Admission

We are looking for students with dedication and enthusiasm for environmental science, who are able to benefit from and contribute to the program, and who have a desire to interact fully with faculty members and other students.

Most students begin their studies at the start of the fall semester (September), although admission is also possible for the start of the winter (January) and summer (May) sessions. Applications ideally should be submitted at least four months before the intended starting date, in order to allow sufficient time for evaluation, processing, and preparation. Applications submitted later to this will be processed as quickly as possible. We can not guarantee that applications received less than four weeks prior to the intended starting date will be processed in time for admission.

Please note: Applications cannot be completely processed until a faculty member has indicated they will act as supervisor for the student's thesis. This is because the thesis research constitutes the major portion of the MSc program. Thus, students are strongly encouraged to begin by contacting faculty in the program that share similar research interests. This ideally should be done before the application is submitted. There are no guarantees that a supervisor can be identified, as this is determined by current funding and research opportunities in each faculty member's lab. If you have questions relating to this important step, please contact the coordinator of the Master of Science program.

An admission subcommittee will review your application. Admission will be determined by your academic and professional record, letters of recommendation, area of research interest and the ability of the faculty member to accept you into their research group. Normally for admission to the program applicants must have achieved a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.33 on the TRU evaluation scale over the last two years of undergraduate studies. If individuals with lower GPAs wish to have an application considered, they should include in their cover letter an argument detailing exceptional circumstances (e.g. the accumulation of additional knowledge or experience that will compensate for the lower undergraduate marks). Please note that the proposed thesis supervisor can not act as one of the two required referees, although he/she may provide a separate, additional letter of support as part of the application package.