Examination Schedules
MA Program Requirements
Course Grade Requirements
In all primary courses, the passing grade is B-. Supplemental examinations are not normally offered. When a student has failed one course, the Department of Economics will normally recommend to the School of Graduate Studies that the student be permitted to:
- repeat the examination within one year,
- repeat the course, or
- take a substitute course. (Option (3) is not offered when a core course has been failed)
However, if there is evidence of grossly inadequate preparation in the course, or marginal performance overall, the Department will make no recommendation to Division and the student will be required to withdraw. The grade for a failed course will be entered on the student's permanent record but will not be included in the student's average. In calculating the average of a student who has failed one course, the Department of Economics will use C+ in place of the grade for the failed course until the student has redeemed the failure as permitted by the School of Graduate Studies. Students who have failed more than one course are normally required to withdraw.
A qualifying student who receives a grade of D- or better, though less than B-, whether in a graduate or undergraduate course, is not deemed to have failed the course. However, at the end of the qualifying period, the student must satisfy normal entrance requirements if the student is to be admitted to a graduate degree program.
Attendance
If a student in the graduate program is unable to attend classes for an extended period of time, or to write an examination, or to complete his/her teaching assistantship work, he or she must consult with both the instructor and the Coordinator to arrange for fulfilment of the requirements and submit documentation, if required.
MA Essay Guidelines
General Information
The Master’s Essay, of usually between 7,500 and 12,500 words, is written under the direction of a supervisor. The project should involve original research. This could take many forms. For example, an application of existing empirical methods to new or different data sets, an extension (normally small) of existing theory, or a critical analysis of a theoretical or economic policy problem are all suitable topics for an MA essay.
After the supervisor has approved the essay for submission, students must submit two hard copies and a PDF of the essay to the Graduate Studies Assistant for grading. The PDF should be sent by electronic mail. The student should also inform the Graduate Studies Assistant who their supervisor is. The essay must be in proper form (see below), and free of typographical errors. If initial perusal of the essay by the Graduate Studies Assistant and/or the Coordinator of Graduate Studies indicates that the essay is not properly formatted, it will be returned to the student for corrections prior to being graded.
The Department examines essays as quickly as possible, but it may take several weeks for the essay to be marked, especially is it is handed in during the peak period of August. Students are advised to submit by August 1st to be eligible for Fall convocation and to avoid paying additional fees.
The essay will be examined and assigned a percentage grade by a committee composed of the supervisor and one other member of the Department. The average grade of the two committee members will be assigned unless the individual grades differ by more than 10 percentage points. In such a case, the Coordinator of Graduate Studies or his/her delegate will examine the essay and assign a final grade based in part on consultation with the committee members. In the event of a failing grade, revision of the essay or submission of a new essay may be made on the approval of Division V.
The essay has been approved and any required revisions have been made, the PDF will be posted on the QED website with password protection.
The essay must be in satisfactory literary form and should normally be between 7,500 and 12,500 words in length. It should comprise of the following in order:
- Title page (include international copyright symbol, sample attached)
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Contents
- The main body of the essay
- Footnotes (these may also appear at the foot of each page or at the end of each chapter)
- Bibliography
- Figures (unless inserted in body of the essay)
- Tables (unless inserted in body of the essay)
Production
The hardcopies of the essay must be printed on white, cream or ivory paper of size 21.5 cm X 28 cm (8 ½ x 11). These hardcopies will be given to the supervisor and the second reader.
Generally speaking, an essay should be drafted in a form acceptable to the major journals of economics. The text must be double-spaced except for footnotes, figures and quotations, of five lines or more, which should be single-space. The inside margin (left) should be 3.8 cm or 1 ½ inches; other margins 2.5 cm or 1 inch. This applies to figures and tabulations as well. Ornate type styles are not acceptable. Italics may be used only for emphasis or where otherwise appropriate (e.g. scientific, journal titles).
If footnotes are on each page, space should be left on the page for any footnotes. There should be a line separating the text from the footnotes.
There should be only two sets of page numbers - small Roman numerals for the preliminary pages, and Arabic numerals for the text, bibliography and appendices.
Tables, figures and maps must conform to the previous regulations and be incorporated in relation to the text and pagination. Figures must have scales and symbols defined on them, not in the text.
Copyright
The international copyright symbol (©) must appear, typed at the foot of the title page of every MA essay (see example).
Further Information
Examples of essays acceptable to the Department are available in the Malcolm C. Urquhart Reading Room in Dunning Hall.
MA Essays (from 2008)
To be able to access the essays, you must be logged in through My QED using your web site ID.
Click here to view the essays: MA Essays (From 2008)