Admissions

On this page: How to Apply | Admission Requirements | International Students | Cost and Financial Assistance |

Admissions Applications to the Department of Economics

Applications to the Department of Economics must be received by the deadline. All documents must be received in our department by this date.

Please note that we ONLY accept admissions applications for September registration.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their file is complete by reviewing in Minerva whether their documents have been received or not. FAXED MATERIAL OR UNOFFICIAL DOCUMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. It is important that you write your full name on all supporting documents submitted to the department. Prospective students wishing to assemble all their documents should mail them in one package by registered mail or courier. Indicate on the package that there is no commercial value in order to avoid customs fees.

All documents submitted to McGill University in support of an application to be admitted, including, but not limited to transcripts, diplomas, letters of reference and test scores, become the property of McGill University and will not be returned to the applicant or forwarded to another institution under any circumstance.

To be certain you have completed all steps, and sent in all mandatory supporting documents, please review our checklist.

Financial Assistance. You are automatically considered for financial support. No separate application is required. If you do not wish to be considered for financial assistance, please let us know as this funding will be made available to other students.

Part-time Studies? We only offer full-time programs starting every September. Incoming students should plan to be in Montreal by mid-August.

General Inquiries. E-mail us at graduate [dot] economics [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Graduate Economics). This e-mail address is for general inquiries about our program; do not send reference letters to this address.

How to Apply

Step 1: Review the Graduate Programs.

Step 2: Review the Admissions Requirements.

Step 3: Complete the McGill University Online Application Form, which includes a non-refundable application fee, as soon as possible. We cannot create a file for you, or track missing documents, until this step has been completed by you.

Step 4: Arrange to take the GRE test and/or TOEFL (or equivalent) if applicable.

Step 5: Prepare and request all supporting documents.

Step 6: Submit all supporting documents well before the deadline to the Admissions Committee.

Step 7: Check regularly in Minerva to verify that all documents have been received prior to the admissions deadline.

Mandatory Supporting Documents

1. Two official copies of all university transcripts.
2. Two confidential letters of reference.
3. GRE Scores (if applicable).
4. Proficiency in English (if applicable).

Transcripts

• Two (2) official transcripts or certified copies of your complete university-level academic record must be sent to the department by all universities previously attended. This includes transfer credits and exchanges.
• Transcripts must be confidential and sent directly to us from the institution, or sent in a sealed envelope.
• If the transcript does not indicate that a degree has been conferred or certified (notarized), a copy of the degree certificate (diploma) will also be required.
• Transcripts in languages other than English or French must be accompanied by an English or French translation provided by the institution issuing the transcript or by a certified translator. (N.B. We do require two official transcripts in their original language.)
• We do NOT accept emailed transcripts under any circumstances.

Letters of Reference

• Two (2) letters of reference are required.
• Please ask your instructors to send the letters directly to the department.
• Letters may be sent electronically (via e-mail) to admissions [dot] economics [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Admissions Economics) and will be accepted if sent by University Career Centres, Electronic Portfolio Management Companies and other document storage services. They must indicate that they are confidential. Letters sent electronically must meet the following conditions:
  1. The e-mail communicating the electronic letter must be sent from a valid institutional or corporate e-mail address (domain). Electronic letters sent from public domain addresses such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Videotron, etc, will not be accepted.
  2. The electronic letters must be specific as to which program the student has applied and include information that would aid an admissions committee in making an informed decision.
  3. Letters of reference (electronic and hard copy) must be dated and must not be more than 12 months old.
  4. The referee must indicate his/her position and full contact information at the institution.
  5. Electronic letters sent from a Career Centre or Portfolio Management Company must state that the letters are confidential.
• For hard-copy letters submitted on electronic letterhead with an electronic signature, the letter must conform to conditions (1) through (5) above, and must also be sent in an envelope sealed by the referee.
• If your instructor cannot mail the letter to McGill, ask them to give you the letter in a sealed envelope which they have signed across the back. You may then send the letter to the department with your other required documents. N.B. Letters of Recommendation in opened envelopes will not be accepted.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

If your education has been interrupted or if you do not have an undergraduate or graduate degree in Economics from a Canadian university, you must take the Graduate Record Examination (General Test) and arrange for your scores to be sent to us. Note that the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) cannot be substituted for the GRE. McGill University’s institutional code is 0935. The Department of Economics’ code is 1801. For more information about the GRE please visit this website.

(An interruption in education is 3 or more years after graduation, or between degrees.)

Proficiency in English

All applicants whose first language is not English and who have not studied in an institution where English is the language of instruction, must submit acceptable evidence of competence in English before their application for admission can be considered.

Options accepted at McGill can be found on the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ (GPS) website for English Proficiency.

The Department of Economics expects applicants to obtain scores well above the minima outlined on the GPS’ website. We do not accept photocopies of the results of your tests.

Please note that Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) results take approximately 3 weeks to be received at McGill. You should make sure to take the TOEFL test by the end of November so results will be received by the deadline.

Admission Requirements

Your degree. You must hold, or reasonably expect to hold by September, a bachelor's degree for entry into the M.A. program or a master’s degree in Economics for entry to the Ph.D. program. The minimum acceptable CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) is 3.0 out of a possible 4.0, which is equivalent to “B” on a letter scale. The University assesses degrees earned outside Canada to determine if they are equivalent to a McGill degree. "International Degree Equivalency" for several countries is listed here.

If your degree is not in Economics. An Honours B.A. in Economics is the normal prerequisite for admission to the M.A. program. However, if you have high standing in any other undergraduate discipline and also have adequate preparation in Economics and Mathematics, you may be eligible for admission (not an exemption from GRE). The minimum preparation is a full year of intermediate macroeconomics, microeconomics, and statistics, two semesters of introductory calculus and one semester of linear algebra. If you are without this preparation but have a strong academic record, you should indicate on the online application form that you wish to be admitted to the Qualifying Year (QY) Program.

Math requirements. To enter the MA or PhD programs you must have taken at least the following:

(a) two terms of calculus (differential and integral calculus, including constrained optimization methods, functions of several variables, partial derivatives, constrained optimization using the method of Lagrangian multipliers and Riemann integration);

(b) one term of matrix algebra (rank, inverse, eigenvalues, eigenvectors and quadratic forms);

(c) statistics: a full-year course in statistics from an economics or mathematics department.

To enter the QY you should at a minimum be familiar with functions, limits, continuity, differentiation, and integration. If you enter the QY program without the mathematics background specified under (a) and (b), you must be prepared to take both math and economics courses as part of your QY program.

Letters of Reference.

Transcripts.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

Proficiency in English.

International Students

If you are not a citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada, you must obtain the necessary visa and/or Student Authorization documents before entering Canada. Do not leave home without these documents. It is not legally possible to change your status from Visitor to Student Authorization once you are in Canada.

Certificate of Acceptance from Quebec (CAQ). Coming to Canada begins with an application for a Certificate of Acceptance from the Government of the Province of Quebec. There is a processing fee for this document. Information about how to apply for it is found on the USB key sent to you in your acceptance package by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Student Authorization. This document is issued by Canadian immigration through a Canadian embassy or consulate and is subject to a processing fee. Please note that citizens of the United States, Greenland and/or St. Pierre-Miquelon who are in possession of the CAQ may obtain the student authorization at a Port of Entry to Canada.

Health Insurance. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, you must participate in the health insurance plan administered by the University. All inquiries related to this University policy must be directed to the International Student Services office (tel. 514-398-6012; email).

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Cost and Financial Assistance

McGill’s Fee Information Booklet, fee tables, and other important information are available on the Schedule of Fees web pages.

Economics Department. Financial assistance from the Department most often comes in the form of a teaching or research assistantship. Every year a few outstanding applicants are awarded scholarships by the Faculty of Arts or Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Unfortunately, neither the University nor most external granting agencies provide financial support for Qualifying Year students.

For Canadians. The Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) provides both master’s and doctoral funding to Canadian students on a competitive basis. If you are eligible, please apply. The deadline for applications varies depending on your current or most recent university attended but is normally in September. The Fonds de recherche du Québec sur la société et la culture (FQRSC) provides master’s and doctoral funding for Québec residents.

For non-Canadians. Non-Canadian students can draw on a wide variety of fellowships and other forms of assistance. Several large, multidisciplinary programs fund study in Canada by students from abroad. These include the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Program; the Government of Canada Awards to Foreign Nationals; and the Technical Assistance Scholarships and Fellowships and Canadian Fellowship Program for French-Speaking Countries, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). You must apply for assistance under these programs through your home country’s government, usually via the Ministry of Education. Applications sent by individuals directly to Canada are not considered.

Other. The Fellowships and Awards Section of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office provides information on many sources of support for Canadian and non-Canadian students, both new to McGill University and continuing. Further information on these and other sources of funding can be found in the Graduate Fellowships and Awards Calendar and on the GPS website. GPS can also be reached by email.

International fee waiver. Every year a limited number of students from countries or regions that have signed a tuition fee agreement with the Province of Quebec may be exempted from the higher tuition fees normally required of students from foreign countries. For further information visit the Quebec Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS) website. As of 2010, the following countries and regions have an agreement: Algeria, Bavaria, Belgium (some members of the Communauté française and of the Flemish Community), Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Catalonia, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Germany (a certain number of holders of Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst scholarships [DAAD]), France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, India, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Niger, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, and Vietnam. You must apply to your home country government, usually the Ministry of Education, which makes an official recommendation for students to be exempted from higher fees.

Additional information. More about financial assistance available to international graduate students can be found on the UNESCO website.