Graduate Application
This page is for applicants to the Master of Architecture program (the final two years of the professional program). Before proceeding, please identify your current standing:
- If you have completed a pre-professional architecture degree that is fully equivalent to Dalhousie's BEDS degree, please follow the process below. If you are not certain that this applies to your degree, contact the Architecture office, arch.office@dal.ca.
- Most graduates of a pre-professional architecture program should refer to the instructions for transfer architecture students.
- Former Dalhousie BEDS graduates should contact the Architecture office for instructions.
- Students who have not yet studied architecture should submit an undergraduate application to the BEDS program.
- Students from outside Canada who are thinking of applying to the MArch program: Please fill in an Architectural Qualifications questionnaire and send it to arch.office@dal.ca. This will help us determine if you are eligible to apply.
For general graduate application instructions, see the university's Graduate Admission Requirements page. A complete application consists of seven or eight items. Two are sent to the Registrar's Office and the rest are sent to the School of Architecture.
1. Items for the Registrar's Office or Student Accounts
a) Graduate application
Please apply online. Within two weeks you will receive an e-mail message from the Registrar's Office that provides your student number (B0xxxxxxx).
b) Application fee
After receiving your student number, please go to Student Accounts Web Payments to pay the $115 graduate application fee.
2. Items for the School of Architecture
Please prepare all items digitally and send them to grad.arch@dal.ca, rather than on paper and through the mail. For each item you submit, please indicate your surname at the start of the file name. A complete set of files might be named, for example,
- trudeau-portfolio.pdf
- trudeau-statement.pdf
- trudeau-resume.pdf
- trudeau-english.pdf
a) Official academic transcript from each post-secondary institution you have attended
Please arrange for your previous institution(s) to send the transcripts directly to the School of Architecture in two formats
- a PDF to grad.arch@dal.ca
- two printed copies to: Admissions, School of Architecture, Dalhousie University, 5410 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2
A transcript in a language other than English or French must be accompanied by a certified translation into English. Independent test scores (e.g., SAT, GRE) and high school transcripts are not required.
b) Digital portfolio of architectural design work
The portfolio should include advanced architectural design work. Additional design work (drawings, furniture, construction projects, etc.) also may be included. Items should be submitted in a single PDF, max. 20 MB, with your name on the first page. For any collaborative projects, include a list of the team members and a description of your role. In the PDF, please do not include animations or links to external files or websites. To keep the PDF file size small, please adjust the resolution of your images first. Do not include your statement of intent, resumé, or reference letters in the portfolio; they must be submitted as separate PDFs.
c) Statement of intent
For MArch applicants, this letter to the Admissions Committee should describe the general subject area that you wish to emphasize in the MArch program (e.g., housing, urban design, history/theory, building technology, environmental systems), and your previous experience in this area. The statement also should mention your anticipated thesis topic and eventual career aspirations.
d) Resumé
Please submit your resumé (1–2 pages) as a separate PDF.
e) Two letters of reference
At least one letter should be from an academic instructor. If your referees have a university, government, or teaching hospital e-mail address, they can use Dalhousie's electronic reference system. (See the link in the online application.) If not, they should download a Confidential Reference Form and send it directly to the School of Architecture.
f) Evidence of English language competency (if required)
If your first language is not English, an official test result must be submitted. The requirement is IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL 92 iBT (in-person or online). Other acceptable scores are TOEFL 580 PBT, MELAB 85, CanTest 4.5 (with no band score lower than 4.0), CAEL 70 (in-person or online, with no band score lower than 60), and Pearson English Test PTE Academic 65 (with no score below 54). Completing Dalhousie's English Language Studies Department EAP Level 2 course with a grade of A– or higher is also acceptable. A Duolingo test is not acceptable. A certificate from a language college also is not acceptable. If you have completed a degree at an English-language university, this requirement may be waived. See the Graduate Studies website for details.
3. Application deadline
For MArch applications from Canada and the United States, all items must be received by February 1. For applications from other countries, all items must be received by December 1.
Most transfer students with a pre-professional architecture degree have not completed all of the subjects equivalent to a Dalhousie BEDS degree and therefore should apply by October 1 and anticipate taking one or more senior undergraduate courses in the winter term, which starts in January.
4. Confirming that items have been received
To confirm that the items in section 1 have been received, contact the Registrar's Office, phone (902) 494-2450, or fax (902) 494-1630.
To confirm that the items in section 2 have been received, contact the Graduate Secretary in the Architecture office: grad.arch@dal.ca.