Depending upon your country of citizenship, it can take a very long time to get a student visa after you receive an offer of admission – up to six months in some cases. It is recommended that you apply as early as possible before the start date of your program to ensure enough time for visa processing.
Transcripts
All university transcripts need to be original official documents provided to you in sealed envelopes or sent directly to Acadia from the issuing institutions.
If it is not possible for the institution to produce another official transcript, they may make a copy of the original transcript and have them certify that the document is an accurate copy. The certified copy should then be provided to you in a sealed envelope or sent directly to Acadia from the issuing institution.
If your transcript must be translated into English and your institution does not provide translated documents, your transcript can be translated elsewhere and then brought back to your institution to be certified as an accurate copy.
The certified translated copy should then be provided to you in a sealed envelope or sent directly to Acadia from the issuing institution.
In rare cases where a University will not provide a certified copy of a transcript, the Ministry of Education / Office of the Judiciary in that Country can certify the authenticity of the transcript. It would need to be submitted to Acadia in their official, sealed, stamped, envelope to be accepted.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- We do not accept notarized documents.
- We do not accept transcripts by email.
- We do not accept WES Evaluation Reports/Verification of Transcripts — Acadia does their own assessment of the official application documents.
- We do not require transcripts for your 10th or 12th year — only the official transcripts after grade 12 and onward are required.
To view a list of minimum GPA admission requirements for specific International countries (A-Z) click here.
West African Examination Council (WAEC) Requirement
Applicants from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia or Liberia need to provide their official WAEC results. Nigerian students who have done the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams instead of WAEC will also be sufficient. Students can obtain a scratch card and send Acadia their examination number, examination year, the type of examination (or month), the card serial number and PIN. Acadia will then access the official results. We require at least five results with a grade of 5 or better, including the grade for “English Language” or “English Literature”. We do not accept grades of 6 or higher for admission. Please email the scratch card info to gradadmissions@acadiau.ca
We do not accept WAEC/NECO results directly from the applicant.
English Proficiency Requirement
Since English is the language of instruction at Acadia University, candidates must be able to communicate competently in English both orally and in writing, and students whose first language is not English may be required to present the result of the TOEFL, IELTS, or CAEL.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are cases in which an applicant may have studied in English but it is not at the standard of Acadia University. In these cases, an applicant will be required to submit a English proficiency score.
Acadia’s minimum graduate studies requirements are as follows:
- IELTS (Academic ONLY!) – 6.5 overall with no subtest score below 6.0
- TOEFL – 93 IBT with no subtest score below 20
- CAEL – 70 overall with no subtest score below 60
- PTE Academic – 61 with no subtest score below 60
Only English test scores sent directly from the Educational Testing Service to Acadia will be accepted. Acadia’s number for submission is 0901.
Working on/off-campus while being a student
International students are permitted to work on/off-campus while registered as a student. For further details, please see:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work.asp
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- We require a copy of page 1 and 2 of your passport at the time of application. These pages can be emailed to gradadmissions@acadiau.ca
- As an international student contemplating graduate studies at Acadia University, you should be able to guarantee annual funding of $26,000 before you proceed with a student visa application.
- The Halifax International Airport is 100 kilometres from the Acadia campus. This should be the final destination to which overseas flights are booked.
- Once you have accepted your offer of admission, you should make contact with our. International Student Advisor in the Wong International Centre. Please email: international@acadiau.ca. An orientation program for new international students is held in late August or early September.