McGill Panama Field Study Semester (MPFSS) Program Application

Important application and program information

The deadline to apply for the Winter 2027 MPFSS program is May 15th, 2026. You can expect a response to your application within a week of this deadline.

The program is capped at 22 students. Only current undergraduate students can participate in the program. Selection to the program is based on academic performance and demonstration of interest and preparedness. Students must be willing and able to cooperate in groups. Selection may also reflect the program's goal of having a balanced interdisciplinary student body.

Program prerequisites

• HISP 218. Spanish Language Intensive - Elementary.

  Credits: 6

  Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

  This course is not offered this catalogue year.

  Description

  A comprehensive first-level course focusing upon all oral and written skills. An introduction to the fundamentals of Spanish grammar and syntax and to Hispanic culture.

  • Fall or Winter
  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken HISP 210 or 210D1/D2 or equivalent

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  or

  HISP 210. Spanish Language: Beginners.

  Credits: 6

  Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

  This course is not offered this catalogue year.

  Description

  A comprehensive first-level course focusing on all oral and written skills. An introduction to the fundamentals of Spanish grammar and syntax and to Hispanic culture.

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken HISP 218 or equivalent

  Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.

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  or equivalent proficiency;

• MATH 203. Principles of Statistics 1.

  Credits: 3

  Offered by: Mathematics and Statistics (Faculty of Science)

  Terms offered: Summer 2026

  View offerings for Summer 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.

  Description

  Examples of statistical data and the use of graphical means to summarize the data. Basic distributions arising in the natural and behavioural sciences. The logical meaning of a test of significance and a confidence interval. Tests of significance and confidence intervals in the one and two sample setting (means, variances and proportions).

  • No calculus prerequisites
  • Restriction: This course is intended for students in all disciplines. For extensive course restrictions covering statistics courses see Section 3.6.1 of the Arts and of the Science sections of the calendar regarding course overlaps.
  • You may not be able to receive credit for this course and other statistic courses. Be sure to check the Course Overlap section under Faculty Degree Requirements in the Arts or Science section of the Calendar. Students should consult http://www.mcgill.ca/students/transfercredit for information regarding transfer credits for this course.

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  or 

  BIOL 206. Methods in Biology.

  Credits: 3

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  This course is not offered this catalogue year.

  Description

  Introduction to modern methods used in organismal biology, including ecological sampling, experimental methods and statistics. Particular emphasis is on ways of thinking about the design of sampling programs and the analyses of data to test hypotheses using observational or experimental data.

  • Fall
  • 1. 2 hours lecture, 2. 3 hours laboratory
  • Prerequisite: BIOL 111 or equivalent

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   or equivalent 
• CGPA of 3.0 and higher is recommended. The program is aimed at 400-level (final year undergraduate) students.

How to apply

McGill Students

If you are currently registered as a McGill student, follow these steps to apply for the MPFSS program:

1. Prepare the following documents:

   • Letter of Intent (French or English; PDF format only; maximum 2 pages).

   • C.V. (French or English; PDF format only; maximum 2 pages).

   • Unofficial or Official McGill Transcript (PDF format only).

2. Complete the McGill Panama Field Study Semester Application form. Do not complete the application form unless you already have the documents from Step 1 ready for submission.

3. Upload the documents referenced in Step 1 to the Field Study Semester Application File Uploads & Statements of Understanding form.

We will not review your application until we have received all the above-listed required items.

Non-McGill students

If you are a Non-McGill student, you must apply for admission to McGill if you are accepted to the MPFSS program. Please note that you will need to pay the program fee, and the Quebec/Canadian or International tuition according to your profile. Detailed instructions will be sent to you via email. You must be registered in a degree program at your home university and have completed at least two semesters of study to be eligible.

To apply to the MPFSS Program, follow these steps:

1. ifso.science [at] mcgill.ca (Email FSIO) expressing your interest in applying to the program and include the following items as attachments:

   1. Letter of Intent (PDF format only; maximum 2 pages; French or English).

   2. C.V. (PDF format only; maximum 2 pages; French or English).

   3. Official or Unofficial Transcript (PDF format only).

   4. Letter of Permission from your educational institution to participate in the program. 

2. After FSIO has recieved your email with the items above, we will email you a form to complete with your information.

We will not review your application until we have received all the above listed required items.

Selection criteria

Applications are assessed by the MPFSS professors based on multiple subjective criteria, including the following:

• Cumulative grade point average
• Program and year of study
• Proficiency in Spanish
• Successful completion of an appropriate course in statistics
• A careful reading of the applicant's letter of intent

The pool of applicants varies from year to year, and because of this, the relative weighting of these criteria may also vary from year to year.