Master of Landscape Architecture

Graduate program open house

We hosted an online open house for our professional graduate programs on Wednesday, November 16.

We accept applications for the Master of Landscape Architecture between October 1 and January 15 each year. Admissions decisions are sent out in mid- to late March. We receive many outstanding applications, and admission to our programs is competitive. Unfortunately, we cannot offer admission to all qualified applicants.

Please note that tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors and are subject to change each year. Tuition fees for international students are expected to rise for the 2023-24 academic year. For information about current tuition fees for domestic, international, and continuing students please see the UBC Academic calendar.

We ask that all application materials be sent electronically through the online application system only. Some admissions staff are working remotely and will be unable to process large volumes of incoming mail. If it is absolutely necessary to send an application document by post please send to:

School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Master of Landscape Architecture

University of British Columbia

#379 - 2357 Main Mall

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Canada

Admission requirements

You must meet all admissions requirements in order to be considered for entry into the program.

Previous degree

You must hold a degree that is academically equivalent to a four-year bachelor’s degree at UBC. There is no requirement for the discipline of your previous degree. We accept students from a wide variety of academic fields.

Academic achievement

If you have completed your degree at a Canadian or American university, you must have a B+ average in your third- and fourth-year-level coursework. If you completed your degree at an international university, you must have a B+ average in all coursework.

English language proficiency

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

The minimum scores are:
TOEFL - 100 iBT or 600 paper based
IELTS - Overall band score of 7.0 with a minimum score of 6.5 in each component of the academic (not general) test.

Graduate record examination (optional)

While not required, you may submit GRE results as additional evidence of scholastic promise and aptitude

 

Application materials

All application materials should be submitted through the online application.

Online application form

You must submit an online application form, complete application materials and the non-refundable application fee by the deadline of January 15.

Resume

A summary of your experiences in education, work, travel, volunteering, and other relevant areas. The maximum length is two pages, double spaced.

Statement of intent

All MLA applicants must provide a statement (600 words maximum) that responds to the following questions:

  1. Please tell us how your academic background and lived experiences have prepared you for your studies at UBC SALA.
  2. Include a description of a contemporary landscape project, condition, or issue that you find compelling, and why.
  3. Please elaborate on an aspect, theme or topic within landscape architecture you would like to pursue in the future.
Portfolio

Your portfolio is submitted digitally in your online application. The PDF can be a maximum of 20 letter-sized (8.5" x 11") pages (or 10 spreads) and must be under 10MB in size. These 20 pages do not include your cover page or table of contents.
Tip: Use 150 pixels-per-inch or even 72 ppi images, or try saving the file as a Reduced Size PDF (“Save as Other”) in Adobe Acrobat, to bring down the file size.

The intent of the portfolio is to highlight design potential and visual thinking. You should use the portfolio to showcase your interests and accomplishments, and to show how you could contribute artistically and socially to a demanding professional program.

Your portfolio should demonstrate your ability to conceptualize ideas, observations and projects in two and three dimensions through a variety of media, not just one or two. The portfolio may contain drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, installation, printmaking, ceramics, fashion design, woodworking, writing samples, and/or other media. Showing your creative process and ability to think conceptually will also provide context for your work.

You should organize your portfolio into a clearly legible, well-crafted document. The portfolio should have concise, descriptive text on each page to adequately explain the work. All text and visual material you include must be legible. Applicants with previous design degrees may show a variety of media expressing their design process and intent. In addition to text describing the overall project, you should select key images in your portfolio and include a few sentences that explain your process – both technical and conceptual – for creating that key image. We are interested in your design process, not just the finished product or image.

Your portfolio should focus mainly on your own work. If work was produced in collaboration with others, please clearly indicate your precise contribution to the submitted work and only use a maximum of 3 pages of collaborative work.

Transcripts

You must upload scans of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions previously attended, including transcripts from universities attended on exchange. Uploads of unofficial transcripts will not be accepted. If you are currently completing a degree, submit your transcripts to date. In that case, UBC will not grant final confirmation of acceptance until you have submitted the final transcripts after the degree is conferred. If offered admission, you will be asked to send official transcripts in hardcopy.

If the academic records are in a language other than English or French, you must submit scans of the official transcripts in their original language and accompany them with scans of official translations.

References

You must arrange for three letters of reference, two of which should be academic and speak to your past performance and ability to succeed in a graduate program. Referees submit their letters through the online application system.