Information for Newly Admitted Students

New Students to the Program:

Clearing a Conditional Offer of Admission

Upon completion of your current degree, please send us a copy of your official transcript which clearly states: “degree requirements completed/clear to graduate” or “degree conferred” in order to clear the conditional offer. (Only an official transcript can clear a conditional offer of admission--we cannot use copies of diplomas or certificates.) Please ensure that arrangements are made to have your transcript sent to the attention of the Institute’s Program Administrator as soon as final grades have been made available by the end of September.

Program Enrollment

Online program enrollment for graduate students begins in late July each year. It is important to note that a minimum of one course per term needs to be registered to complete the enrollment. A place holder course (SGS 700) can be registered for this purpose.

Course Registration

Beginning from the first day of program enrollment, students are able to add and drop courses until the end of September for Fall courses and until the end of January for Winter courses. For our course offerings, please check our Courses page. Students should be familiar with our program requirements before course registration.

Tuition Payment

The University no longer automatically deduct tuition and fees from student's scholarship and TAship payment. Students are responsible to make tuition payment by the due date. For further information, please check School of Graduate Studies' website.

Teaching Assistantships

TA course assignments are not made available until the first week of September. We will try to match you up with a course in the discipline of your undergraduate degree.

Housing

There are no Graduate Residences on campus. However, off-campus housing is affordable. The McMaster Off-Campus Housing Office's website is a great resource and has many rental listings as well as descriptions of various neighbourhoods. You may also wish to visit Graduate Student Life for more information about living and studying in Canada.

Transportation

Hamilton's bus system (HSR) is free for McMaster students from September to August (included in your student fees), which means you can live a bit farther from campus to save on rent. For more information on transit, please visit the Alternative Transportation (ACT) website.

Hamilton is bike friendly with bike lanes and routes that serve the main campus.

GO bus and train services operate nearly 40 trips a day between Toronto and McMaster campus. A schedule can be found here. A wallet-sized schedule can be picked up at the Compass Information Centre in the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) marketplace.

Transportation to and from other Ontario cities is provided by Coach Canada, Greyhound, Burlington Transit, and Via Rail.

Campus Visit

If you're planning to visit campus, we would be happy to meet with you and answer your questions. Just let us know when you'll be here, and if our faculty members are available, you can arrange to meet them as well.

Faculty of Social Sciences