Admission Requirements
Admission requirements are as follows:
- Applicants to our graduate programs should have a Honours Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Earth Sciences, or equivalent (e.g. Geology, Geosciences), with no less than a 75% (B) standing. Outstanding students in other fields will also be accepted, but will have to take extra courses to strengthen their background preparation.
- Three letters of reference, at least two of which must be from academic sources.
- An official transcript showing the awarding of the previous degree.
- If applicable, a score of at least 580 minimum overall average on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and 4.0 on the TWE is required. A score of at least 230 is required on the computer version of the TOEFL. Other tests of English may be accepted. See the English Language Proficiency page, for other acceptable tests of English.
Students who do not meet the requirements outlined above may be considered for admission to a transitional, probationary or qualifying program depending on their academic background. For more detailed information see the Admissions - Categories of Admission page.
Before completing an application, students are strongly advised to establish contact with potential supervisors. It is a good strategy to identify whether the potential supervisors you want to undertake research with have available positions and can fund your research.
There is no specific deadline to apply to the Master's program; however, the student should apply 4 to 6 months before the term in which they propose to start graduate studies.
Degree Requirements
Students can obtain a Master of Science (MSc) degree by following a thesis option or a master's research paper option.
The thesis option requires completion of at least 4 one-term courses (0.50 unit weight each), one of which is the Master’s Seminar, EARTH 695, and submit and successfully defend a Master’s thesis. The courses have to be Earth 600 level courses, or equivalent, and only one 400 level undergraduate course may count towards the course requirements.
In the master's research paper option, six one-term (0.50 unit weight) graduate Earth courses or equivalent (may include one 400-level undergraduate course), must be completed satisfactorily, as well as a written report on a research project that is narrower in scope than a thesis and that entails a lesser time commitment than a thesis.
The student has the responsibility of choosing the option that he or she will follow. The thesis option provides an opportunity for the student to acquire a greater degree of research experience, whereas the research paper option provides an opportunity for the student to acquire a broader formal background in his or her chosen area of specialization through training in a larger number of courses.
Students in both the thesis option and the research paper option are required to take a minimum number of credit courses as partial fulfillment of the MSc degree requirements. In addition to these courses, the student may also be required to take additional courses at the undergraduate level as prerequisites for the credit courses.