Admission FAQ ♘

• 4-Year Bachelor’s degree in Life Science (or equivalent);
• Minimum 75% or higher in the final 2 years of study (equivalent to the final 10 credits completed at the time of application, for which final grades have been received; 10 credits is equal to 20 semester-long courses);
• Transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable for application purposes; if admitted, you will be required to submit an official copy);
• Letter of Intent (1-1.5 pages, single-spaced);
• Résumé/CV;
• 3 Letters of reference;
• Subject GRE test scores (international applicants only);
• English Language Proficiency Test Scores (international applicants only).
• YouTube Video (Optional)

Please reference the Summary of Application Documents page for full information regarding these requirements.

• It is a competitive application process with many qualified applicants each year.

  • BioPh: We currently receive 250+ complete/paid applications which are reviewed, and of these, approximately 90 are usually invited on campus for interviews in February. Of these, we admit a class of 42.
  • DHT: We received approximately 40+ complete/paid applications last year. Of these, approximately 20 were invited on campus for interviews in February. Of these, 14 were admitted.

This is possible and you do not need to submit two separate applications. If you want to apply to both BioPh and DHT streams, please enter your preferred program stream in the ‘Rank 1 Concentration’ option field on your application. Next, enter your second preferred program stream in the ‘Rank 2 Concentration’ option field on your application. You must declare a preference when applying.

Secondly, you will need to complete TWO letters of intent: one for each program stream. Please save these as one document and load it on to the ‘Letter of Intent’ section of your application.

Please ensure you reference the application requirements listed above, as some differences exist between the two program streams.

Applications for MBiotech open in late September each year — the exact date can be confirmed here. If you are trying to access the online application prior to this date, please check back at the stated time.

If you have gone to the online application website and cannot access the online application, it is possible that your browser is incompatible or its security settings are too high.

The browser should be Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox, and must have Javascript and cookies enabled. To enable Javascript and cookies in Internet Explorer:

1 › Go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Security tab

2 › Under Security level for this zone, click Default level.

3 › Select the Privacy tab and click Default. Click OK.

Applicants should apply to:

• Application Type: FALL 2022-SUMMER 2023, then select SUMMER 2023
• Graduate Unit: Institute for Management & Innovation
• Attendance Type: Full-Time
• Program of Study: Master of Biotechnology
• Rank 1 Concentration: Pick one of Biopharmaceuticals or Digital Health Technologies
• Rank 2 Concentration: Pick one of Biopharmaceuticals or Digital Health Technologies

When you first open your application, you will be asked to complete an applicant profile. This will involve entering your personal information, contact information, recent academic history etc. Once this profile is complete, you will be prompted to enter the names and contact information of your references. Once done, you will need to pay the application fee. Once the application fee is paid, a second tab/page on your application profile will become available. This page will outline the documents you need to submit and will provide links for you to upload them to your application. As such, you can only upload documents once your application fee has been paid.

No. Admission is once yearly in May, with applications being accepted between late-September and early-January each year. Please review our full application and admissions timeline.

Yes. You can still apply for May admission even if you are still working on your fourth year of studies. You must still submit an official transcript (with final grades from Fall semester) as part of your application.

If your application is successful, you will be offered ‘conditional’ admission to the program for May; the condition being your successful completion of the 4-year bachelor’s degree. This requires the submission of a second official transcript (upon successful completion of your program, after convocation occurs) indicating that your degree has been conferred.

Unfortunately, a 3-year bachelor’s degree does not meet the minimum academic requirements for Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto, with the following specific exceptions—

1. Those students who receive their bachelor’s degree from an institution in Québec, and who received advanced standing for the first year of their program by completing two years of CEGEP do meet the minimum academic requirements for Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. In this specific instance, your bachelor’s degree is treated as a full 4-year degree due to the advanced standing received.
2. When combined with a Master’s degree (or qualifying year courses) a 3-year bachelor’s degree may meet the minimum academic requirements for admission. A qualifying year may be taken at any recognised Canadian university in order to meet minimum application requirements. A qualifying year normally consists minimally of 2·5 full course equivalents from upper year (3^rd/4^th year) courses in related life science programs (see below) with a minimum mid-B average in the qualifying year courses and no grades lower than B–. Please contact the Program Coordinator for further information in regards to this non-standard admission case.

• BioPh: In order to succeed in this program stream, you must have an understanding of the molecular sciences. Examples of suitable courses would include: Fourth-year research projects, molecular biology, structural biology, immunology, biochemistry and chemistry. At UTM, examples of suitable courses would include: BIO314H5, BIO370Y5, BIO372H5, BIO477H5, BIO481Y5; CHM333H5, CHM341H5, CHM345H5, CHM347H5, CHM361H5, CHM371H5, CHM416H5, CHM422H5, CHM489Y5.
• ​DHT: Please contact the program office to discuss possible options, if needed

Please note that we will only be able to consider grades from qualifying courses that are submitted by the application deadline when reviewing your application for admission. Any grades received after the January application deadline will not be included in consideration regarding a qualifying year.

No, not for the application. If you are a UofT student (at any of the three campuses) you do not need to request an original transcript. You can upload a copy of your academic student record (which you can download from ACORN as a .pdf), rather than requesting a formal transcript. If you have requested a formal transcript, that is acceptable — it just means that if you are offered admission, you will not be asked for a copy at that time.

This question/field is not mandatory. Either briefly detail your area of interest in biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, and/or DHT, or choose to leave blank.

If you are a domestic applicant, you do not need to submit a GRE test or English Language Proficiency test. Due to restrictions in the system however, these requirements will be listed on every MBiotech application — we unfortunately cannot differentiate between domestic applicants and international applicants when choosing the requirements to list in the system. If you are a domestic applicant, simply ignore these listings on your application. In due course (likely mid-late December) I will go through and `waive’ these requirements for all domestic applicants.

Unsure if you need to submit a GRE or English Language Proficiency test? Please email the Program Office and we can help you determine your application requirements.

If you need to change one of your referees, or simply update the contact information for your referees, or have any other issues with your online application file, please do not hesitate to contact the Program Office. We’ll be happy to help you!

No. Once you have submitted all of your documentation and application requirements, there is nothing left to do on your end; there is no ‘submit’ button. Your application will be considered complete by our office when all components are listed as ‘received.’

Towards the end of December/early January, our office will commence updating the application status from ‘documents pending’ to ‘under review,’ for those applications that are complete and can be considered for admission. Once your status changes to ‘under review’ you will know that your application has been received and we have begun the process of evaluating your application. Do not be alarmed if your application status does not update until shortly after the deadline date — if all of your required documentation is there and is showing ‘received,’ your status will update to ‘under review’ as soon as possible.

We usually notify applicants if they have been granted an interview by late January for the DHT stream and early February for the Biopharma stream. Please review our full application and admissions timeline.

• BioPh: For the science interview, you may choose to brush up on your basic molecular biology, biochemistry, PCR and principles of protein expression. Prepare for the business/interpersonal interview as you would for a job interview.
• DHT: For the science interview, you will be sent preparatory materials the day prior to your interview. These materials will form the basis of your science interview. Prepare for the business/interpersonal interview as you would for a job interview.

One copy of your signed acceptance letter, along with your tuition deposit, should be sent to Student Accounts at the address specified on the deposit form of your admission offer. You must upload a second signed copy of your acceptance letter directly to the Application Portal.