Entry requirements at a glance: undergraduate and graduate thresholds, and the documents that count

Most files that fail do not fail on the threshold. They fail on evidence: the right grades attached to the wrong document, a translation nobody will accept, a test result that expired between counselling and submission. This is a screening reference — the thresholds first, then the evidence that satisfies them, then the questions a counsellor should be able to answer before an application is opened at all.

Undergraduate thresholds

Applicant	Academic requirement
First-year (freshman)	Completed secondary education with a grade point average of 2.3 on the 4.0 scale
Transfer	Prior university or college study with a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on the 4.0 scale; transcripts are evaluated course by course for credit

Two points about the 4.0 scale matter operationally. First, it is the university that performs the conversion from a national grading system, not the applicant and not you. A counsellor's arithmetic is a useful indicator, never a decision. Second, 2.3 is the general university threshold; individual programmes may set their own requirements, and a student who clears 2.3 has cleared the door to the institution, not necessarily to a particular major. Confirm programme-level requirements with the office before you promise a specific degree.

The 3.25 mark matters for a different reason: it is the scholarship threshold rather than the admission threshold. A student sitting at 3.2 by your own conversion is not automatically outside it, because the official conversion may not land where yours did. That is a case to send for conversion, not a case to close.

Graduate thresholds

Criterion	Requirement
Degree	A bachelor's degree from a recognised institution
Grade point average	2.75 on the 4.0 scale as the Graduate School minimum; some departments require 2.5 to 3.0
Transcripts	Complete university transcripts with certified English translation

Graduate admission is a two-part decision in a way undergraduate admission is not. The Graduate School applies the general standard; the department applies its own. A department may add an admissions test, work experience, references, a statement of purpose or a portfolio, and a department may also waive a test it once required. Neither the addition nor the waiver is inferable from the general rule. For any graduate file, the first email should establish what that specific programme requires for that specific intake.

English proficiency

Test	Undergraduate minimum	Graduate minimum
TOEFL iBT	61	79
IELTS Academic	5.5	6.0
Duolingo English Test	110	120
PTE Academic	43	56
SAT, evidence-based reading and writing section	550	Not applicable
ACT, English section	21	Not applicable

English and admissions-test results must be no more than two years old. Check the date on the certificate against the intended intake, not against today. A test taken twenty-two months ago is fine for a file submitted this month and worthless for a file that slips two intakes. Individual graduate programmes may require more than the Graduate School minimum; this is one of the things to establish in that first departmental email. The next article in this series deals with the English question in full, including when the English Language Academy is the better route than another test sitting.

Freshman or transfer? Decide it deliberately

The two undergraduate routes are not interchangeable, and the choice is occasionally within your control. A student with a small amount of post-secondary study behind them may qualify under either heading, and the headings carry different consequences: different academic thresholds, a different evidence set, and different scholarship conditions, since the transfer award is tied to a 3.25 average with at least 24 transferable credits while the first-year award is tied to the 3.25 average alone.

Where a student is genuinely borderline between the two, ask the office which route their record falls under before you submit rather than choosing one and hoping. Getting it wrong is not fatal, but it costs a round of correspondence and, occasionally, a scholarship consideration that would otherwise have happened automatically.

Documents that count as evidence

The thresholds are simple. The evidence is where files stall.

• Secondary transcripts. The full record, not a summary or a leaving certificate. Where the system issues a separate diploma, both are needed; where the diploma is still pending, a provisional graduation certificate is the accepted stand-in.
• University transcripts. Complete and cumulative, for every institution attended, including one the student attended for a single term and would rather not mention.
• Certified English translation. Required for any document not issued in English. A translation is not a substitute for the original document — both travel together.
• English test result. In date, at or above the threshold for the level applied for.
• Passport. A clear copy of the biographic page, valid, with the name spelled exactly as it will appear on every subsequent document.
• Proof of funds. Not part of the admission decision, but required before an I-20 can be issued. Start collecting it during the application stage rather than after the offer, and see the article on financial documentation later in this series.

The application fee is $50 and is paid with the online application.

Four questions before you open a file

1. Does the student's record clear the academic threshold on the university's conversion? If you are unsure, send it for conversion rather than guessing in either direction.
2. Is there a current English result, and if so is it in date for the intended intake? If not, the choice is a test sitting or the conditional route, and that choice has a calendar cost.
3. Can this family evidence the cost of the year? The published example for an undergraduate at twelve credits a semester is approximately $29,646 across the year, covering tuition, fees, room and board, and insurance; the graduate example at nine credits is approximately $28,976. If the family cannot document a figure in that region, the file has a problem that no amount of application work will solve.
4. Is the programme open to international applicants at the intake the student wants? Not every programme admits in every term.

What not to assume

Two habits cause avoidable damage. The first is telling a family that a threshold is a promise; meeting the minimum makes a file reviewable, not admitted. The second is inventing a policy to fill a gap in your own knowledge — an exemption you half-remember from another institution, a document you assume will be accepted because it usually is elsewhere. When you do not know, ask the office and get the answer in writing. A one-day delay on an accurate answer is cheaper than a six-week delay on a wrong one.

Full detail sits on the undergraduate admissions and graduate admissions pages, and the programme list is on academics.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash