Masters in Urban Design

Academic equivalent of a four-year bachelor’s degree

Copies of official transcripts submitted via the online application from ALL post-secondary institutions

A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications. In the online application system, applicants are asked to provide an email address for each referee. (Please note, that we are unable to accept e-mails from Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, MSN or other free e-mail accounts for referees.) A unique link will be emailed to each referee, allowing them to log in to a secure site and submit an online reference or upload a reference document as an attachment. We also accept references via Interfolio, a U.S. based electronic reference service. Interfolio references should be directed to graduate.sas@ubc.ca. The application system allows you to indicate whether a reference is academic or professional. The academic reference form is used in situations where the referee is someone who you have interacted with in an academic setting (e.g. referee was the professor of a course in which you were enrolled). The professional reference form is used in situations where the reference is someone who you have interacted with in a professional setting (e.g. referee was your supervisor at work).

SUPERVISION:- Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members. Applicants should browse faculty profiles and indicate in their application who they are interested in working with. No commitment from a supervisor prior to applying is necessary, but contacting faculty members is encouraged.

Your portfolio is submitted digitally in your online application. The PDF can be a maximum of 20 letter-sized (8.5″ x 11″) pages and must be under 10MB in size. Tip: Use 150 pixels-per-inch or even 72 ppi images, or try saving the file as a Reduced Size PDF (“Save as Other”) in Adobe Acrobat, to bring down the file size. The intent of your portfolio is to highlight your skills related to urban design. Include six examples of creative works that demonstrate aptitude, experience, and accomplishment. Instead of providing a collection of one type of work, include a variety. Creative works may include a wide range of types, including design work and planning projects, professional work and academic work. One example should be a written piece. Showing your creative process and ability to think critically will also provide context for your work. You should organize your portfolio into a clear, well-crafted document. The portfolio should have concise, descriptive text on each page to adequately explain the work. If working in collaboration with others or in a professional context, please clearly indicate your contribution to the submitted work.

Your CV should outline professional employment, experience, education, publications and awards which you feel should be taken into account in considering your application for admission and/or scholarships. Please ensure that you list the titles of research projects/graduation theses; if these are available online, please consider including HTML links.

Why does urban design matter in the world today? What drives you to study urban design? What has prepared you for this course of study? Where do you want it to take you? And why UBC? Please write a statement that answers these questions. The maximum length is 2 pages, double spaced.