Frequently Asked Questions

As soon as your application fee payment is processed, you should receive an e-mail receipt. This receipt is confirmation that your payment has been processed. Your application will be automatically updated to reflect your payment. If your application does not update to "Submitted" within 24 hours, then please e-mail your confirmation receipt to grad.webadm@ualberta.ca. Do not attempt to pay for your application again.

E-mail your transaction receipts to grad.webadm@ualberta.ca and they will investigate and issue a refund if applicable.

Consult with your banking institution. You only have three payment attempts, after which your account locks and you cannot continue with your application.

Contact grad.webadm@ualberta.ca.

Anyone can pay the application fee on your behalf with a valid credit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discovery Card. In the Application Fee shopping cart, you are given the option of "Third Party Payment". You enter the name of the payer and their e-mail address. An e-mail will be then sent to the third party, requesting them to submit the online payment on your behalf. The e-mail has a link to the secure payment portal. Once payment has been made, you will receive an e-mail indicating that they have completed your request.

Please ensure that your are logging into the correct graduate GSMS Portal.

Ensure that you are logging into the correct application GSMS Portal. We advise that you clear your web browser's cache and click on the "Forgot Your Password" link to reset your account.

Please contact grad.webadm@ualberta.ca.

Please contact grad.webadm@ualberta.ca.

You can use the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) to check the status of your application, determine if references have been received, replace referees, and upload documents. To access the portal, please sign in using the e-mail address and password initially used when you created your account.

You can use the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) to check the status of your application, determine if references have been received, replace referees, and upload documents. Please sign in using the e-mail address and password initially used when you created your account.

If the official language of your institution is English and all the documents from your institution are English, then you do not need to upload an English translation.

You can use the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) to check the status of your application, determine if references have been received, replace referees, and upload documents. Please sign in using the e-mail address and password initially used when you created your account. Or you may consult with the department directly for admission decisions.

Please monitor the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) frequently as your admission decision will be posted there.

Log into the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) and download your Official Offer of Admission. You will see "Respond to Offer" button where you can respond to the University of Alberta to accept the Official Offer of Admission.

You are required to upload your exam results to the application. If you have not written your exam, then you must provide the upcoming examination date in the application so that you can upload your results after the exam.

Please consult our website for the minimum scores accepted for the approved English Language Proficiency Exams.

Please see this page.

The University of Alberta's institutional code is 0963.

If you have not yet written your exam, then you must enter the upcoming exam date into the application so that you can upload your results after you have submitted and paid for your application.

No. The Reference Request e-mail is sent out immediately after you have submitted and paid for your application.

Please log into our GSMS Portal and request to resend reference request using contact us. The department is required to approve this request.

Please ask your referee to check their junk/spam mail box as the reference request e-mail is sometimes delivered there. If it is not there, then you can ask the department to resend the reference request e-mail.

You can make your request to change a referee in the GSMS Portal and the department needs to approve this request.

The department is responsible for the reference section, you will need to contact the department to have the reference request resent.

Your referee will be sent a reference request e-mail with a secure link where they can complete the online form and submit a reference letter. Any reference letter submitted by your referee must be on their institution's or company's official letterhead.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that their references are received by the department's application close date. Many departments will not review applications that are missing references. Please contact the department to confirm application close dates.

You must declare all schools and institutions you've attended with the corresponding current transcript including completed and incomplete programs of study.

You must declare all schools and institutions you've attended with the corresponding current transcript.

You can upload or replace your documents in the GSMS Portal (Not Bear Tracks) as long as the document status is "Pending/Outstanding", or prior to department locking your application for review.

The Offer of Admission letter will provide detailed instructions on when and where to send your official documents to clear admission conditions.

Unofficial documents are scanned or photocopied documents of official transcripts, marksheets, and degree certificates - these are required for your application and are provided electronically.

Official documents are original or an attested true copy, in a sealed and endorsed envelope mailed directly from your post-secondary institution and are required for authentication purposes - these are required if you receive an Offer of Admission letter.

Documents submitted in support of an application become the property of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research and will not subsequently be released or copied except to other University of Alberta Offices.

You are required to complete a separate Educational entry under the Educational Info section for each degree. You will need to enter the name of the post-secondary institution for each degree you received (e.g., one for your Bachelor's degree and one for your Master's degree, even if they are from the same institution). You will then need to upload transcripts and degree certificates (if applicable), for each entry. Unofficial documents are scanned or photocopied documents of official transcripts, marksheets, and degree certificates - these are required for your application and are provided electronically.

No. A full set of current supporting documents must be uploaded for each application.

• Only PDF file format will be accepted; make sure there it is NOT password protected
• Each upload field can only support one file, if your transcript is saved in multiple files, then it needs to be combined into one document prior to uploading to your application
• Ensure all security features (e.g. passwords and encryptions) are removed from the documents before uploading them
• The maximum size for transcripts/marksheets is 10MB and all other documents are limited to 5MB. You will need to compress the file size if it exceeds the 10MB
• Do not refresh the web page after you have uploaded a document, this may result in the same document being uploaded unnecessarily

If you need guidance in converting documents to PDF, please use this resource.

Your CCID and password combination will be e-mailed to you within three days after you have submitted your application and paid the application fee. The e-mail with your CCID information will be sent to the e-mail address you entered when you first created your account for the online application system.

The e-mail containing your CCID and associated password will be sent to the e-mail address you entered when you first created your account for the online application system. If you do not receive this information within five business days after submitting and paying for your application, you may contact the UAlberta Information Services and Technology (IST) department for further information. You will be required to provide your University of Alberta student ID number (7 digits).