Entrance awards are monetary awards given to incoming students based on academic merit and, in some cases, other forms of earned merit (community involvement, leadership, etc.). The value of your entrance award will be credited to your student account after the deadline to add and/or drop classes without penalty. There are two types of entrance awards: automatic awards and awards by application. To be considered for an entrance award by application, you’ll need to submit an AwardSpring application.
The listed admission cut-offs are for the 2023-2024 entering class.
The McMaster University Award of Excellence
Established in 2020 to celebrate the academic achievements of students entering a Level 1 program in the top 10% of their Faculty.
- Value: $3000
- Eligibility for Award:
- Incoming high school students entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program (open to domestic and international students).
- The achievement of a final admission average in the top 10% of your Faculty.
- This award does not require an application
- *The listed admission cut-offs are estimated and subject to change pending the calculation of final admission averages.
| Faculty | 2022-2023 Estimated Top 10% Admission Averages* |
| Arts & Science | 99%+ |
| DeGroote School of Business | 95%+ |
| Engineering | 98%+ |
| Health Sciences | 99%+ |
| Humanities | 94%+ |
| Science | 98%+ |
| Social Sciences | 94%+ |
Faculty-Specific Achievement Awards
Established in 2020 to celebrate the academic achievements of students entering Level 1.
- Eligibility for Award:
- Incoming high school students entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program (open to domestic and international students).
- The achievement of a minimum final admission average as determined by your Faculty. Award cut-offs vary by Faculty and are listed below.
- This award does not require an application.
| Faculty | 2022-2023 Admission Average | Value |
| Arts & Science | 93%+ | $1000 |
| DeGroote School of Business | 90%+ | $1000 |
| Engineering | 95%+ | $3000 |
| Health Sciences | 94%+ | $1000 |
| Humanities | 90%+ | $1000 |
| Science | 94%+ | $1000 |
| Social Sciences | 90%+ | $1000 |
Important to Note: Scholarship offers are projected based on your admission average at the time of your application. Your scholarship offer is conditional, pending receipt of your final grades from OUAC.
Eligible students will receive either the Award of Excellence or the Faculty-specific Achievement Award.
Faculty-Administered Awards
Degroote School of Business
Incoming high school students entering Degroote School of Business will be eligible for the following entrance awards. These awards are automatic and do not require an application. Administered by Degroote School of Business.
The DeGroote School of Business Deans Entrance Award
- Value: $500
- Eligibility for Award: An entrance award for high school students entering Business 1 with an average of 90% to 91.99%. Administered by the Faculty of Business.
Degroote School of Business Deans Achievement Award
- Value: $1500
- Eligibility for Award: An entrance award for high school students entering Business 1 with an average of 92% to 94.99%. Administered by the Faculty of Business.
DeGroote School of Business Award of Excellence
- Value: $2000
- Eligibility for Award: An entrance award for high school students entering Business 1 with an average of 95% or better. Administered by the Faculty of Business.
BTech Entrance Scholarship
- Value: $2000
- Eligibility for Award: Academic performance – must meet the required average for the award (final average of 90% or higher). No separate application is required. International and domestic students eligible.
Please visit your Faculty website for information on Faculty-administered award opportunities.
Marjorie Anderson Financial Award for Indigenous Students
- Value: $80,000 ($20,000 per year)
- Eligibility for Award:
- Self-identify as Inuit, or as Status/Non-status First Nations from the Six Nations of the Grand River or the Mississaugas of the New Credit
- Entering a degree program at McMaster in 2022-23
- Criteria:
- Minimum admission average of at least 75%
- Demonstrate financial need
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Essay describing the influence that your Indigenous heritage has on your volunteer activities, leadership opportunities, university program choice, career path, or other community involvement that is important to you (1 – 2 pages).
- A reference letter from a non-family member
- Deadline: End of April, 2023
International Renewable Entrance Awards
- Total Value: $20,000 (paid over 4 years) – 10 awards, $10,000 (paid over 4 years) – 5 awards
- Eligibility for Award: Must be an international visa student, currently studying at a high school and entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program.
- Criteria:
- An AwardSpring application which includes: Short essay describing the accomplishments you are most proud of to date. You may choose to write about your accomplishments in schooling, (academic or non-academic), employment, community service (including service to family) or extra-curricular activities.
- A reference letter
- Deadline: February 17, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
Provost Entrance Scholarship for International Students
Established in 2018 to recognize the academic achievements of international students.
- Value: $7500 (Up to 20 awards available per year)
- Eligibility for Award: Must be an international visa student, currently studying at a high school and entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program.
- Criteria:
- This award requires a letter of reference from an official from their high school (i.e. principal, department head, guidance counselor etc.) who can comment knowledgeably about your academic achievements, character, community service, and leadership potential
- Deadline: February 17, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
The Woo Family International Entrance Scholarships
Established in 1999 by Mr. Chung How Woo in honour of his late wife, Mrs. Ching Yung Chiu-Woo, mother and mother-in-law of four McMaster graduates.
- Value: $3,000 per student (Variable number of awards each year)
- Eligibility: Must be an international visa student, currently studying at a high school and entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program.
- Criteria:
- Students are automatically considered for this award once enrolled at McMaster for the upcoming fall term.
- Awards are based on final admission averages.
The McMaster Chinese Alumni – Peter George International Entrance Scholarships
Established in 1999 by Chinese Alumni (Toronto Chapter) of McMaster University.
- Value: $3000 per student (Variable number awards each year)
- Eligibility: Must be an international visa student, currently studying at a high school and entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program.
- Criteria:
- Students are automatically considered for this award once enrolled at McMaster for the upcoming fall term.
- Awards are based on final admission averages.
Application Based Entrance Awards
- Available awards:
- The Ashbaugh Scholarships
- The Dundas Scholarships*
- The George and Nora Elwin Scholarship
- The A.G. Reilly Scholarships
- Value: $5,000 (Up to 28 awards available)
- Eligibility for Award: A student currently studying at a high school and entering Level 1 of their first baccalaureate degree program.
- Criteria: An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Short essay describing the accomplishments you are most proud of to date. You may choose to write about your accomplishments in schooling, (academic or non-academic), employment, community service (including service to family) or extra-curricular activities.
- A reference letter
- Deadline: February 17, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
*preference is given to students from Dundas and the surrounding area for The Dundas Scholarships.
The Access Award
Established in 2019, the Access Award creates a pathway for academically qualified students from equity deserving groups in the Golden Horseshoe area to access post-secondary education. In addition to financial assistance, students will have access to support and mentorship opportunities that will help position them for success.
- Value: Up to $20,000 per year in aid & award funding towards tuition, compulsory fees, books, equipment and living costs and one guaranteed McMaster University work experience. Tenable for up to four years
- Eligibility for Award:
- Students from equity deserving groups in the Golden Horseshoe area
- Demonstrate financial need.
- Criteria:
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Short essay questions detailing the barriers to accessing post-secondary education you are facing and your desire to attend McMaster
- A reference letter
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Deadline: March 20, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
More information on McMaster Access Strategy
The McMaster Brighter World Entrance Award
Established in 2020 by McMaster University to celebrate the achievements of Black students entering an undergraduate program.
- Value: $5,000 (a variable number of scholarships available)
- Eligibility for Award: Must be a self-identified Black student applying for admission to a Level 1 program.
- Criteria:
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Short essay describing the accomplishments you are most proud of to date. You may choose to write about your accomplishments in schooling, (academic or non-academic), employment, community service (including service to family) or extra-curricular activities.
- A reference letter
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Deadline: February 17, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
The Reese Fallon Memorial Scholarship
Established in 2018 in honour of Reese Fallon.
- Value: $2000
- Eligibility for Award: To be awarded to students entering Level 1 in the School of Nursing who graduated from a Toronto District High School and want to make a difference at McMaster and beyond.
- Criteria:
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Short essay describing a time in your life that you had a positive impact on your family, school or community. No impact is too big or too small.
- A reference letter
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Deadline: March 20, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
The Faculty of Humanities Entrance Awards
- Value: $1200-$5000 (a variable number of scholarships available)
- Eligibility for Award: Eligible candidates must enter McMaster’s Humanities I, iArts (Integrated Arts) or Music program with a minimum admission average set by the Faculty.
- Criteria:
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- a short essay (up to 250 words); or
- a two minute video
- An AwardSpring application which includes:
- Deadline: March 20, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET).
Loran Award
Merit-based award to find and nurture young Canadians who show strength of character and commitment to service and leadership potential, challenging them to realize their full promise.
- Value: Approximately $100,000 over four years of undergraduate studies (includes tuition waiver and $10,000 annual stipend)
- Eligibility for Award:
- Be in your final year of uninterrupted full-time studies in high school or Cegep (If you are planning to attend university outside of Quebec after only one year of Cegep, you can apply in your first year of Cegep)
- At least 16 years old by Sept. 1 of the following year
- Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- Criteria:
- High school students: Present a minimum cumulative average of 85%
- Cegep students: Present an R score equal to or higher than 29
2023–2024 applications will open after Labour Day and close mid-October 2022
Schulich Leader Scholarships
- Value: Up to $100,000 – $120,000 over four years
- Eligibility for Award:
- Entering an eligible Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) program.
- Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- Must be selected as high school’s nominee (Canadian schools only)
- Criteria:
- Awarded to the top entrepreneurial-minded STEM students that demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, creativity and charisma.
- Strong consideration will be given to students with financial need.
New – McMaster Entrance Bursaries
- Valued at $500 to $2,500 (Amounts vary by financial need.)
- Eligibility for Bursary:
- Open to incoming Level 1 student who are Canadian Citizens, Permanent Residents or Refugees entering McMaster for their first baccalaureate undergraduate degree program (excluding Mohawk McMaster and Conestoga McMaster Nursing)
- Demonstrate financial need through Government Student Aid Programs such as OSAP
- Deadline: Applications open November 1st and close February 17th.
- Notification of decisions in spring 2023
Be sure to submit your 2023/24 OSAP application by June 30 and complete all documentation requirements no later than July 31.
Important information
- Completing your OSAP application by the deadline listed will allow us to ensure you have access to any additional financial supports for which you may be eligible. It will also allow us to confirm your financial circumstances and ensure available funding is in place for September.
- Your Entrance Bursary does not need to be reported as income on your OSAP application as it is a need-based award. Any other external or McMaster awards (e.g. The McMaster University Award of Excellence) must be reported as income on your OSAP application.
- Recipients must be enrolled in a full time courseload
General Entrance Award FAQs
Do I have to apply to be considered for entrance awards?
Awards by application require an application and are given to students who meet certain criteria, usually based on community/athletic involvement. Once you’ve applied to McMaster and have activated your MacID, you’ll be able to access AwardSpring and complete a common application to be matched with all the awards by application you are eligible for.
When do I find out if I’m getting an automatic award?
Automatic entrance award offers are given on a rolling basis as grades are uploaded to OUAC.
Awards by application open in AwardSpring in November of each year and decisions are made from March to May.
Successful applicants will be notified of award offers through their McMaster applicant email. Award offers are contingent on an offer of admission and can be viewed in the Mosaic applicant portal.
Am I eligible for more than one automatic entrance award?
Students can be eligible for either the McMaster University Award of Excellence or the Faculty-specific Achievement Award.
Apply Now using AwardSpring – Aid & Awards made simple
Step 1: Activate your MacID and log in toAwardSpring
- Activate your MACID using the Barcode and Student (Person) ID Number in your Acknowledgement letter. It may take a few business days for your profile to connect to AwardSring after applying on OUAC and logging into Mosaic for the first time.
- Log in AwardSpring at mcmaster.awardspring.ca using your MacID and password
Step 2: Start your application
Complete your Common Application, which will begin your scholarship application process. There are three sections you will need to complete as part of your common application. You do not need to complete the Academic Information, Financial Information and Qualification Questions tabs. These sections will be blank and are only visible to current McMaster students.
Tip: You won’t be able to click submit until all the required questions in each sections are complete. You can go back and update your answers as needed until the deadline date!
Step 3: Apply for entrance awards
Access your Dashboard to find your personalized list of that require an application. Click on each opportunity to apply!
In the Scholarships section, you’ll be able to view all the awards you’ve submitted an application to or will be automatically considered for by filtering the status. A status of Applied in AwardSpring means that your application has been received by the deadline. Applications received by the deadline are eligible for further review. Some awards are forwarded to a committee for final selection.
Uploading documents:
Please save your documents as one PDF and ensure there are no foreign characters in the file name, as it will prevent the file from opening.
Please export, save or print the file as a PDF document to your computer, and then upload to AwardSpring.
Step 4: Monitor your Dashboard and McMaster email for updates
Be sure to add awardspring.ca to your ‘safe senders list’.
A status of Applied in AwardSpring means that your application has been received by the deadline. Applications received by the deadline are eligible for further review and may be forwarded to a committee for final selection.
Monitor your applicant email for feedback on your award applications.
Successful applicants will be notified of an award offer via their applicant email.
An award offer is contingent upon an offer(s) of admission and may have one or more award conditions attached (e.g. enrolment in a specific program). Award offers will be displayed in the Mosaic applicant portal
Entrance Award Timelines
| Review Period | Mid-March – Mid-April |
| Decision Notification | Mid-April – May |
| Award Payment | Mid-September (after add/drop deadline) |
Have questions about AwardSpring? Ask us here!
AwardSpring FAQs
What do the status fields on the Scholarships tab in AwardSpring mean?
Applied: Your application is complete and submitted.
Denied: You no longer meet General Bursary Program eligibility requirements (i.e. if you withdraw prior to the application deadline, you will be removed from the applicant pool, or if you have a significant change in financial status)
Approved: If you continue to meet all eligibility requirements when the application period closes in January, your application status will appear as Awarded ($1). This does not mean that you are guaranteed bursary funding but that your application is undergoing a final assessment in Mosaic.
Can I make changes to an application I submitted?
You can make changes to your submitted application(s) up until the deadline. Simply return to your application by filtering for your “Applied” awards in the Scholarships tab. Make your edits and hit resubmit!
Why does the application status say “Closed” after I’ve submitted my application?
Once the application deadline date has passed, the status of an award will be listed as “Closed” as applications are no longer being accepted.
You’ll be able to find all the awards you’ve been automatically applied to or have completed the follow up requirements for, listed under the Scholarships Tab with an “Applied” status.
Be sure to monitor your dashboard for new updates regularly and add awardspring.ca to your ‘safe senders’ list to receive status updates via email.
How do I combine multiple documents into one pdf to upload to AwardSpring?
How to Combine PDFs:
- Software that is capable of combining PDFs
- Scan all your documents together to create one pdf.
- Take screenshots, paste them in a Word document and save as a pdf.
Please do not password protect your pdf documents.
Why are the Academic Information, Financial Information and Qualification questions sections blank?
When will I find out if I’ll receive a scholarship and get the payment?
Below is the entrance award timeline for most awards.
| Application Deadline | February 12 |
| Review Period | Mid-March – Mid-April |
| Decision Notification | Mid-April – May |
| Award Payment | Mid-September (after add/drop deadline) |
Congratulations! You’ve received a scholarship offer with your offer of admission. In this tab, we’ll help you understand the details of your scholarship offer.
Award Terms and Regulations
All the terms and regulations for entrance awards can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Final vs Conditional offers
A conditional entrance award offer means the value of your award may be adjusted/cancelled based on your final admission average.
A final entrance award offer means the scholarship is guaranteed once you register as a full-time student in the fall term.
What happens if my GPA changes?
Your conditional scholarship offer was made based on your GPA at the time of your application to McMaster. If your final admission average changes, your scholarship offer may be impacted.
Your admission average goes up:
If you were offered the Faculty-specific Achievement Award and your final admission goes up to be within the top 10% for your incoming class, you will be eligible for the McMaster University Award of Excellence instead.
Your admission average goes down:
If your final admission average goes down and you are longer within the top 10% of your incoming class for the McMaster University Award of Excellence, you may still be eligible for the Faculty-specific Achievement Award if you meet the cut-off.
If you did not receive an initial scholarship offer but your final admission average meets the cut-off for either the Faculty-specific Achievement Award or the McMaster University Award of Excellence, you will be automatically awarded.
If you were offered the Faculty-specific Achievement Award and your final admission average does not meet the cut-off, you will longer be eligible for the award.
Please note that you can only be eligible for either the Award of Excellence or the Faculty-specific Achievement Award.
Faculty Awards
Did you receive an entrance award offer from your Faculty? Please visit your Faculty’s scholarship website for more information.
Offer Letter FAQs
When will I know if there are any changes to my award offer?
Admission averages are re-calculated in August after the receipt of all final grades from OUAC.
Once all required grades are received for your program, your automatic entrance may be adjusted. This typically occurs from the end of August to mid-September.
I didn’t receive a scholarship offer, what are my options?
If you don’t receive an automatic scholarship offer with your offer of admission, there are still many options available to you.
Automatic offers are given based on your average at the time of your application. If you increase your average to the automatic award cut-offs by the time final admission averages are calculated, can still be eligible for the award.
Also. there are many applications that you may be eligible to apply for on AwardSpring and through external sources.
Your next steps
Accept your offer of admission to McMaster: All scholarship offers are conditional on the acceptance of your admission to McMaster and your enrolment in the program listed in your offer.
Activate your MACID and monitor your admission portal in Mosaic for Aid & Awards updates: Starting at the end of August, the value of your award will display as “Pending Aid & Awards” in your Account Summary in the Mosaic Student Center. After the add/drop deadline, your award will be automatically posted to your McMaster student account.
Satisfy and maintain all eligibility requirements: Refer to your Applicant Offer Letter, Memorandum of Understanding or the Undergraduate Calendar for specific eligibility requirements.
Getting your award
End-August to mid-September – Your award(s) will appear as “pending aid” on your account summary until it is ready to be disbursed.
Mid-September – The value of the award will disappear from pending aid. Over the next few days, “pending aid” will be removed, and the deposit will be complete. Please allow 5-7 business days for the transaction to be reflected in your student account.
Your entrance scholarship will be automatically credited to your student account to pay any fees owing after the add/drop deadline.
If you have paid all of your tuition fees, the remaining balance of your award will be deposited into your personal bank account. McMaster now issues refunds via Interac E-transfer. Learn more here.
Next Steps FAQs
Why did my pending aid disappear from my account summary in Mosaic?
Once we initiate the deposit of the award, its value will disappear from “Pending Aid” in Mosaic. Over the course of a day or two, the pending aid is removed and the deposit is completed. Please allow sufficient time for the transaction to complete and the funds to display on your account.
Am I eligible for entrance awards if I don’t register full-time in the upcoming fall term?
You must must enrol as a full-time student in the fall term to remain eligible for an automatic entrance award. Registration in, or transfer to, another program of study and/or a change in course load may result in forfeiture or adjustment in the value of the award. Please connect with a Student Services Professional before making any changes to your program of study or course load.
Awards by application may have different terms regarding your enrolment.
What if I have a credit on my account because of my award?
Your entrance award will be deposited into your student account towards your tuition and fees. If there are funds left over, you can request a payment to you personal account.
