Graduate Admission
The minimum requirements for admittance to the Master's program are an undergraduate degree with a major in Computing Science or equivalent, and a high upper-second class standing.
Candidates with high academic standing in an undergraduate degree other than computer science, who have some computer science background either academic or professional, may be admitted as graduate preparatory students. Preparatory students will be asked to complete up to one year of undergraduate courses to enhance their background.
In addition to academic performance, a combination of factors is taken into consideration in assessing the eligibility of a candidate for admission into graduate programs.
One important such a factor is the availability of a faculty member competent and willing to supervise the academic program of studies and research of the candidate; a candidate will not be admitted to the program under any circumstance unless such a faculty member exists.
Other factors include the performance of the candidate and the assessment provided by his/her referees as a measure of the likelihood that the candidate can successfully complete the course of studies and research.
Application procedure
Note that our admission procedure has changed. You now have two options:
- New! You can preapply by completely filling in the departmental form. You will receive a fairly accurate evaluation, which in most cases indicate that an official application will be successful. Preapplications are free of charge. You will eventually need to go to the Bishop's on-line application system to fill in an official application before being granted admission.
- Alternatively, you can go directly to the Bishop's on-line application system and submit an official application (a fee of $60 applies). You will be directed between other things to the departmental form to complete your application by supplying references and research data.
We accept applications throughout the year, and we will offer admission to successful applicants as early as possible. This being said, please submit your official application (through Admissions) by 1 March to guarantee processing for September registration and by 1 October to guarantee processing for January registration. International students in particular are advised to submit their application 7 months in advance of the intended starting date of their program given that the visa process takes supplementary time.
Beside the requirements above, unless you have at least one year of university studies in English we require proof of proficiency in English, such as a TOEFL score. We expect in principle a minimum TOEFL score of 580 (paper based), 237 (computer based), or 92 (Internet based). We take into consideration other standardized tests of English proficiency, including IELTS (for which we expect a score of 6.5 or better). In the absence of proof of English proficiency or should your score be insufficient you may be denied admission or may be required to take English language courses upon arrival at Bishop's.
The GRE test is not required, but will be taken into consideration (especially if your undergraduate degree has been obtained outside North America). Provide your GRE scores as available.
Contact information (administrative)
Further inquiries should be directed to:
Stefan D. Bruda
Graduate Coordinator
Department of Computer Science
Bishop's University
2600 College St
Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7
Canada
msc-admissions@cs.ubishops.ca
