Pharmacy graduate program admissions frequently asked questions

The MSc and PhD in Pharmacy programs do not follow a fixed schedule, but there are regulations regarding minimum enrollment requirements and time limits for program completion.

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• Residence requirements 
• Academic progression

At the University of Waterloo, the calendar year is divided into three academic terms. The School of Pharmacy accepts applications for admission to our MSc and PhD programs in all three terms. 

If you are not able to obtain any of the required application materials by the deadline, you should apply for the following term.

• Applicants are advised to begin their application at least one month ahead of the application deadline, to ensure they have time to obtain their student ID and upload all required supporting documents to Quest, and to give referees time to submit their reference form ahead of the deadline.
• Applicants are responsible for following up with their referees to confirm completion of the reference form.
• Applications that are incomplete after the application deadline (including those that are missing any references) will be denied unless a potential supervisor has informed the pharmacy graduate coordinator that they are considering the applicant for admission.

Applicants to our graduate programs are not required to secure a supervisor prior to submitting an application. However, we strongly encourage MSc and PhD applicants to review the research profiles of potential faculty supervisors and to contact the individuals they wish to work with. This allows applicants to assess whether the faculty members have the resources, capacity, and interest to consider them for admission to their research group before submitting the online application.

Related links

• Finding a supervisor
• Faculty research areas 

You do not need to have a supervisor to apply. However, admission to our graduate programs is competitive and our faculty members receive hundreds of similar email requests. Casting a broad net by emailing several faculty members is not necessarily the best strategy for applying to graduate school. When you reach out to potential supervisors, you should be able to make a connection between your prior experience and their research. It is up to you determine the best way to make yourself stand out as exceptional from among all the other prospective applicants.

The department does not keep track of who is accepting students since this information changes frequently and depends on their capacity. Specifically, if they have the time and funding available to support additional students. It is up to applicants to reach out to the supervisors they wish to work with to see if they are taking students. 

Admission to our programs requires a minimum 78% average in the last two years of a four-year Honours Bachelor of Science (BSc) program or its equivalent (for MSc applicants), or a 78% overall standing in a two-year Master of Science (MSc) program or its equivalent in a relevant field (for PhD applicants).

Please note that applicants who receive offers of admission typically have averages higher than the stated minimums.

For a guideline on international academic equivalencies, please refer to International admission equivalencies.

We do not accept or use third-party evaluations of transcripts.

Generally, we are referring to the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. However, students who have a four year Bachelor's level degree in another area (e.g. BMath, BPharm) are welcome and encouraged to consider graduate studies in Pharmacy.

Interested applicants should contact their preferred supervisor to discuss the suitability of their background for research conducted within the supervisor's research group and within the School.

The Graduate Studies Admissions office regularly updates the online list of exempt universities; if your country or institution is not listed, you are required to submit results from an accepted ELP Test.

Exceptions to ELP requirements are only considered on a case-by-case basis when an applicant has the endorsement of a faculty supervisor who wishes to make an offer of admission but the applicant does not meet minimum ELP requirements. The department will not otherwise consider exceptions to ELP requirements. 

Prospective applicants who do not meet minimum ELP requirements may wish to consider completing English for Academic Success prior to submitting an application.

View the Admission and English language proficiency requirements page for more information.

No, we do not require GRE scores. However, if you submit them, they may be included in assessment of your overall application, which may or may not be to your advantage. 

At the application stage, you need only submit your unofficial transcript(s). Applicants who are admitted are required to submit their official final transcript(s) as a condition of admission before they begin their program. Remember to include the grading scale/transcript legend as part of the uploaded transcript.

Applicants should not expect a response to their application prior to the application deadline for their chosen admit term. Early submissions are reviewed as time permits, or upon request by a faculty supervisor.

Once applications are reviewed, those that do not meet the minimum requirements for admission will be denied right away. Remaining eligible applications will undergo further review by potential supervisors. If there is no research supervisor for a student at the end of the application review period, the application will be denied.

There is no set number of admissions per term for the MSc and PhD in Pharmacy programs. Offers of admission are based on a variety of variables, such as:

• whether the faculty member has the funds to support a student 
• whether the faculty member is taking new students
• whether the faculty member is interested in supervising the applicant
• the number of applicants within a given term
• the number of applicants thatstand out as exceptional from among the cohort of applicants to our programs for the term to which a candidate applies 

Application deferrals are only permitted when there is a clear indication from a research supervisor that they intend to accept the applicant and where there is a delay in receiving research funding, or other acceptable and unforeseeable circumstances arise.

Full time MSc and PhD students in Pharmacy are provided with funding that is equal to or greater than the funding amounts required by the university. However, this funding is not enough to cover the full costs of tuition and living for most students. Students should reasonably expect to have additional sources of funding beyond what is provided by the university, school, or supervisor.

• Current minimum funding for full time PhD in Pharmacy students: $27,453
• Current minimum funding for full time MSc in Pharmacy students: $21,323

International PhD students receive the International Doctoral Student Award (IDSA), in addition to minimum funding provided by the supervisor, department and faculty.

Exceptional international MSc applicants who are admitted are automatically considered for the International Masters Award of Excellence (IMAE) at the time of application. This award is highly competetive; applicant must have a minimum equivalent admission average of 80% to be considered. 

• Minimum funding for MSc and PhD in Pharmacy students
• Awards and scholarships for graduate students in Pharmacy
• International Doctoral Student Award (IDSA)
• International Master’s Award of Excellence (IMAE)