicant’s ability to undertake advanced studies in the area of interest.
• Proof of English Language proficiency
• a master’s degree from SFU or its equivalent from a recognized institution
  

OR

• a bachelor's degree, with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5/4.0, or a grade point average of at least 3.67/4.33 (A-) based on the last 60 credits of undergraduate courses. Students admitted directly from a bachelor's degree must complete at least 50% of the course work units required for the relevant program's master's program if no course work is required as part of the doctoral degree;
  

OR

• completion of at least 75% of the course work units required for the relevant program’s master’s program, with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5.

Admission to a master’s program requires a minimum of:

• a bachelor’s degree from SFU or its equivalent from a recognized institution
• a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0/4.33 (B), or a grade point average of at least 3.33/4.33 (B+) based on the last 60 units of undergraduate courses. Any graduate work is also considered. Individual graduate programs may set a higher admission grade point average.
• submitted evidence, usually references from qualified referees, of the applicant’s ability to undertake advanced studies in the area of interest.
• proof of English Language proficiency

In exceptional circumstances, a student may be admitted with lower formal qualifications when there is significant experience relevant to the proposed area of scholarship.

Conditional Admission

An applicant may be offered admission to a graduate program, conditional on the completion of certain requirements. Sometimes this may be used for technical purposes (for example, for an international student who needs extra time to have transcripts sent from an overseas institution).

If an applicant does not meet university or program minimum requirements, it is possible that additional graduate course work is required, or the student may be asked to achieve certain results in the first few terms. These conditions and deadlines will be included in an offer of admission.

If these requirements are met, the condition is lifted, and the student remains in their graduate program. If these requirements are not met the student is not able to enroll in future terms and is normally required to withdraw from the university.

Qualifying Admission

Qualifying admission may be offered to applicants who are deemed not yet ready to begin their graduate work. The applicant normally will have completed a bachelor's degree but may have a cumulative grade point average well below the University minimum admission requirements, or may have substantial deficiencies in their academic preparation for direct admission to the program.

Qualifying students will typically be working to make up deficiencies in their background to begin graduate work in their area of interest. An offer of qualifying admission must be accompanied by a set of expected requirements to be completed within one year. The requirements will consist of between 12 and 30 units of specified undergraduate courses to be taken at SFU and will include the required grade for each course.

If these requirements are met within the stipulated time-frame then the qualifying student will be admitted to the degree program for which the qualifying offer of admission was given. If the student fails to complete the specified courses or to achieve the required grades, either additional courses will be required or admission to the graduate program will be denied.