The Vancouver Connection Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 UBC. this shouldn't even be a discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 It honestly doesn't matter. Just pick the campus with the easier commute if you are not living on residence. All that matters in uni is your connections, not the prestige of your degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FallenCR7A Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 SFU has a pretty good/recognized Applied Science faculty I can tell you that, which is not the same overall-school prestige as UBC. Also depends on what you plan to major in, I've had some bad feedback regarding UBC applied sciences (comp sci specific), but everyone has different experiences. All up to you, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_coolcat Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Well, I chose UVic over both UBC and SFU so my opinion probably doesn't count for much here, but anyways... This question is really hard to answer without knowing what your end game is. My opinion personally is you should choose whichever school you think will give you the best quality education. I haven't heard too many good things about the UBC undergrad experience. It seems to be much more focused on their graduate programs than undergrad. I had a couple of co-op supervisors tell me they preferred to hire students from SFU or UVic because UBC students didn't get enough practical lab experience and often didn't have the skills needed to do the job. I've also heard this from a couple of friends of mine who are now grad students at UBC and are surprised at how little lab experience the undergrads get. That being said, this is purely anecdotal and could be wrong, so don't take my word for it. Again, what school you choose really depends on what your goal is. I think if you want to work in industry or even if you want to go to grad school you're better off choosing a school that's going to get you a good mix of academics and practical experience. I also highly advise picking one with a good co-op program because the connections you make in co-op will be critical to you later whether you choose academics or industry. On the other hand, if you're just going into Science so you can get your pre-reqs for a medical profession like pharmacy, medicine or dentistry maybe you would be better off in a purely academic school like UBC. But really, I wouldn't stress about it too much. They're both excellent schools. It's not like choosing one over the other is suddenly going to set you on the wrong course in life. Just choose whichever one feels right to you! It will be awesome either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That's What She Said Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I can't say which one is better since I've never attended SFU but I hated my years at UBC. Yes the campus was beautiful but that was pretty much the only good thing I can say about it. Didn't like most of my profs; obviously they were very knowledgeable but they had a hard time conveying that knowledge to us, or they just didn't care to. I mean, most were hired to do research, so what can you expect, right? You could just tell that teaching was a real chore to them. And I had a couple profs who couldn't speak English very well and no one could understand them.... extremely annoying. I also wasn't a fan of the "vibe," found it kinda pretentious but maybe that's what you'll find at any uni, I don't know. I did strongly consider SFU but I chose UBC because it was quite a bit closer to me. You should probably take location into account as well... It might not seem like a big deal now but when you have 8am classes or 10 hour days you won't want to spend any more time commuting than you have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I am in UBC chemical engineering, what I suggest is for you to choose based on the major you want to go into. SFU does not offer "classical" disciplines of engineering like mechanical, civil, chemical, mining etc. A good a chunk of engineering jobs are going to be in these fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberries Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 UBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Fluffy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 UBC for sure...and just for fun.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks_for_cup27 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I go to SFU, and applied only to SFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustJokinen! Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Neither UVIC alum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks_for_cup27 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Also http://content.qs.com/supplement2011/top500.pdf UBC at 51 > SFU at 260 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Fluffy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks_for_cup27 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 No, I am not a liar. I wanted to go into Criminology and UBC does not offer it for undergrads. If UBC does not offer Criminology and SFU does, and if I want to go into Criminology, then I would not waste my money applying to UBC. I want to go into Criminology and UBC does not offer it. Therefore I would not want to waste my money applying to UBC. Just because UBC is no longer precious as you think it is where everyone wants to go there, do not become a total douche saying that everyone actually wants to go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 If you're looking for a more home-like environment go with SFU. Reputation wise it's getting a lot better and there will be less of an adjustment period for you to get comfortable there. It's a beautiful campus and almost all the profs I ever had were phenomenal. UBC is a bit more decorated in their reputation but you definitely feel like just a number there, so it totally depends on what you prefer. Also, if you know exactly what you want to do go to UBC. If you're still trying to figure it out go to SFU. They have the WQB (Writing, Quantitative, Breadth) requirements which make you take a certain number of courses from faculties outside your major. Sometimes one of those courses might really click with you and it'll help you decide what direction to take your education and your career. Either way, University is an amazing experience so enjoy it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yung Pony Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 "UBC is prestigious" -UBC students Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yung Pony Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 This is true for most of Canada, especially out west. In America it's still an issue though. The eastern schools (Harvard, Yale, etc.) all hold mega prestige that UBC can't even dream of. And the likes of McGill and University of Toronto come before UBC too. Western North America schools don't have much prestige outside of Stanford and, maybe, Berkeley. In BC everyone has a degree from UVIC, SFU, or UBC. There is no prestige in any of them, and if you applied for a job out east, they'd probably go for someone with a McGill or U of T degree before a west coast one (if they were one of the few professions that actually cared about this sort of thing, and very, very few do) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Fluffy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Calm down it was a touch of sarcasm, I think everyone is quite aware there are people whose first choice was to to go to SFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 No, everyone is not aware. Numerous UBC students think they are superior to SFU students because they go to UBC. They think SFU is a school where only students who are not as good as them go to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamhuis Hipcheck Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Because it's true? I don't know about you but almost everyone I know that goes to SFU is there for criminology so they can write the LSAT and apply to UBC law or didn't get into UBC. Also SFU offers almost no graduate studies, it's barely a University. You can say all you want about UBC not being that good, but it's a hell of a lot better than SFU and the fact is most people at SFU (especially the ones in arts/science) are there because they couldn't get into UBC (Which is stupidly easy now, they're using undergraduates as cash cows). Honestly if you were comfortable about the school you go to would you care about "UBC elitism". Truth is most do it jokingly because you guys get mad so easily and that shows more than what you say does. And really, SFU can't hold a candle to Sauders school of business, UBC Law, UBC Med and everything past undergraduate studies. But really OP you should go to UBC. SFU engineering doesn't have half of the option that UBC has (doesn't even have civil) and is very new (it would be better going to BCIT for engineering than SFU). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamhuis Hipcheck Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 lolwut? There are some faculties at SFU which are superior than what UBC offers. Crim, Kin, Arts. But yeah, I would definitely go to a school that is significantly worse faculty. Barely a university? How is SFU "barely a university". So if you were offered full scholarship to SFU and not UBC, you'd rather go to UBC because it's more "elite". Business at SFU is just as good as UBC's. The only reason Sauder is more popular is because it's at a more "elite" school. I ain't even mad. I applied to both UBC and SFU. Got into Kin programs for both schools and chose SFU. Why? 1) it's closer 2) Cheaper 3) Faculty is superior. (recently, UBC changed it's faculty from Human Kinetics to Kinesiology Coincidence?) But to OP. Want to go into Engineering? BCIT is where it's at. You're done in 2-3 years. You'll have a job in no time since BCIT, as I hear, has good job placements for graduates. Again, it doesn't matter where you go for Undergrad if you're doing grad school later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.