Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Questions about UBC undergraduate admission


Canucks FTW!!!

Recommended Posts

Provincial exams were made optional in 2011. I still wrote them (2011 grad), as there are some easily attainable scholarship incentives. Marks on the provincial hardly matter in BC anyway, as admission is granted on Term 2 grades (at UBC, anyway).

What? Do you mean that's the year universities stopped requiring you to write them? They were first optional in 2007 but everyone still wrote them because the BC universities wanted them. It was funny because I guess my one teacher didn't know I wasn't going to challenge the French 12 exam (UBC wasn't going to look at it) and submitted a dummy course mark to the ministry (I assume it was in before I didn't write the exam) so I ended up with a really high mark and credit for a course I never took.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If only that were true. Looked into transferring after my 2nd year, it's amazing how many course credits are not transferable to other universities. At that point I had about 70 credits, UBC (and UBC-O by association) would have only taken just over half of them. Considering I was already half a year behind on my degree at the time due to inability to register in the courses I needed, it seemed like a bad idea to tack on another year just to make up the credits I lost.

maybe it depends on programs then, because i certainly didn't have this experience at all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My friend was waitlisted for Sciences last year and he managed to get in sometime in May/June! 84 is pretty solid and if you have decent extracurric, you have a chance!

In the event you don't hear back from them in June, you can try going to UBC to appeal. I also know someone who got into Sciences after this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Biology to microbiology after the end of third year but department 's requirement is an A average in all expected third year courses for a microbiology student. I didn't consider microbiology until a catharsis during an elective course about it barely a year ago

Yeah Im doing Biology as well, but now Im contemplating switching into something with more possibilities if my dreams of healthcare don't work... I wish I did Econ first and then just completed the pre-reqs for med, etc.. later on. That way I could have done accounting or something as back up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I pretty much realized partway through my second year that all med school pre reqs were highly memorization based and completely lacked any requirement of doing application based brain work. And then I realized that becoming a physician was akin to a walking talking book and all you are at the end is a highly skilled labourer. Didn't appeal to me at all and the moment I stopped worrying about med school my grades rocketed.

Start thinking outside that med school cage bro, amazing things start to happen

Thats good advice! oh well theres always the Pouria dentistry route in the Philippines :bigblush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grade inflation since provincials have caused mails to skyrocket. On a sidenote, frack UBC's English req. 20% discrepancy killed my dreams.

You could still pursue your dreams. UBC isn't the only university in this world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Biology to microbiology after the end of third year but department 's requirement is an A average in all expected third year courses for a microbiology student. I didn't consider microbiology until a catharsis during an elective course about it barely a year ago

Is Microbiology at UBC the equivalent of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at SFU? There is a microbiology course for MBB or Biology majors but I didn't know Microbiology itself could be a major.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah Im doing Biology as well, but now Im contemplating switching into something with more possibilities if my dreams of healthcare don't work... I wish I did Econ first and then just completed the pre-reqs for med, etc.. later on. That way I could have done accounting or something as back up.

Are you trying to go into Medicine? Why would you switch from Biology to Microbiology if you want to go to med school?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or its shady equivalent, med school in the Caribbean

$5 blowjobs, if only

well one of my friends just finished med school in the Caribbean and is almost finishing his residency at a Chicago hospital in US. So am not sure why going to schools outside of Canada or US is looked down upon if you can achieve the same goal of being a doctor in US or Canada?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you trying to go into Medicine? Why would you switch from Biology to Microbiology if you want to go to med school?

I never considered switching to Microbiology.. The only reason I am not satisfied with Biology atm is because there aren't many practical jobs in the field aside from being a Biologist or Professor, it is a very vague major. I want to pick a major that has many branches of jobs or opportunities just incase I can't get accepted into Medicine. If I could go back I would most likely would have majored in Econ and completed the pre-reqs later on. Fortunately my GPA isn't the issue right now, but It will be tested soon once I take more difficult courses. Im also thinking of the future if Medicine or health care is for me even if I were to be accepted. Long story short I am having a midlife crisis lol..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well one of my friends just finished med school in the Caribbean and is almost finishing his residency at a Chicago hospital in US. So am not sure why going to schools outside of Canada or US is looked down upon if you can achieve the same goal of being a doctor in US or Canada?

Its not frowned upon, but the standards and practices aren't ideal for studying Medicine. Some of the Caribbean schools make it easier to enter like no standardized testing or low GPA requirements which makes the quality of education seem shady. Also its difficult to enter residency because you are classified as a International Medical Graduate, which means there are less spots available for you.

This article has some good reasons: http://www.macleans.ca/work/jobs/medical-school-dean-warns-against-overseas-schools/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never considered switching to Microbiology.. The only reason I am not satisfied with Biology atm is because there aren't many practical jobs in the field aside from being a Biologist or Professor, it is a very vague major. I want to pick a major that has many branches of jobs or opportunities just incase I can't get accepted into Medicine. If I could go back I would most likely would have majored in Econ and completed the pre-reqs later on. Fortunately my GPA isn't the issue right now, but It will be tested soon once I take more difficult courses. Im also thinking of the future if Medicine or health care is for me even if I were to be accepted. Long story short I am having a midlife crisis lol..

IMO, I think you should stick with Biology since you seem to have high grades in that major and not switch to Microbiology if your number 1 goal is going to Medical school. You should try to go with a major that gives you an easier time achieving higher grades since the grades will be the number 1 factor of you getting into med school. Microbiology is much tougher than Biology and it might actually affect your GPA unless you like to challenge yourself. Its up to you but if I were you, I probably wouldn't switch and jeopardize my chances of getting to med school due to a bit of drop off in grades.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not frowned upon, but the standards and practices aren't ideal for studying Medicine. Some of the Caribbean schools make it easier to enter like no standardized testing or low GPA requirements which makes the quality of education seem shady. Also its difficult to enter residency because you are classified as a International Medical Graduate, which means there are less spots available for you.

This article has some good reasons: http://www.macleans.ca/work/jobs/medical-school-dean-warns-against-overseas-schools/

My friend went to the American University of the Caribbean (AUC) to study Medicine and he researched everything before applying there. Now AUC have hospitals in US where their students could finish their residency and eventually land a job as a Physician in US once they pass the board/licensing exam. AUC med school is also accredited in US and I know many students in Canada and US who were rejected from entering med school are now studying there.

Reasons why it is hard to get into medical and dental schools nowadays in either US or Canada isn't due to standards but the lack of seat and space in each school. Also, since Canada and US have a large influx of immigrants coming over every year, especially from Asian countries has created a tough competition to the point where anything less than perfection won't be enough to get a seat in one of the medical schools in Canada or US. Trust me when I say that I've known a lot of really smart students being rejected from medical school due to being off by a couple of % from the average entrance mark.

BTW, I also read that article in the link you posted and I would take that with a grain of salt. I know for a fact that Medical dean who studied in North America doesn't want rejected students getting their education overseas to come back and compete with homegrown medical doctors due to creating competition among doctors working in Canada. I know many US doctors already hate the fact that there are a lot of US accredited medical schools outside of US. They know that increase in the number of doctors in US would eat into their private practice revenues. It is also a reason why the American Dental Association and Canadian Dental Association are not accrediting any dental schools outside of North America (except the recent accreditation of some Australian Dental school through an agreement between both respective dental associations in Canada and Australia).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah Im doing Biology as well, but now Im contemplating switching into something with more possibilities if my dreams of healthcare don't work... I wish I did Econ first and then just completed the pre-reqs for med, etc.. later on. That way I could have done accounting or something as back up.

You probably wouldn't be prepared for accounting with an econ major. That's why you can major in accounting specifically. with econ you're looking at government, analytical and consulting jobs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Optional provincial exams (eg math, physics, chem, bio 12 etc) were removed after 2011, cause it was a waste of time/money for them to set up these exams that few people were actually taking.

You still have to take the 5 required provincials (english, math, science 10, socials 11, english 12).

Damn that sucks! So seems I got lucky with my year allowing us the option to write them (or not), but not having them be required for UBC admission.

Like I said, was an easy scholarship incentive for many.

Stupid decision to scrap them outside of the ones required for graduation... It's essentially an audit for the province to make sure the education system is doing its thing. Partly the reason for such inflated grades in high-school - there's simply just no standardization anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well one of my friends just finished med school in the Caribbean and is almost finishing his residency at a Chicago hospital in US. So am not sure why going to schools outside of Canada or US is looked down upon if you can achieve the same goal of being a doctor in US or Canada?

Transferring back to Canada/US is highly competitive; you're better off fighting for a spot domestically... Unless you've just got no shot with the competition here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...