FAQs

Due to Canada’s privacy legislation, we are unable to connect with you with an enrolled student. We will forward your request to the Admissions Chair. Once you become a student yourself, you could also get in touch with your student association to ask student-oriented questions. 

Planners are agents of positive change in the world. We:

• Protect and improve cities and communities
• Listen to and believe diverse peoples about what they need to thrive
• Bring knowledge from all over the sciences and humanities about how to solve today's biggest challenges
• Partner with people affected by injustice to transform tomorrow and leave no one behind

We tackle some of the biggest challenges facing us today, including:

• Climate change's effects on regions and communities
• The housing crisis
• Inequality and injustice
• Repairing Indigenous injustice and relationships
• Helping communities prevent or persevere through disasters

Planners are part of governments, grassroots movements, local community and neighbourhood groups, health authorities, transit authorities, and so much more of what makes cities, regions, and communities thrive. 

No! Planners come from dozens of academic backgrounds, which is one of its strengths!

For example, here are the backgrounds of MCRP students from recent years:

So many. Everyone needs planners. It’s a newsworthy problem that there’s a shortage of us. City halls, health authorities, transport authorities, community leaders, councils, committees, they love planners.

• Write a great statement of intent. It really helps to be passionate about communities, and it really helps if you’ve gotten involved in your community or community work, whether as a job, as a volunteer, or any other capacity. 
• Be sure your referees will write a strong letter of recommendation: The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at UBC has a guide available to supervisors to assist them in writing strong letters of recommendation. Use this document as a guide to select your referees and to prepare them for writing a letter on your behalf. Strong letters of reference should provide specific examples of your demonstrated abilities.
  Write a strong statement of intent. The MCRP admission page outlines the points to be included in your statement. Prepare your statement carefully.
• Consider volunteering or finding a job shadow. If you don’t have a lot of experience in the planning profession, consider volunteering with an organization or arrange a job shadow to get better insight. Use this experience to inform your statement of intent and include it on your resume.
• If your GPA is close to the minimum, consider writing the GRE. Although the GRE is not required, if there are any obvious gaps in your academic record, it will provide the admissions committee with another data point to consider your academic potential.  

The waitlist is not linear, but comprised of a pool of applicants. There are a number of factors that determine whether a waitlisted applicant will be offered admission. As a result, we are unable to comment on the likelihood waitlisted applicants will be offered admission.

We will notify all waitlisted applicants when the waitlist is closed and we are no longer considering making additional offers of admission.

Accept your offer through the admissions portal. Contact grad.scarp@ubc.ca if you have any questions about the deadline to respond or conditions placed on your offer.

Official acceptance letters (for records, study permits, etc.) are available through the application portal.

Acceptable GRE scores are within the discretion of the MCRP Admissions Committee. 

No. Acceptance letters are available through the application portal.

This information cannot be disclosed publicly. However, our Master's and PhD students come in a wide variety of age groups and places in their journey.

Applicants are only invited to submit references after their application has been submitted. If you're still undertaking your application, you will not yet be able to submit your references (which will number exactly 2).

To simplify your process and ours, we have discontinued the "Expression of Interest" / "pre-application" step. However, well before application, it is essential that you reach out to prospective research faculty you may be interested in working with. 

No. SCARP does not provide individualized feedback on applications. If you wish to strengthen your application to apply in a future year, please follow the guidance provided on this page in the "How can I enhance my application?" question.

SCARP adheres to the minimum academic requirements established by the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. For more information, select from the below whichever applies:

• I received my undergraduate degree from a post-secondary institution in Canada or the United States
• I received my undergraduate degree from a post-secondary institution outside of Canada and the United States

SCARP welcomes all candidates that would succeed in and contribute to the program and the School. Generally, a brief explanation of why your application does not meet the minimum standards will justify to the admissions committee why they should consider your application. The admissions committee considers all applications as a whole, and does not automatically dismiss applications based on single criteria.

Applicants should note that admission to the MCRP is very competitive. Each year the number of applicants far exceeds the number of spaces available. Meeting the minimum standards of admission does not guarantee admission to the program.

The GRE is only recommended in situations where an applicant’s GPA is close to the minimum and does not reflect the applicant’s true academic potential. If there are any obvious gaps in an applicant’s academic record, a strong GRE score will provide the admissions committee with another data point to consider academic ability.

Generally, SCARP notifies successful candidates in mid-March, and throughout the month. All applicants are notified of their standing (declined admission or placement on the waitlist) in April.

Due to the volume of applications and application materials received, the School of Community and Regional Planning is unable to confirm receipt of documents by email or phone. Please check your online application regularly for updates.

You can submit updated documents before each document's deadline. In fairness to all applicants, changes in these documents will not be accepted after that document's deadline.

UBC G+PS has determined that applications come with exactly 2 references. Out of fairness to all applicants, we can't accept more than that.

There will be times when, due to shifts in availability, the courses you’ll register for will take time to have a finalised schedule. The UBC Scheduling process requires units to upload draft course timetables before January of each year, even though they're often subject to unavoidable changes. While some courses have still not been finalised for enrollment, they soon will be.

This timeline will pose no hazard to students: 

• Students are auto-enrolled in those courses that are mandatory for their program
• Students in a SCARP program have first priority over enrolment into SCARP courses
• The course timetable will be finalised and relayed to students far in advance of the term.

Each award listed on our website estimates when applications open. Each year award launches are unique with slight variation in scheduling, and we will quickly relay these launches via email and in some cases our News feed.

• Awards and other funding opportunities open to SCARP students are posted on the Awards webpage of the SCARP website.
• The UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral studies maintains a database of award opportunities open to UBC graduate students.
  International students are encouraged to seek funding opportunities from their home countries."

The billing schedule for MCRP is unrelated to its term schedule. You will be billed in 6 installments for the whole program over 24 months, even if you complete your program early.

Remember, once you graduate you’re no longer a “student”. Because of this, if you are receiving financial assistance from UBC, and you finish early, you will not have student status during your 6th installment and will not be able to access awards or loans to pay it.
 

No. The MCRP is a 24 consecutive month full-time in-person program., so join us when you’re able!

No, you’ll just have to have completed all requirements before starting the PhD program.