Admissions, awards, and financial assistance

The application deadline for the academic year beginning in September 2013 was 15 January 2013. Applications made as of now will be considered for the following academic year (beginning in September 2014). Regardless of the program to which you are applying, you must submit a formal application using the online application system. You will require a valid credit card to submit the application fee. Please ensure that you identify the correct term in which you want to be admitted (Fall 2013), and note that the School does not offer Winter or Summer admission. Should you apply for the wrong term, you will have to re-apply for the correct one; the university will not be able to refund application fees or to forward applications to the correct term. On the online application, the following sections can be left blank: THESIS SUMMARY, APPLICANT STATEMENT, EMPLOYMENT/ACTIVITY INFORMATION, and COURSE HISTORY INFORMATION.

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR ALL APPLICANTS

Minor technical problems with McGill's new online application system have prevented some applicants from being able to upload their supporting material. These problems are being rectified by the managers of the central application system. We ask that applicants please be patient as corrective measures are taken with this new system. Please note the following: 

1. Applicants will be able to upload their supporting documents until 22 January 2013, so long as the basic online application was completed by the 15th of January 2013.
2. There are new technical problems with automatic email invitation to referees causing a delay of 48 hours or more before the referee receives the email with instructions. If there are concerns about this or any other problem, please admissions [dot] planning [at] mcgill [dot] ca (email the School) ONCE (and only ONCE--multiple emails and/or follow-up phone calls for the same issue will only slow down the process). 

If you have additional questions that are not answered on the McGill website, you can admissions [dot] planning [at] mcgill [dot] ca (email us).

Master of Urban Planning

The M.U.P. program is open to students holding a bachelor's degree or equivalent in Anthropology, Architecture, Economics, Engineering, Geography, Law, Management, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology or Urban Studies. Students from other academic backgrounds are considered for admission on an individual basis. Students wishing to pursue the concentration in Transportation Planning must apply for admission into the regular M.U.P. program. Toward the end of their first year of study, they will be invited to apply specifically for the concentration. Only a limited number of students are admitted into the Transportation Planning concentration in any given year, on the basis of an internal competition. Criteria for selection include students’ performance in the first year of study, in particular in transportation-related courses, their level of skill in transportation-related research methods, and the quality of their letter of application for admission into the concentration. Please be advised that the Urban Design concentration has been suspended until further notice. Students interested in Urban Design will be able to specialise in this field of practice as part of the core M.U.P. program.

The deadline for submitting applications and uploading supporting material (including letters of recommendation) is the 15th of January of each year. Please note again: As of October 2012, McGill’s formerly paper-based graduate application process has been replaced with an online application system. Detailed instructions on how to apply and how to upload required supporting documents in the new version can be found here. 

Elements that will be needed for your application to the M.U.P. program

1. Completed online application form and fee (paid by credit card).
2. Statement of Interest (one to two pages, to be uploaded), explaining your motivation for applying to the School, area(s) of specific interest, and longer-term career goals.
3. Curriculum vitae (to be uploaded). This should include a description of your academic background, professional experience, and other relevant activities (e.g., community involvement, volunteer work, etc.).
4. Official transcripts for all universities attended (whether or not the program was completed, is in progress, or was for transfer/exchange credits).  McGill's Graduate Studies policy requires that applicants have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or 3.2 for the last two years of an undergraduate degree. Upon recommendation for admission, two official copies of all transcripts will be required. Transcripts written in a language other than English or French must be accompanied by a translation prepared by a licensed translator. Please do not send these documents unless you are requested to do so.
5. Two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a current or past professor. These letters will be collected online through the new online application system. Please note the following conditions: 
   

   (i) Correspondence from public domain addresses such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Videotron cannot be accepted.
   (ii) The letters must be specific as to which program the student has applied and include information that would aid the Admissions Committee in making an informed decision.
   (iii) The letter must be dated and must not be more than 12 months old.
   (iv) The referee must indicate his/her position and full contact information at the institution.

6. For applicants whose first language is not English and who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a recognised foreign institution where English is the language of instruction or from a recognised Canadian institution (anglophone or francophone), documented proof of competency in oral and written English must be submitted. By the application deadline, appropriate exam results must be received directly from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) office. An institutional version of the TOEFL is not acceptable. Applications will not be considered if TOEFL or IELTS test results arenot available. The minimum acceptable exam results for the TOEFL are an overall score of 100 on the iBT and a score of at least 23 on each of its four components; for the IELTS, the minimum overall band is 7.0. Our Institution Code is 0935, and our Department Code is 097.
7. Architects or landscape architects should submit a portfolio (by mail) with their initial application to the M.U.P. program. This should contain at least five (5) samples of work accomplished in school or in practice which demonstrate creativity, analytic ability, and imagination. This must be in a format no larger than 8½"x11" (or A4). It can include the following: freehand drawing, technical drawing, photography, computer graphics, personal composition (poetry, short stories, etc.), or other creative work. Applicants can submit a single CD but a hard copy is preferred.  Applicants who apply to both the School of Architecture and the School of Urban Planning must send separate portfolios.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the completeness of the file for each department. The portfolio should be sent directly to the School at this address:

Admissions Committee
School of Urban Planning, McGill University
Macdonald-Harrington Building, Room 400
815 Sherbrooke Street West
Montréal (Québec) Canada
H3A 0C2

If you have questions that are not answered anywhere on the McGill website, you can admissions [dot] planning [at] mcgill [dot] ca (email us).

Ph.D. in Urban Planning, Policy, and Design

The Ph.D. program accepts applications from students with a Master’s degree in urban planning or a related discipline, such as Anthropology, Architecture, Economics, Engineering, Geography, Law, Management, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology or Urban Studies. Students from other academic backgrounds will be considered for admission based on the relevance of their academic background and their degree of preparedness for an advanced degree in urban planning, policy and design. Applications for McGill’s Ph.D.-I status (i.e., for applicants who do not yet hold a Master's degree) will not be considered.

Please note: As of Fall 2012, McGill’s formerly paper-based graduate application process has been replaced with a more convenient online version. Detailed instructions on how to apply and how to upload required supporting documents are available here. Applicants to the Ph.D. programme are NOT required to upload a Letter of Intent; this requirement was erroneously included in the new online application system.  

The School of Urban Planning assigns supervisors to doctoral students once they have been accepted, based on their research interests. Please DO NOT contact individual faculty members. We do not expect any applicant to have made contact with a potential supervisor prior to submitting an application. In fact, professors will not answer generic email messages expressing the desire to work under their supervision or asking them information about their current research activities. We are concerned, of course, with matching professors and doctoral students in the best way possible, but we make that match only AFTER reviewing all application files.

Please note the following statement on the website of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office (GPSO):

Every department at McGill has different admissions procedures. While some will expect you to connect with a potential supervisor prior to applying, others will assign a supervisor to you after you have been accepted. Make sure to carefully read the requirements of the program into which you are applying, available on the departmental website, to find out the supervisory procedures for that department.

Some pages on the GPSO website may suggest contacting individual professors. Please note that these procedures DO NOT APPLY for the School of Urban Planning.

Please ensure that you identify the correct term in which you want to be admitted (Fall 2013), and note that the School does not offer Winter or Summer admission. Should you apply for the wrong term, you will have to re-apply for the correct one; the university will not be able to refund application fees or to forward applications to the correct term. On the online application, the following sections can be left blank: THESIS SUMMARY, APPLICANT STATEMENT, EMPLOYMENT/ACTIVITY INFORMATION, and COURSE HISTORY INFORMATION.

Elements that will be needed for your application to the Ph.D. program:

1. Online application form and fee (paid by credit card).
2. Curriculum vitae (to be uploaded). Your CV should include a description of academic and professional experiences and accomplishments along with full contact information.
3. Research proposal (to be uploaded). All applicants must prepare a statement that does not exceed three pages. It should include (1) an outline of long-term career goals, (2) an explanation of how the applicant believes a PhD in UPPD would help them achieve those goals, and (3) a detailed discussion of research interests and intended research plans and approaches.
4. Official academic transcripts for all universities attended (whether or not the program was completed, is in progress, or was for transfer/exchange credits).  The transcripts must indicate successful completion of an undergraduate degree and successful completion or near completion of a Master’s degree. The absolute minimum CGPA is 3.0 (B) on a four-point scale. Upon recommendation for admission, two official copies of all transcripts will be required.  Transcripts written in a language other than English or French must be accompanied by a translation prepared by a licensed translator. Please do not send these documents unless you are requested to do so.
5. Three (3) letters of recommendation, at least two of which must be from a current or past professor. These letters will be collected online through the new online application system. Please note the following conditions: 
   (i) Correspondence from public domain addresses such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Videotron cannot be accepted.
   (ii) The letters must be specific as to which program the student has applied and include information that would aid the Admissions Committee in making an informed decision.
   (iii) The letter must be dated and must not be more than 12 months old.
   (iv) The referee must indicate his/her position and full contact information at the institution.
6. Proof of English competency. All applicants whose mother tongue is not English, and who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a recognised Canadian institution (English or French) or a recognised foreign institution where English is the language of instruction, must submit documented proof of competency in oral and written English. By the application deadline proof of competency in English must be received directly from an accredited TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) office; an institutional version of the TOEFL is not acceptable. The minimum acceptable exam results for the TOEFL are an overall score of 100 on the iBT, and a score of at least 23 on each of its four components (; for the IELTS the minimum overall band is 7.0. Applications will not be considered if a TOEFL or IELTS test result is not available. Our Institution Code is 0935, and our Department Code is 097.
7. Writing Samples (to be uploaded). Applicants must mail in two examples of independent work (e.g., course papers, articles, chapters, research reports) in English or in French.  The two pieces together should not be longer than 60 pages in length.
8. Portfolio. Applicants who wish to pursue research relating to urban design are advised to submit a portfolio of their work containing at least five (5) examples of relevant design work accomplished in school or in practice, demonstrating creativity, imagination, and analytical ability. The portfolio can include the following: freehand drawing, technical drawing, photography, computer graphics, personal composition (poetry, short stories, etc.), or other creative work. Applicants can submit a single CD but a hard copy is preferred. Applicants who apply to both the School of Architecture and the School of Urban Planning must send separate portfolios. 

Portfolios (if applicable) should be sent directly to the School at this address:

Writing samples must be uploaded using the online application system.

Please note : It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the completeness of the file for each department.

If you have questions that are not answered anywhere on the McGill website, you can admissions [dot] planning [at] mcgill [dot] ca (email us).

Awards and financial assistance

M.U.P. and Ph.D. students

Entering students are eligible for a variety of internal and external fellowships, both to support their research and to offset their tuition costs.  Internal fellowships are awarded on the basis of merit at the time of admission.  (Continuing students, too, are eligible for such awards.)  External fellowships can be obtained from granting agencies prior to admission or while in the program.

Further information regarding fellowships and awards may be found at the Office of Fellowships and Awards under Fellowships and Awards.

Tuition Fees

Current fees for graduate studies at McGill are posted here.