The Faculty of Graduate Studies sets the minimum admission standards that are required for entry into graduate programs. Individual departments may require additional qualifications of their candidates, and enrolment limitations usually mean that successful applicants possess qualifications that considerably exceed the minimum requirements. For more information on additional qualifications please see the program you are applying to on the graduate program page.
Common admission criteria
Master's degree
Four-year Bachelor’s degree
Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B average) in the last 60 credit hours of study
Degree granted by university of recognized standing
Please note that programs with a thesis requirement normally require an undergraduate honours degree. There are some occasions where this requirement may be waived where evidence of independent research capacity is present. To read more about degree requirements for admission to Master’s programs, refer to section 3.2 of the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar.
Doctor of Philosophy degree
First-class thesis Master’s degree or its equivalent
Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B average) in the last 60 credit hours of study
Degree granted by university of recognized standing
Most candidates for admission to a doctoral program possess a Master's Degree. Direct entry to some programs is possible for those with exceptional academic standing
Some departments have individualized admissions criteria--such as a GMAT, GRE, portfolio, or minimum GPA--which may be higher than the Dalhousie standard. See below for a list of departments with non-standard minimum GPAs.
Department-specific GPA requirements
Graduate department
Minimum admission GPA
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
3.3
Biomedical Engineering
3.7
Communication Sciences and Disorders
3.3
Community Health & Epidemiology
3.3
Economics
3.3
English
3.7
French
3.3
Health Administraiton
3.3
Health and Human Performance
3.5
Interdisciplinary PhD Program
3.7
International Development Studies
3.7
Microbiology and Immunology
3.3
Nursing
3.3 (MN), 3.7 (MSc & PhD)
Periodontics
3.7
Pharmaceutical Science
3.3
Pharmacology (intern. students)
3.7
Philosophy
3.7
Physiology and Biophysics
3.7
Political Science
3.7
Psychology
3.3
Sociology and Social Anthropology
3.7
English language proficiency
English is the language of study at Dalhousie; therefore all applicants whose first language is not English must demonstrate their capacity to pursue a graduate-level program in English before admission (see chart below). The language competency test may be waived if the applicant has completed a degree at a recognized university where the language of instruction is English. The claims must be verified by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Test scores are valid for two years from the date the test was written.
Dalhousie accepts a number of different English proficiency test scores:
Test Name
Minimum Acceptable Score
Internet-based TOEFL (Academic iBT)
92
Written TOEFL
580
MELAB
85
IELTS
7
CanTest
4.5 (with no band score lower than 4.0)
CAEL
70 with no band score lower than 60
Dalhousie College of Continuing Education (CCE)
A-
Pearson English Test PTE Academic
overall score of 65 and nothing below 54
Please note there are a number of programs that require higher test scores. See below for a list of these programs.
