Additional requirements
Candidates for all master’s programs in the School of Health and Human Performance must satisfy the general requirements for admission to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. As well, candidates should have earned an excellent academic record during four years of undergraduate study.
Note that entry into Dalhousie's graduate programs is very competitive and not all applicants who meet the minimum requirements are guaranteed admission. Normally, successful applicants have academic records and qualifications that are well above the minimum requirement.
Although Dalhousie's minimum requirement is a 3.0 GPA (B), the School of Health and Human Performance requires a minimum 3.5 GPA. Students with a GPA less than a 3.7 cannot be considered for the Internal Graduate Scholarships but are still eligible to apply for Research Assistantships and Teaching Assistantships once accepted to the program.
Although the School of Health and Human Performance may accept a student to the program, the Faculty of Graduate Studies makes the final decision on all admissions and there are no appeals on admissions decisions. The official letter of acceptance is sent by the Dalhousie Registrar's Office.
How to apply
- Complete the graduate application form (online or print)
- Submit supporting documents to the academic department
a) Required Documents for a Complete Graduate Application (download PDF - 271 KB)
b) Additional Information Form (download PDF - 253 KB)
To be considered for internal funding, applications must be submitted by January 15th.
The fall term application deadline for international applicants is April 1st and Canadian applicants is June 1st.
Minimum requirements for all programs
- Completion of a four-year bachelor's degree from a recognized university
- A 3.5 GPA in the final two years of undergraduate study
- A reasonable match of research interests between a potential thesis advisor and the student.
- Completion of an introductory statistics course with a final grade of 'B' or better. (Stats course not required for MA Leisure students).
- Completion of a research methods course.
- Completion of a research methods course with a final grade of ‘B’ or better for MA, Leisure Studies.
- Previous research experience is an asset.
Students are encouraged to apply for external funding.
Program-specific requirements
- Health Promotion - Candidates must have a sufficient background in health promotion with at least 24 credit hours in health promotion or health-related courses.
- Kinesiology - Candidates must have a sufficient background in kinesiology, and must hold a four-year honours or honours-equivalent degree in kinesiology or a related discipline.
- Leisure Studies - Candidates must have a sufficient background in recreation, leisure studies, or a related field.
Applicants to the School of Health and Human Performance should be aware that a prior criminal conviction may render them unable to be licensed in their field of study upon graduation, or to be able to participate in some clinical fieldwork experience in agencies through their course of study.
Admission types: Length of program
Applicants with appropriate qualifications are normally registered in the two-year master's program. Students from undergraduate programs in related fields (other than Health Promotion, Kinesiology, or Leisure Studies) will be considered for graduate study in the School of Health and Human Performance, provided they have relevant work or research experience. Please see additional requirements for each program listed below.
Qualifying work may be required of applicants whose background for advanced studies in Health Promotion, Kinesiology, or Leisure Studies is judged as less than adequate (please see details below).
The two-year program
Students with adequate backgrounds are normally admitted to the two-year program. This program has a one-year residency requirement; students must pay full fees for one year.
Students in Kinesiology normally complete a minimum of 27 credit hours, consisting of a thesis (worth 12 credit hours), 12 credit hours of course work (four three-credit hour classes) plus a three-credit hour seminar class.
Following the first year, thesis-only fees are paid. Students enrolled in the one-year program should expect to take 18 to 24 months of full-time work to complete the course of study. Normally, the one-year program must be completed within four years of initial registration.
The qualifying year
A “qualifying year” student is a person with a bachelor's degree or its equivalent who meets normal faculty admission standards and in whom a department has expressed an interest as a potential graduate student, but who is without a sufficiently strong academic background in a particular discipline to be enrolled directly into a master's program. For example, a qualifying year may be used for a student to take an honours equivalency certificate, or to take a year of senior undergraduate classes in an area of deficiency in their undergraduate degree. Only in exceptional circumstances may a student be admitted to a qualifying year to upgrade a below-standard undergraduate degree or academic record.
Qualifying students can be full-time or part-time and can take as few as one three-credit hour class or as many as 10 three-credit classes chosen from undergraduate classes or a mixture of undergraduate and graduate classes. If advanced placement for the graduate classes is anticipated, this information must be specified in the comments section of the application form. Because it is a prerequisite, a qualifying program cannot be used to reduce the length of a subsequent regular graduate program.
Qualifying students are not eligible for scholarship or bursary support and must apply for admission to the appropriate graduate program in the usual way toward the end of the qualifying period. Qualifying students must pass all the classes with no grades below a B- and with an average of at least B, and fulfill any other requirement in order to be considered for admission.
For further information about admission requirements, please contact:
Graduate Program Secretary
Phone: (902) 494-2152
Email: hahpgrad@dal.ca