FAQ

Application occurs through the Faculty of Graduate Studies website. Before applying, please read carefully through our Applications and Admission section on how to apply and minimum requirements.

In exceptional cases, applicants from Canadian or US institutions who hold a bachelor’s degree with an overall average in the A grade range and who demonstrate advanced research ability may be granted direct admission to our doctoral degree program. Please see the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website for more information. Applicants from international institutions will have specific minimum admission requirements established by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Having an academic background in a field other than Biomedical Engineering does not preclude you from applying to our graduate program. We have students from a wide range of backgrounds. In cases where students might want to pivot from another field into BME, it would be helpful to describe your motivation and future career plans in the Statement that is part of the application package. The review committee (MEng) or research supervisors (MASc/PhD) will look at the overall package, including the statement and reference letters, when making decisions.

We do not require the GRE for admission.

An applicant with a research supervisor confirmed, may be considered for late application, on a case-by-case basis. All applicants are encouraged to submit their application in advance of the application deadline. If you do not have a confirmed research supervisor, we instead encourage you to apply for the next intake.

You are always welcome to apply if your grades/GPA fall below the minimum requirements. If a supervisor feels that you would make a good contribution to the UBC community and would be able to pursue full time studies in a graduate program, s/he would have to submit a Low GPA rationale to the Advisory Committee and to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

For the initial stages of application, you will scan and upload digital files (.pdfs) through the online application system. Do NOT send any documents to UBC during the first stage of your application. Paper applications and paper copies of supporting documents will not be accepted by our program.

The transcript you upload to your application as your “unofficial copy” must be the scanned copied of an official paper transcript. We do not accept self-reported grades. Transcripts must be scanned front and back, with all pages of each transcript uploaded as a single file.

You do not need to specify a research supervisor if you are applying to the MEng program, as the MEng program does not involve a thesis.

You do not need a research supervisor secured at the time of application. Many supervisors prefer to see a complete and validated application before committing to an applicant. Instead, review our faculty and identify faculty members with whom you are interested in working. We recommend that you reach out to those supervisors to see if they are accepting students into their lab and if you would be a good fit. This will bring attention to your application. You may view a full list of our faculty members on our Faculty page.

Information regarding the PhD Rotation Program can be found here.

Find more information about tuition fees.

M.Eng., M.A.Sc., or Ph.D. degrees alone do not form an acceptable basis for application to Associations of Professional Engineers in Canada.

The right to practise engineering and accept professional responsibility in Canada is limited to those who are registered members of the Association of Professional Engineers in the Province concerned.

As we receive a high volume of applications, our priority is ensuring your application is processed into the system. We may be unable to provide individual confirmations as to whether or not we have received your documents. We will contact you only if further information is required. We apologize that we are also unable to respond to individual inquiries concerning application status. Please note that we are unable to provide information over the phone.

The admission process varies for each student and program. Faculty members evaluate applications on an ongoing basis, and as such we cannot provide a specific date for a decision.

MASc/PhD: Generally admission recommendations will be made by supervisors starting in January and will be ongoing until available spaces are filled. Offers of admission begin Early February and continue throughout the spring and summer.

MEng: Normally first round of decisions will be made in mid-late March and the second round will be made in mid-late April. Admission offers continue into the summer as offers are declined and additional spaces open up.

Once you submit your application, only limited edits can be made to your online application. You may replace each referee once, change referee email addresses, and send reminders to referees through the application system. For changes to your personal information (such as citizenship, date of birth, or name, please contact graduate.apply@ubc.ca and include the appropriate documentation to support your request.

You can upload documents up to the document deadline for that application period. After the document deadline you are unable to add additional documents to your application.

For September admission, recommendations continue into the spring and summer as funding becomes available or other admission offers are declined. If you have not heard anything regarding the status of your application, it means that you have not yet been made an offer of admission, not that you have been declined admission. For MASc and PhD applications, we suggest you get in contact with faculty members you’d be particularly interested in working with to see if they are still accepting any students and to draw attention to your application.

All decisions will be communicated to applicants via email.

Each year, many good applicants are declined admission to the University of British Columbia. Common reasons for declining applicants include unavailability of appropriate faculty advisors and/or funding for the applicant, an applicant’s less competitive academic record, and simply the limited number of spots available in graduate programs. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide applicants with specific explanations for being declined.

The application process for MASc and MEng are separate and an applicant must submit two separate applications if they want to be considered for both. We are unable to transfer applications between programs.

All faculty members have access to your application through our online system. If you want to bring attention to your application, we suggest you contact the faculty member yourself and invite them to view your application.