MCRP Admissions FAQs

No. The students admitted to the MCRP program come from a variety of backgrounds. It’s not necessary to have a background in Planning or any particular field to be considered for the program.
For example, here are the backgrounds of MCRP students from recent years:

No. The MCRP is a 24 consecutive month full-time program.

No. SCARP does not offer any distance education or online courses.

Applications for the MCRP open November 1 and close January 15 of every year.

The ways to enhance your application are several and interrelated:

• 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.  

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 above in the "How can I enhance my application?" section.

SCARP has limited funding for students entering the MCRP.

SCARP offers a total of $30,000 in funding to be divided among several eligible students entering the first year of the MCRP Program. The MCRP Entrance Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship and is available to international and domestic students. Students do not apply for the MCRP award, recipients are notified with their admission letter. 

Award and other funding opportunities open to SCARP students are posted on the Student Funding and Awards page 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.

SCARP adheres to the minimum academic requirements established by the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies:

• If you received your undergraduate degree from a post-secondary institution in Canada or the United States, click here.
• If you received your undergraduate degree from a post-secondary institution outside of Canada or the United States, click here.

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.

SCARP is obliged to require that all applicants meet the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ English proficiency requirements.

SCARP has higher requirements than the UBC minimums for its degree programs. Although an application would not be rejected outright, not meeting the posted minimums for the IELTS or the TOEFL does place an applicant at a disadvantage. We encourage students who do not meet SCARP’s minimum English proficiency scores to retake the test where possible.

SCARP welcomes all candidates that would succeed in and contribute to the program and the School. The admissions committee considers all applications as a whole and does not automatically dismiss applications based on single criteria.

In fairness to all applicants, CV/resume changes will not be accepted after the document deadline in the application.

Before the reference deadline, you can change your reference via the application portal; after the reference deadline, you cannot change your reference.

In fairness to all applicants, we will only accept 3 letters of reference for an application.

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.

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.

No. Acceptance letters are available through the application portal.

SCARP notifies entrance award recipients with their acceptance letters. If funding becomes available, SCARP will notify successful candidates by email.