Note that many fully-qualified applicants cannot be offered admission for various reasons such as limited capacity, rigorous competition, unavailability of supervision, lack of funding, etc.
Applicants who believe that they have been unjustly denied admission or readmission to a program due to an error in process or who believe that they deserve special consideration due to mitigating circumstances should discuss the matter with the graduate program to which they applied immediately upon receipt of their final admission or readmission decision. If a satisfactory resolution cannot be achieved, the applicant may submit a written appeal to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for review by the Dean of the Faculty or designate. This written appeal must be received by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than six weeks before the first day of the term for which the applicant applied.
If the appeal is denied by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the applicant may submit a written appeal to the Senate Admissions Committee.
The procedure for appealing the Dean’s decision to the Senate Admissions Committee is the same as the procedure for undergraduate students.
The appeal form (and appeal processing fee) along with (a) a letter of appeal outlining the reasons for the appeal and the circumstances relating to the appeal, and (b) any relevant supporting documents (see appeal form for details) must be submitted to webforms.students.ubc.ca/admission-decision-appeal.
Appeals on admission or readmission decisions will be considered on applications for the current year only.
The appeal will be sent to the Senate Admissions Committee for review, and the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will send a written explanation of their reasons for denying the appeal.
The decision of the Committee will be communicated in writing to the appellant and to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The Committee's decision is final.
Appeals on Revoked Admission Offers
Graduate offers of admission may contain conditions that applicants are required to fulfill before they are able to register for their programs. Offers may be revoked if these conditions are not met by the applicant.
Graduate offers of admission may also be rescinded if it is determined that a student has submitted falsified documents in support of an application for admission.
Applicants who believe that their offer of admission has been unjustly revoked due to an error in the process or who believe that they deserve special consideration due to mitigating circumstances may submit a written appeal to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for review by the Dean of the Faculty or designate. Appeals on revocations must be received by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies within 14 calendar days of the revocation decision email notifying that the offer of admission has been revoked.
If the appeal is denied by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the applicant may submit a written appeal to the Senate Admissions Committee.
Appeals to the Senate Admissions Committee on admission or readmission decisions will be considered on applications for the current year only.
The appeal will be sent to the Senate Admissions Committee for review, and the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will send a written explanation of their reasons for denying the appeal.
The Committee may allow an appeal where it decides that the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies may have overlooked or misinterpreted information provided by the applicant, arrived at a decision without reasonable consideration of mitigating circumstances, or acted contrary to the Faculty's published procedures.
The decision of the Committee will be communicated in writing to the appellant and to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The Committee's decision is final.