Admission Requirements

Physics and Astronomy

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers graduate programs leading to MSc and PhD degrees in both disciplines. In considering Western, you are making an informed choice for your graduate experience. We believe our people, facilities and research opportunities are second to none.

We encourage applications from students with undergraduate and/or Master's degrees in physics, applied physics, applied mathematics, astronomy, or other disciplines where students have taken upper-level undergraduate and/or graduate level courses in the fundamental areas of physics. 

Applicants to our program are not required to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). However, International students and domestic students with degrees from offshore Universities or Engineering degrees are strongly urged to write the GRE-Physics examination. Students who receive a mark with a rank in the upper third of those sitting the exam will be at a decided advantage over their peers for consideration of admission.

Applicants for our MSc programs must have completed a four-year, BSc degree (or equivalent) in either Physics, Astronomy, or Engineering with at least a 70% (or B) average taken over the third and fourth year level undergraduate courses. Students applying for the MSc Astronomy degree are not required to possess an undergraduate degree in Astronomy. A Physics (or possibly Engineering) degree is also acceptable.

Applicants for our PhD programs must have completed an MSc degree (or equivalent) in either Physics, Astronomy or Engineering with at least a 70% (or B) average taken over all MSc graduate courses.

Meeting the minimum standard does not guarantee acceptance. We receive many more qualified applications than our Department can support, hence you are urged to complete your applications as soon as possible.

The ideal candidate for our graduate programs will possess the following:

  • Strong problem solving/critical thinking skills
  • Curiosity
  • Self-motivation & enthusiasm
  • Basic Computational skills (simple programming tasks, analyze data using a computer)
  • Good communication skills or a desire to acquire these skills
  • Bonus: prior research experience
  • Bonus: strong computational/programming skills

Research-specific skills:

  • Interest in the specific research area (ie: physics of soft squishy things, astronomy, weather/climate)
  • Strong math skills and a desire to use them (for theory/computational work)
  • Interest in tinkering, working with hardware (experimental work)
  • Interest in chemistry (condensed matter, astrochemistry)
  • Statistics background beyond “lab stats” (astrostatistics)

Application Deadline:

**Applications to our programs are vetted first-come, first-served, and admission offers are sent out on a rolling basis, therefore it is advantagous to apply sooner than later** 

  • International Students: March 1, 2024, including the receipt of reference letters and transcripts.
  • Domestic Students: We can accommodate completed applications up to August 31, 2024.

In addition to the above requirements, non-native English speakers must demonstrate their English proficiency. Options include:

English Language Proficiency Requirements

Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOEFL). The minimum acceptable score is 90, with no individual score below 22 for the internet-based version, or 550 for the paper and pencil version. [Western's TOEFL ID is 0984].

International English Language Testing Service(IELTS). The minimum acceptable overall score is 7 out of 9.

For more options see the SGPS website.

Questions? Any enquires about admission requirements should be made to:

Brian Davis
bdavis66@uwo.ca 
519-661-2111 ext. 86639