Admissions & finance

Requirements

• Three or four-year Bachelor's degree with a B+ average, or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution*.
• Mail transcripts, degree certificates and translations
  Applicants who have completed their degrees at UBC will not need to send transcripts in.

 *Three-year degrees are accepted for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. If your country or region is not listed here, email us for clarification. 

Applicants who have previously completed an MBA program will not be able to apply to the UBC MBA. For further inquiries, please email us before starting an application.

Supporting documents

Please note that all required supporting documents (including unofficial transcripts and degree certificates, as well as official test scores and references) must be submitted within 2 weeks after the application deadline.

Official transcripts

Official transcripts must be arranged to be sent to

Robert H. Lee Graduate School
UBC Sauder School of Business
137-2053 Main Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z2
CANADA

If your university does not produce more official copies of your transcript, photocopy your transcript, and have the university stamp it with the official stamp. Mail it in a sealed, endorse envelope, with the Registrar’s signature or University stamp across the seal.

To expedite the admissions process, students can scan and upload their unofficial documents for evaluation by the supporting documents deadline. However, official documentation will be required for final admission and it must be received by the official document deadline of November 16, 2022.

All applicants who apply prior to the first deadline of April 25, 2022 must submit their official documents by June 30, 2022 to be considered for the early entrance scholarship.

If you have applied to our programs within the last two years, it is not necessary to submit new letters of reference and new transcripts unless you have undertaken further academic studies, as we retain all documentation for a two-year period.

Learn more about submitting official documents

Requirements

Either one of the following:

• 550 GMAT with at least a 50th percentile in the quantitative and verbal sections of the test
• 155 GRE score on both the verbal and quantitative sections.

For a competitive edge

650 GMAT OR 320+ GRE score on combined verbal and quantitative section.

About GMAT/ GRE SCORES

Students must arrange to have your scores (either GMAT or GRE) sent to us directly from the testing service organization, using the following codes.

GMAT: LQS-CP-02
GRE: 0965 (UBC) or 4201 (Department)

Scores are only accepted within the last five years. They are not considered official until you receive them from the GMAC or GRE office.

Waiver Eligibility (January 2023 Entry)

To request a GMAT/GRE waiver, applications must be submitted in full including all supporting documents (unofficial documents uploaded to your account) by October 5, 2022. Important note: Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis, and applications submitted later in the cycle may be in a waitlist as we have limited spots for the PMBA program.

To be eligible, applicants are required to submit a statement of qualification* and meet one or more of the following requirements: 

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce or Business Administration with a minimum academic average of B+ or equivalent; or
• A Bachelor or Master of Engineering degree (any major) with a minimum academic average of B+ or equivalent; or
• A Bachelor or Master of Science in Mathematics, Statistics, Computational Sciences with a minimum academic average of B+ or equivalent; or
• A Medical Doctor degree / Physician; or
• A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree; or
• CFA Level III Completed

*Statement of Qualification: In one page, detail how you meet the requirements to be granted a GMAT/GRE waiver and will meet the quantitative and non-quantitative academic expectations of the PMBA. The document should be in Word or PDF format and uploaded to the documents section of your application. The statement of qualification also has to be submitted in our portal, no later than October 5, 2022.

Additional Notes: 

• If an applicant has two or more degrees, at least one degree must meet the minimum academic average requirement listed above.
• CPA certificates will not be considered.
• LSAT certificates will not be considered.   
• No expired GMAT / GRE scores will be accepted.
• For academic average equivalency per country, please click here. 

While completing your application form, under the Official Standardized Tests session, please fill in the following if you are requesting a GMAT/GRE waiver:

• Test taken: GMAT
• Date to be written: 12/31/2022

Please note that a GMAT/GRE waiver is not guaranteed as we will review each applicant's eligibility individually on a case-by-case basis. If a waiver cannot be granted, applicants will receive a notification that a GMAT or GRE test will be required for their application to move forward. Kindly note that all supporting documents including test scores (if applicable) are required to be received by UBC Sauder before the document deadline.

Requirements

Applicants must be able to speak, comprehend, and write fluently in English. An English proficiency exam is required for all applicants whose degrees are from a university outside Canada or the U.S.A. in which English was not the official language of instruction.

At the latest, scores will take up to 6 weeks – ensure you provide yourself with ample time from the deadline to write the test. You must arrange to have your scores sent to us directly from the testing service organization. 

During COVID-19, students may demonstrate proficiency by submitting scores from IELTS (the International English Language Testing System) and their IELTS Indicator test.

Either one of the following:

• Test of English as a Foreign language (TOEFL) or TOEFL Home Edition: 100, Print: 600, Computer: 250. Test Code: 0965
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) / IELTS Indicator* - Academic: 7.0 overall band
• Person Test of English (PTE) - Academic: 70
• Canadian Academic English Language Test (CAEL): 70 overall band
• Online Canadian Academic English Language Test^ (CAEL Online): 70 overall band

TOEFL offers computer, internet & paper-based tests, all of which are acceptable. Scores arrive 3-6 weeks after test is taken. Scores valid if written within last two years. We accept all valid TOEFL scores, including MyBestScore. If you are submitting MyBestScore, the score needs to be on the official report. 
Read more

TOEFL Home Edition:  This option is available for students who are unable to take the TOEFL iBT test at a test center due to public health concerns. The test is offered everywhere that TOEFL iBT testing is normally available, except Mainland China and Iran. Read more

IELTS: Admission based on Academic Reading & Writing modules, not General Training. Scores arrive 3 weeks after test is taken. Scores valid if written within last two years.Read more

*IELTS Indicator: Our institution requires an overall IELTS Indicator band score of 7.0 and no IELTS Indicator score lower than 7.0. Our institution name is UBC Sauder School of Business. Read more

PTE Academic: Admission based on Academic test only. Scores valid if written within last two years. Forward results to us at pmba@sauder.ubc.ca. Read more

^CAEL Online: The minimum overall band score (70 overall band) accepted by us will be the same as the CAEL CE test format.  Read more

Requirements

Minimum two years of full-time work experience gained after graduation from your Bachelor’s degree.

For a competitive edge

• 5+ years of full-time work experience.
• Two references are required for all UBC MBA applicants. You will provide us with their email addresses through the application, and we will contact them by email. 
• Professional references are preferred, and must fill out the reference form online. Separate letters are not accepted.

*If you have applied to our programs within the last two years, it is not necessary to submit new letters of reference and new transcripts unless you have undertaken further academic studies, as we retain all documentation for a two-year period.

We assess your managerial and leadership potential, maturity, ambition and drive, through your Essay Questions, resume, professional references and interview.

The fast pace of the UBC MBA program necessitates that all students have a foundational proficiency in Quantitative Methods and familiarity with Statistics and Economics. To aid in ensuring that you have adequate knowledge in the above subjects, as well as relevant skills in Microsoft Excel and professional writing, a variety of online tutorials and resources to review has been compiled for admitted students.