¶¡ÏãÔ°AVs
Eligibility
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV to the Statistics or Actuarial Science M.Sc. program
For admission to the Statistics or Actuarial Science M.Sc. program, the normal minimum requirements are
- a Bachelor's degree
- a CGPA of at least 3.0
- letters from referees attesting to the ability of the applicant to undertake advanced quantitative work.
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV to the Statistics Ph.D. program
For admission to the Statistics Ph.D. program, the normal minimum requirements are
- A Master's degree
- A CGPA of at least 3.5
- Letters from referees attesting to the ability of the applicant to undertake substantial original research.
If you are interested in basing your thesis on actuarial science problems, please contact Dr. Cary Tsai (cltsai at sfu.ca).
If you are currently working towards an M.Sc. in Statistics or Actuarial Science at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV, you may be permitted to transfer to the Ph.D. program in Statistics before completion of your M.Sc. Please contact the Graduate Chair for further information.
English language requirements
- In general, applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores as evidence of their proficiency in English.
- The department adheres to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV's English-language requirements for graduate program admission. Applicants not meeting the minimum standard will not be considered.
General ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV requirements
- Unless specificed below, our department adheres to the general requirements for admission to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV specified in the .
- Should you have any further inquiries, we kindly encourage you to consult our FAQ page before contacting the graduate program assistant
Application Overview
All applications are submitted online through our . For additional information on the application process, please see this page. Should you have any further inquiries regarding the admissions process, we kindly encourage you to consult our FAQ page before contacting the graduate program assistant.
Our admissions cycle for Fall 2024 has closed. Applications for Fall 2025 will open in October 1st, 2024.
The following deadlines are for admission to the next fall semester (September 2025):
Application period opens: | October 1st, 2024 |
Application period closes: | January 20th, 2025 |
Application details
- In order to use the online application system, you will need to pay the non-refundable application fee of $90 CAN (students with Canadian transcripts) or $125 CAN (students with international transcripts) by credit card (MasterCard or Visa). If you are unable to pay the application fee by credit card, see for alternative payment methods.
- We have a single admission cycle per year. By early January, students apply for admission in the following September. We aim to make our first offers of admission 4 - 5 weeks after the references deadline, and most unsuccessful applicants will be notified shortly afterwards.
- Prospective applicants are not required to find a supervisor before applying. Admitted applicants will be assigned a supervisor. Student-supervisor pairings can be rearranged later by mutual agreement and with the approval of the graduate committee.
- GRE test results are neither required nor considered.
- The department does not accept , or into the graduate program, nor does it offer a post-bachelor diploma or certificate; however, it does offer second undergraduate degrees. Please contact the Statistics and Actuarial Science Advisor for further details about a second undergraduate degree in Statistics, Actuarial Science, or Data Science.
- To increase your chances of admission to an M.Sc. program, you may wish to complete advanced coursework for undergraduate majors in Statistics or Actuarial Science. Such coursework can help you to meet admission GPA requirements and to establish a solid background in your field of interest. For further details, please contact the Statistics and Actuarial Science Advisor.
Supporting documents
- You should include the following in your online application:
- Three letters of reference, at least two of which should be from persons familiar with the applicant's academic achievements
- Unofficial transcript(s) NOT official transcript(s) (see note below)
- A resume or curriculum vitae (optional)
- A statement of aims, outlining particular areas of interest within the proposed field of study
- Students could include (but not limited to) the following in the statement of aims:
- Introduce yourself and your academic interests.
- Why you are pursuing a MSc or PhD?
- Why you are interested in Statistics/Actuarial Science?
- How you have prepared yourself academically for the graduate study in Statistics/Actuarial Science?
- Your future career goals and how our program will help you achieve them.
- Once your application is submitted, an automatic email will be sent to your referees with complete instructions for submitting their letters of reference. (They will submit their letters directly. )
- You should upload unofficial transcripts and other required documents to the online application.
- If applicable, you should arrange for your language test scores to be sent directly from the test agency. Request electronic submission to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV (institution code 0999). More detailed instructions are available here.
- Official transcripts are required only after an offer has been made. If offered a position, after completion of your current degree, please arrange for one copy of each official transcript from your post-secondary institution(s) to be sent directly to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Graduate Studies.
- Please do not mail hard copies to the department (unofficial/official transcripts, cv, references, unofficial language test scores).
International students
International students should be aware of the following additional requirements, fees, and resources:
- International students are subject to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV's international academic requirements.
- Applicants whose primary language is not English must, in general, complete an English language test (e.g., TOEFL or IELTS). You may, however, be exempt if you obtained a degree from an English language institution in a primarily English speaking country.
- Understand fees and cost of living before moving to Canada.
- You and your family must have adequate while living in Canada.
- Student Services offers resources via .
- Before you arrive, be sure that you have the correct .
Further information
- For further information about the admissions process, please contact the Graduate Program Assistant (statgrad at sfu.ca).
- Before reaching out with your question, kindly take a moment to go through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This will help you find answers more quickly.
- If you are offered admission to the program, please consider these questions to ask your prospective supervisor before accepting your offer.