GSPP’s new online program delivery, through its expert instructors and use of best online teaching practices and materials, continues to provide Canada’s most comprehensive graduate school preparation from the comfort of your own home. Classes will be structured in a flipped 75% synchronous (virtual face-to-face)and 25% asynchronous (self-study) framework, optimizing student-teacher interaction and the progression of graduate school skills. GSPP Online continues to focus on the English language, academic, test preparation (GMAT/GRE and IELTS), and professional skills required for graduate school, taking students from an IELTS 5.5 to a graduate level English proficiency (IELTS 6.5/7/7.5) with graduate school offers in 8 months and acclimating them to Canadian academia and society.

GSPP Online offers conditional admission to Master’s Programs through its university pathway partnerships (Canada, US, UK, US, and Europe) and well-established network of North American and global university contacts. GSPP Online is recognized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at York University and has been benchmarked by the Canadian Center for Language Benchmarks at the highest graduate school proficiency level. These achievements, added to a consistently high average GPA in York University Graduate School programs, represent an excellent return on investment in your future education and career in Canada.

Online Delivery Summary

• Program length: Term 1 direct entry: 8 months. Term 2 direct entry: 4 months
• Online Class size: 17 students maximum
• Synchronous Classroom hours/week (live instruction): 15
• Asynchronous hours per week: 5
• Access to support services
• Technology requirements: a computer with reliable, high speed internet, camera and microphone
• Online start dates:
  • Term 1 direct entry: May 4 – December 17, 2020
  • Term 2 direct entry: May 4 – August 21, 2020

The Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP) will improve your English language proficiency to a graduate school level (IELTS 6.5/7/7.5) and help you to enrol in graduate studies at any Canadian or American university.

The Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP)

• Has secured admission for GSPP students to world-famous graduate programs, including those at McGill University, the Schulich School of Business, The University of Toronto, and many others worldwide
• Has achieved great success in quickly and dramatically improving our students’ IELTS scores, consistently outperforming non-GSPP students
• Focuses on the English language skills needed for day-to-day graduate-school assignments and situations
• Arranges visits by graduate program administrators, professors and graduate students to help develop relevant communication skills and new contacts

Since 2010, Graduate Studies Preparation Program participants have earned offers of admission to graduate programs at, amongst others, the following universities:

• York University (Toronto, Canada)
• The University of Alberta (Alberta, Canada)
• The University of Auckland (New Zealand)
• The University of Bath (U.K.)
• Bishop’s University (Quebec, Canada)
• Brock University (Ontario, Canada)
• Carleton University (Ontario, Canada)
• Carnegie-Mellon University (U.S.A.)
• Claremont Graduate University (California, U.S.A.)
• Concordia University (Montreal, Canada)
• The University of Essex (U.K.)
• The University of Glasgow (Scotland)
• Hofstra University (New York, U.S.A.)
• Lakehead University (Ontario, Canada)
• The University of Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada)
• Massey University (New Zealand)
• McGill University (Montreal, Canada)
• McMaster University (Ontario, Canada)
• OCAD University (Ontario, Canada)
• The University of New Brunswick (New Brunswick, Canada)
• The University of Northern British Columbia (British Columbia, Canada)
• The University of North Carolina-Charlotte (U.S.A.)
• The University of Ottawa (Ontario, Canada)
• Queen’s University (Ontario, Canada)
• The University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)
• The Rochester Institute of Technology (New York, U.S.A.)
• Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)
• St. Mary’s University (Halifax, Canada)
• The University of Sheffield (U.K.)
• Sheffield Hallam University (U.K.)
• The University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada)
• The University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada)
• The University of Western Ontario (now Western University)(Ontario, Canada)
• The University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
• The University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada)

Note: this program was formerly known as the Pre-Graduate Preparation Program (YP3).

York University admissions accept certificates from the York University English Language Institute Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP) as equivalent to the following IELTS scores for language proficiency:

Graduate Studies Preparation Program Term I Courses

• IELTS Preparation
• Academic Communication I
• Applying to Graduate School I
• GRE/GMAT MOOC

 Academic Communication I (ACI) is designed to build language and communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), language learning strategies, and research and documentation skills to a graduate level English language proficiency (IELTS 6.5/7/7.5).

IELTS Preparation:  One key Graduate Studies Preparation Program difference is its approach to preparation for the IELTS test. Graduate Studies Preparation Program students consistently outperform the average IELTS candidate in terms of scores achieved for the amount of class time spent in test preparation. Based on a thorough understanding of how the IELTS exam is constructed and the skills it tests, our qualified instructors will give you detailed and practical strategies for approaching the exam.

Term I classes then take these strategies and apply them to tasks you will face in graduate school, in lectures, seminar discussions and presentations, while connecting these strategies to a broader understanding of the North American university environment.

Applying to Graduate School (AGS) not only provides customized advisory pathway clinics but also graduate school application preparation sessions. In addition, the course introduces strategies for surviving the graduate school experience, as well as preparing candidates for future teaching assistant assignments and their future careers. GSPP has access to qualified immigration advisors.

An online GRE/GMAT Module is available to guide students and improve their test scores

Direct Entry Option: students with an IELTS score of 6.5 or better, or the equivalent TOEFL score, have the option to enter directly into Term II.

Graduate Studies Preparation Program Term II Courses

• Academic Communications
• Graduate School Writing
• Applying to Graduate School II (AGS II)
• IELTS, GRE/GMAT clinic

Term II coursework focuses on the English language skills needed to communicate effectively with graduate program administrators, professors, and graduate students (people who are frequent visitors to the GSPP) about day-to-day graduate school tasks.

Academic Communication II focuses on the language and communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), language learning strategies, and research and documentation skills to a graduate level English language proficiency (IELTS 6.5/7/7.5).

Throughout the Academic Communication II course, participants will investigate concepts and language relevant to both academic topics in general and to their specific disciplines or fields of study. They will work to articulate in English the intellectual issues they encounter and relate these issues to other texts, to their own and others’ experience, and to areas of their own and others’ academic and professional expertise.

Graduate School Writing is designed to prepare students to research, draft, and revise varied types of research papers to prepare them for their different graduate school programs; The Graduate School Writing Coursework includes a narrative literature review, a paper in IMRAD form, and an Ethnography assignment, culminating in a final capstone project.

 Applying to Graduate School II (AGS II) not only provides customized advisory pathway clinics but also graduate school application preparation sessions.  In addition, the course introduces strategies for surviving the graduate school experience, as well as preparing candidates for future teaching assistant assignments and their future careers. GSPP has access to qualified immigration advisors.

IELTS, GRE/GMAT – following on from Term I’s courses and resources, this customized clinic identifies and addresses the remaining needs of GSPP students in regard to these tests.

For participants bound for graduate programs that require GRE or GMAT for Business Administration, Management, Management Science, and Finance, Graduate Studies Preparation Program also offers test preparation workshops.

As with IELTS preparation, the program’s GRE/GMAT component offers an effective, skills-based approach that is best built at an English-speaking university campus. Graduate Studies Preparation Program graduates have gone on to a variety of graduate programs that require a completed GRE or GMAT test, particularly MBA programs that require GMAT scores of 550 and above for admission.

• Program length: 8 months (over 2 terms)
• Class size: Approximately 16 students
• Classroom hours/week: 20 hours
• 3 start times per year: September, January, and May
• On-campus residence

 Language Proficiency:

Term 1 (8 months):

• Previous education: An undergraduate degree
• Language proficiency:
  -IELTS score 5.5
  -TOEFL iBT 69 (TOEFL Paper 525)
  -AP6 completion
  -PTE Academic 44

Term 2 (4 months):

• Previous education: An undergraduate degree
• Language proficiency:
  -IELTS score 6.5
  -AP8/AP9 completion
  -PTE Academic 60