Who Can Apply

The BBME program prides itself on the diversity of the students – hailing from all areas of engineering and from the physical, chemical and life sciences and medicine – who choose to pursue graduate degrees with us.

Academic Requirements

Applicants with an undergraduate engineering degree should have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 3.3 out of 4, and must have taken a university-level general life-science course. 

Applicants who are not coming from an engineering background must meet the following criteria:

• Applicants should have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 3.3 out of 4, or the equivalent, in their undergraduate program.

• Applicants must have taken at least four courses (12 credits) of university-level quantitative courses of which at least 2 must be Math:
  • Math prerequisites may include statistical, numerical and computational methods (but not programming, for example). See list of appropriate McGill courses.
  • Quantitative courses may include those from physics, chemistry, engineering, computer-science, medical-physics, and quantitative life-science courses, and other courses that apply math to different fields.
• Applicants must have taken at least four courses (12 credits) of university-level natural-science courses of which at least 1 must be a general life-science course:
  • Natural-science courses include courses such as biology, physiology, anatomy, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer-science, medical-physics, etc.
  • The required general life-science course can be in physiology, cell biology, molecular biology or a similar area. See list of appropriate McGill courses.
  • For Québec applicants, CÉGEP-level courses are not considered university-level courses and do not qualify as pre-requisites.

Applicants lacking some pre-requisites (at most two prerequisites, including the life-science requirement) may be accepted to the program on the condition that they make up the deficits in the first year of their graduate program. Since these courses will be at the undergraduate level, they will not count toward the course requirements of their graduate program.  Course equivalencies can be searched at this link:  Course Equivalency | Transfer Credit & Advanced Standing - McGill University

Language Requirements

Non-Canadian applicants whose mother tongue is not English, or who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a recognized foreign institution where English is the language of instruction, must submit documented proof of competency in English by one of the following methods:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A total score of at least 100 on the Internet-based test with a minimum score of 20 in each section. A minimum score of 600 is required for the paper-based test; or
• An International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a band score of 7.0 or greater (Academic module).
• The examinations must have been taken no more than two years prior to the application date. See the GPS website for English Language Proficiency and for further details about submitting test scores.

GRE is NOT required.

Please note that we cannot prescreen applicants over the phone or e-mail. You need to formally apply in order for us to objectively evaluate the entirety of your application.