How to apply

The Application for Admission form can be submitted online.

Please submit two letters of reference through Dalhousie's electronic reference system. You will be asked to input your reference's contact information on your application. Once you have paid your application fee, please allow 5 business days for your referee(s) to be contacted by our system. If you have made an error in submission of an email address, please contact eref@dal.ca.

If your referee does not have a valid University or government email address, they must fill out the Confidential Reference Letter [PDF - 526kb] and email it to sres@dal.ca. They may include a separate letter, but this is not required. They should NOT include you on the email when submitting. 

• Applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree within the last three years must submit two academic references. An academic reference is one written by someone who has taught you in a post-secondary course or supervised a significant independent research activity like an Honours or independent project. Applicants should be advised that when assessing reference letters, the committee weighs heavily the opinion of experienced academic referees, i.e. those who have had the opportunity to work with many students at comparable levels. 
• Applicants who have completed their undergraduate degrees more than 5 years ago may instead provide one academic reference and one relevant professional reference. Applicants who have been out of school for a duration significantly longer than 5 years and who feel they would be disadvantaged by having to identify an academic referee should get in touch.

A full curriculum vitae (résumé) highlighting personal academics and work history, publications, awards, fellowships, extra-curricular interests and research and volunteer experience.

In a statement not exceeding two pages, single-spaced, applicants must explain their research interests and one or more possible thesis topics. A potential supervisor can provide advice on possible research topics and guide an applicant through the process of creating a strong research-interest statement. Your Statement of Interest should not simply provide a summary of the information already detailed in your CV, but instead should give the Admission Committee a sense of what your goals are for your MES experience. For example, what makes you a good fit for this program and how the MES may further your career goals, in addition to explaining your potential thesis topic and work or academic experiences.

The Confirmation of Supervision form [PDF - 98kb] should be completed by the applicant and the faculty member who has agreed to supervise the applicants work should they be admitted to the School. Ensuring this form is completed and submitted is the responsibility of the applicant as it is a necessary component of the MES application. Applicants are expected to request assistance with completing the form with their agreed supervisors.  

If the agreed supervisor is not a core SRES faculty member, one will need to be included in the committee and co-sign the form. If there is an agreement of co-supervision both supervisors should be included and co-sign the form.

Forms should be sent directly to sres@dal.ca with other supporting documents.

Proof of competence in English: Students must provide satisfactory results from a standard language test, such as TOEFL (minimum score of 100 for the internet-based test);  IELTS (7.5 minimum score), CCE (A minimum score), PTE Academic (minimum overall score of 65 and no score below 60), or Dalhousie's English for Academic Purposes - Level 2 course (minimum grade of 'A'). Waiver of this regulation in exceptional cases may be considered only after evaluation of the application is complete.