Application Process
Applications to our graduate programs are made to the Faculty of Graduate Studies & Research. All your admission questions can be answered in the Future Students grad page. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact the Faculty of Grad Studies & Research at grad.science@uregina.ca. The Department of Computer Science only gets involved after the applications are complete and are ready for review.
It is not possible to give you any feedback about the probability of success of your application before you actually submit a complete application package including transcripts, confidential letters of recommendation, letter of intent, and English language proficiency. All application materials must be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR).
For more information, please contact our Graduate Coordinator.
As you prepare for your application, it would be helpful if you consider the following questions, and provide answers to these within your application:
- What area of specialization are you interested in?
- Why would you like to apply to the U of R? How do you know of our program? Did someone recommend us to you?
- What is your background?
- Are you in contact with any faculty members here?
Any information you can provide may help us choose you from among the hundreds of requests we get for application packages. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the Associate Head (Graduate).
Admission Requirements
MSc Program
For admission to the M.Sc. program in Computer Science, we ordinarily require a four year Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. For students with a degree in another discipline, we still require an equivalent B.Sc degree in Computer Science, with the equivalent of 10 CS 300- or 400-level courses from our offered Courses. The 10 CS courses should include at least one computing theory course, two software courses, two systems courses, and two applications courses. In both cases, an overall average of at least 70% and a CS average of 75% is required. Note that due to high demand, meeting the minimum requirements is often not sufficient to gain admission to our graduate programs.
PhD Program
An M.Sc. in Computer Science is required for admission to the Ph.D. program.
In addition to the academic requirements noted above, if you wish to pursue a Ph.D., M.Sc. Thesis, or M.Sc. Project degree, you must find a potential supervisor within our department who is accepting new graduate students. It is important that you meet the academic requirements for admission and make a strong case for how your research interests align with those of a potential supervisor.
We encourage you to visit our department's Research page to determine if any of our faculty are doing research in an area that you are interested in. If some faculty members do match your interests, then we encourage you to email them and briefly introduce yourself. Provide a short summary of your academic credentials and what you are interested in studying, and ask if they are accepting new graduate students. Potential graduate students who are visiting or studying at the University of Regina are encouraged to consult in person with potential supervisors. Appointments can be made directly with faculty members or by contacting the Department Administration Staff. This should be done before submitting the complete application.
Note that M.Sc. in Computer Science (Data Science or Human-Centred Computing) applicants do not need to contact a supervisor in advance, since successful applicants will be assigned a supervisor upon admission (normally, the Graduate Coordinator).
Potential graduate students should work through the application process described at Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.
International students who have already been accepted to the U of R should visit UR International, the international student support office. UR International will assist you from the moment you get off the plane, to showing you around the campus, to connecting you with the right faculty, professors, and fellow international and Canadian students so that you can feel comfortable and confident as soon as possible! UR International will also answer any questions you may have, such as: Where is the closest grocery store? How do I register for my classes? What do Canadian professors expect from students? How do I renew my Canadian study permit (and other important immigration questions). Whatever question or concern, UR International will give you the resources to reach your goals.
World Education Services
We require that International students have their transcripts verified by WES (World Education Services) prior to applying, and that the WES report be submitted as supporting documentation for the application. Any applications with grades below a B-level will automatically be rejected.
International students may view the FGSR's Eligibility Requirements page for information. The WES iGPA Calculator is also useful in ensuring your completed degree program meets the entry standards for U of R graduate programs. The equivalent score to 70% at the U of R is 2.67 out of 4.00 as per the WES calculator
GRE
Note that while the application form provides the following instructions regarding a GRE: "international students are encouraged to submit the results of a GRE, especially the score for the subject test in the discipline being sought", a GRE is not required for Computer Science.
English Proficiency
All international applicants must submit proof of English proficiency in the form of an approved test score, sent directly from the testing service to the office of the FGSR. The complete list of approved tests (and minimum scores) is found on the application. For paper-based TOEFL, a minimum of 580 is required. For IELTS, a minimum score of 6.5 is required. You may be exempt from these tests of English proficiency if the school from which you received your degree taught its courses in English. More details are provided in the FGSR's Eligibility Requirements page
For students whose regular language of instruction is not English, please see the FGSR website for information on English language requirements.
Deadlines
Potential students must submit their application and all supporting documentation prior to the following application deadlines:
- February 15 for the following Fall semester (*)This program accepts one cohort of students each year, beginning in the Fall semester. The application deadline for this program is February 15. If the application deadline is missed or if an accepted student is not able to start in the Fall semester, they will need to wait until the next year and join the next cohort of students.
- June 15 for the following Winter semester (**) This program will be run with one cohort of students each year. The application deadline for this program is June 15, for admissions in the Winter semester. There will be no admissions in the other semesters. If the application deadline is missed or if an accepted student is not able to start in the Winter semester, they will need to wait until the next year and join the next cohort of students.
- October 15 for the following Spring/Summer semester
We will accept applications to the Ph.D., M.Sc. thesis-route, and M.Sc. project-route programs in each of these three admissions cycles. * For the M.Sc. in Computer Science (Data Science) program, we will only accept applications for the Fall semester (February 15 deadline). ** For the M.Sc. in Computer Science (Human-Centred Computing) program, we will only accept applications for the Winter semester (June 15 deadline).
After these deadlines have passed, all complete applications will be compiled by FGSR and made available for review by the Graduate Committee in the Department of Computer Science. We receive a very large number of applications for each admissions cycle; the review process may take up to two months. For Ph.D., M.Sc. thesis-route, and M.Sc. project-route applicants, if your application is deemed acceptable, the clarity with which you state your research interests will help us to determine if your work on those interests can be supervised by a faculty member in the department. For M.Sc. in Computer Science (Data Science and Human-Centred Computing) applicants, your prior academic performance and qualifications will be important factors we will consider. If these conditions can be satisfied, you will be admitted into a large and thriving student population that can support you during your studies and enrich your time at the University of Regina, whether you come from Saskatchewan, Canada, or somewhere abroad.