How to apply
Admissions
Admission to the MA or PhD program in Political Science is on a competitive basis. Only the best candidates can expect to be offered places.
The graduate faculty have specific research interests and are better able to supervise students in some fields rather than others. Applicants should give careful consideration to the research interests of faculty before applying, and take note of leaves of absence that may affect the availability of possible supervisors. The Department can support most forms of research at the Master's level, but it will only accept PhD students in particular fields, as indicated above.
All applicants must satisfy the basic requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. (See the faculty's admissions brochure and application instructions). In addition, applicants must satisfy the particular requirements of the Department of Political Science, which are more stringent than those of the Faculty itself. Students accepted into the program standardly have an average of at least A- (7.0). The top applicants usually have an average of A (8.0) or better. On rare occasions, a student with an average of B+ (6.5), but no lower, may be considered if there are good reasons. An A- (7.0) average on work at the Master's level is the minimum for applicants to the PhD program. Click here for application instructions.
Application procedures and deadlines
To receive fullest consideration, and to be considered for fellowships and assistantships, completed applications for admission into the MA of PhD program (including references, transcript, etc) must be received at the University's Graduate Admissions Office on or before January 15th. Students who apply before this date should receive notice of the Department's decision by April. The Department will continue to accept applications until its final deadline of May 15th. However, there is no guarantee that spaces will still be available at that late date. International students should submit their applications as early as possible, to allow time for the processing of documents. The deadline for international applicants is December 15th.
In addition to the documents required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, applicants must submit a Statement of Intent and a writing sample in English. Applicants for admission whose first language is not English and who have resided in Canada or other English-speaking countries for less than three consecutive years immediately prior to the session applied for, must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and achieve a minimum score of 600 (paper test).
Submit to Uvic Graduate Admissions and Records:
Please choose only one of the two methods for submitting all documentation -- not both.
Electronically to: all in digital form as a PDF |
By mail to: |
NOTE:
All documents should be enclosed in one complete package.
Please DO NOT send your application documents to the department.
Master of Arts program
The department welcomes applications from graduates (or prospective graduates) of four-year Honours or Majors programs in political science. (A three-year Honours degree from a British university may be considered equivalent, but a three-year General degree from a Canadian university will not.) At the University of Victoria, a student with a Major in political science will have completed the equivalent of at least seven full-year courses in political science, of which five will be at the third or fourth year level. (Most UVic courses are actually half-year [one term] courses, so the student will actually have completed four one-term political science courses at the first or second year level and ten one-term political science courses at the third or fourth year level.) A student with an Honours degree in political science will have completed two additional one-term courses at the third or fourth year level (or one full-year course), plus an Honours Paper that is credited as the equivalent of another two courses at that level. Requirements for a Majors or Honours degree in political science vary from university to university, but applicants should be aware that their own qualifications will be assessed with University of Victoria standards and requirements in mind.
Students accepted into the program standardly have an average of at least A- (7.0). The top applicants usually have an average of A (8.0) or better. On rare occasions, a student with an average B+ (6.5), but no lower, may be considered if there are good reasons. Applicants must also have strong letters of reference from two of their undergraduate professors. Assessment Forms can be downloaded here. The department requires a Statement of Intent from all applicants. An otherwise well-qualified applicant may be rejected if his or her Statement of Intent reveals an inadequate grasp of the discipline, poor writing or analytic skills, a lack of focus for graduate research, or research interests that cannot be well supported in this Department.
An applicant with a degree in a related subject may be considered for admission if he or she has an excellent academic record, strong references, and a clear commitment to a research subject within political science. An applicant in this category will only be offered admission to the MA program on specified conditions, which may involve up to a year's make-up work in political science at the undergraduate level. Applicants without political science degrees are advised to complete as many senior political science courses in as many different areas of the discipline as possible, prior to making application to the department. The Admissions Committee expects to see grades of A- or better in political science make-up courses.
Doctor of Philosophy program
The Department will accept applications for its PhD program from students with research interests: Canadian politics, contemporary political theory, transnational politics and global political economy, democratic constitutionalism, comparative public policy and governance, or cultural, social and political thought.
To be admitted to the Ph.D program in the Department of Political Science, normally a student will have completed a Masters degree (or equivalent) in Political Science from a recognized academic institution and attained a minimum grade of A- in all political science graduate courses, have good letters of reference, present a clear statement of research interests and submit an example of scholarly work. All applications will be reviewed by the Departmental Graduate Committee (chaired by the graduate advisor). Requests for transfer from students admitted to UVIC's MA program, to the doctoral program will be considered by the Department under Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations.
Upcoming Political Science Events
- View all events on the UVic Political Science calendar