Admission Requirements

The Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University invites applications from qualified students for its MA and PhD programs. If you have any questions we encourage you to please contact us at psgrad@dal.ca or contact the graduate coordinator Kristin Good.

MA applicants must have a BA Honours degree in political science, and must have a 3.7 GPA (A-) to be considered for scholarship funding. An Honours degree entails something in the order of 10 full-year classes in political science, in addition to another 10 full-year credits in other disciplines.

Ph.D. applicants must have BA and MA degrees with an average 3.7 GPA (A-) or above.

Applicants who do not meet the above requirements, but who have superior academic qualifications, may be considered for admission to the MA or PhD program, but may be required to satisfy additional requirements within the program. This includes applicants without the Honours BA, who may apply for admission to a the MA program, and applicants for the PhD who hold a Master's degree other than the MA in Political Science.

Admission Requirements Checklist

Students are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Candidates must satisfy the general requirements for admission to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. An honours BA or equivalent is the admission requirement for the MA program, and an MA is the normal admission requirement for the PhD program.

In addition to the online application, the following additional materials must be submitted electronically (PDF format) to the Department of Political Science. These materials will assist with our admission decision:

Master of Art (MA)

• Four-year Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.7 (A-) in the last 60 credit hours of study or last two years for international students. Degree granted by a University of recognized standing
• Official TOEFL test score/ IELTS (unless medium of instruction has been in English for the past 2 years, a letter of attestation will be required) Where required, English proficiency as evidenced by internet based TOEFL score of 92, written TOEFL score of 580 or IELTS score of 7.0.
• Official Transcripts (BA, Diplomas) – Electronic* (see below for more information)
  
• Three Academic References - Electronic* (see below for more information)
  
• Resume/CV
• Sample of written work (generally 10-20 pages)
  
• Statement of research interest (normally one page single-spaced)
  
• Personal statement telling us about your background (normally one page single-spaced)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

• Thesis based master’s degree or its equivalent
• Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.7 (A-) in the last 60 credit hours of study or last two years for international students. Degree granted by a University of recognized standing
• Official TOEFL test score/ IELTS (unless medium of instruction has been in English for the past 2 years, a letter of attestation will be required) Where required, English proficiency as evidenced by internet based TOEFL score of 92, written TOEFL score of 580 or IELTS score of 7.0.
• Official Transcripts (MA, BA, Diplomas) – Electronic* (see below for more information)
  
• Three Academic References - Electronic* (see below for more information)
  
• Resume/CV
• Sample of written work (generally 10-20 pages)
  
• Statement of research interest (normally one page single-spaced)
  
• Personal statement telling us about your background (normally one page single-spaced)

You can email us your resume, sample of written work, personal statement, statement of research interests and english procificency letter (if applicable).

All transcripts must be sent directly from your institution to the department by email to psgrad@dal.ca by no later than December 1st, 2023 for funding consideration. Our final deadline January 31st, 2024.

Please be advised that funding is not guaranteed for applications processed after December 1st, 2023. 

Department of Political Science
Attention Graduate Program Secretary
Dalhousie University
6299 South St, Rm 301
PO Box 15000
Halifax, NS, Canada, B3H 4R2

Reference letters:
If using the e-reference system, make sure to have the email addresses of your referees ready to list when completing the online application. Dalhousie University will only accept university, teaching hospital, and government email addresses (i.e. not Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, or business addresses). Please allow 5 business days for your referee(s) to be contacted by our system. If you made an error in the submission of an email address, please contact eref@dal.ca.

The online application form and registration requirements can be accessed from the Registrar's Office web page.

For financial information on attending Dalhousie University please visit Money Matters.