After you apply

1. After the application is received by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS)

Once a graduate application is received, copies of all documents are immediately made and sent to the academic unit for consideration. A letter is then sent to you, the applicant, acknowledging receipt of your application and advising you of the opportunity to check your status online.

Each academic unit has its own method of assessing applications. For graduate programs with application deadlines, it is normal for applications not to be considered until those deadlines have passed. Programs that have a rolling admission policy may act on applications as they are received. Some research programs will require you to identify a supervisor and will not recommend admission without a supervisor in place. Some programs may reach decisions on incomplete applications, while others will not evaluate a file without all required documents submitted. For more details, you are advised to contact the academic unit responsible for the program you have applied to.

2. Checking your application status

Applicants who have submitted web applications may check their status by going back to the Web Application site and signing in under the previously selected login ID and PIN used to create your web application. Current or former Memorial students who applied online through Self-Service may check their status. Already applied via the web? Check the status of your application now. Applicants who mailed in their application packages will not have access to online status updates. You will be notified of any changes to your application status by letter from SGS. Normally, decisions are reached 1-2 months after a deadline has passed, but this may vary from program to program. Please note that if your application has been deferred at your request, you will not receive written notification of this.

3. Deferring or withdrawing your application

Upon submitting your application, you may defer it to another semester as long as a decision has not been made by the academic unit. You may consider deferring your application if you will not be able to commence graduate studies in the semester you applied for. If you wish to consider this option, you are advised to first consult the academic unit to which you applied to ensure your application may still be considered to the semester being deferred to. All requests for deferrals should be made to SGS.

If at any time you wish to withdraw your application from consideration, you may make the request to withdraw by contacting SGS. Please note that application fees cannot be refunded for withdrawn applications.

4. After a recommendation for admission

Once an academic unit has made a decision on an application file, a formal recommendation is sent to SGS. Files of applicants recommended for admission will be reviewed by SGS to ensure University regulations are met. Applicants with complete files whose recommendations for admission are approved by SGS will be sent an admission package to their permanent mailing address as listed on their application form (unless a written request was made by the applicant to change this address). Admitted students are strongly encouraged to read and understand fully all regulations policies governing graduate students as noted in the University Calendar and SGS website. Students will also receive a Program of Study form which will include, among other information, their supervisory committee members, program courses, and value of funding package.

Fully admitted students will be asked to fully complete and return the Accept/Decline form to our office immediately. Some academic units may place a deadline for these Accept/Decline forms. You are advised to refer to your admission letter or contact the appropriate unit to determine if a deadline applies. Fully admitted students will be able to register for courses at the onset of each registration period. International students arriving with a study permit will be required to visit SGS upon arrival and submit their study permit prior to registration.

Applicants with incomplete files whose recommendations for admission are approved by SGS will be sent a conditional admission letter. Such conditions may include official transcripts, confirmation of degree, acceptable letters of appraisal, or official score reports for TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, etc. Conditionally admitted students are not able to register until all conditions of admission have been met. When submitting required documents in fulfillment of admission conditions to SGS, students are advised to note their full name and student number to ensure their documents are matched properly with their files.

5. Deferring your admission

If you receive full or conditional admission to a graduate program at Memorial but are unable to arrive or submit required documents in time for the start of the entry semester, you may wish to defer your admission to a later semester. All requests for deferrals must be made to and approved by the academic unit applied to. If approved, the academic unit will forward a revised Program of Study form to SGS, which will be sent with a deferred admission letter to the admitted student. Fully admitted students will be asked to complete and submit another Accept/Decline form to SGS for processing.

6. Admission to two concurrent programs and conditions for continuance

Applicants who apply for and receive admission to two graduate programs will be required to decline one offer of admission in writing to SGS. Applicants currently registered in a graduate program and will be asked to do one of the following by the commencement date of their new program: withdraw from their current program, complete their current program, or request the Dean (with a letter of support from all applicable academic unit heads) for permission to be registered in two programs at once.

In exceptional cases where students are approved to be registered in two programs concurrently, and completion of one program is a condition for admission to another (e.g., near completion of a master’s program and newly commencing a PhD program in the same field), their admission letters will require as a condition of continuance completion of the initial program by a set date. A condition of continuance may also apply for any applicant who, upon approval by the Dean with the recommendation of the appropriate academic unit, is granted full admission to a graduate program without meeting all normal admission requirements. In such cases, students will be required to provide required documentation by a prescribed date or be forced to withdraw from their graduate program.

7. After a recommendation for non-admission

Applicants who are not recommended for admission will receive a letter from SGS notifying them of their status as well as a Graduate Application Not Accepted for Admission form. This form will note the reason that the application was not accepted, which may include lack of supervisor, insufficient space, failure to meet academic requirements, late application, incomplete application, inappropriate references, and/or lack of prerequisites.

Near the bottom of the form, academic units will recommend that the file be closed or offer the applicant reconsideration for a later semester. Applicants receiving a reconsideration offer can accept this offer by contacting the appropriate person noted on the form within the given time period. This will automatically reopen their files for future consideration. Applicants not admitted whose files are recommended to be closed may request their applications be reconsidered by contacting the appropriate academic unit. Please note that SGS will not act on these files without prior approval from an academic unit. Applicants whose previous files are reopened may wish to submit additional documents (such as a current CV or transcript of courses taken after the initial application was submitted), and may do so by forwarding such documents to SGS directly. Applicants who wish to be considered for another graduate program outside of the academic unit initially applied to will have to submit a new application package and pay another application fee as per SGS policy.

Applicants not accepted for admission are encouraged to contact the academic unit responsible to consider means of strengthening their applications prior to reapplication. All non-admitted files are kept in SGS for a period of one year awaiting response from applicants and then destroyed. Those applicants with destroyed files are required to submit a new application and pay the required application fee.