An odd case, US to Canada

<p>Hello everyone, I've recently come to the conclusion that I don't really like my field of engineering. It isn't what I thought it would be, it's not enjoyable, doing the homework makes me miserable since I dislike it, etc.
So, I'm thinking of changing my field of study to something entirely different, but something I really enjoy, and I want to go to the University of British Columbia.</p>

<p>What I'm worried about is my GPA. I go to a rather prestigious engineering school right now (Georgia Tech), am in my second year, but like so many that come here, I've experienced a drop in my GPA. In high school, I had a 3.8 UW, all APs and honors. Here, my GPA is something like a 2.82.
UCB wants my high school transcript as well as my college transcript though, so I feel this could help.</p>

<p>My real question then, is: do you think I stand a chance at being accepted as a transfer student? And if I do get accepted, does anyone know about how much it would cost to go here?
I am very interested in this school, so any replies would be helpful.</p>

<p>Why would you wanna go to UBC in Canada. You could tell me what is your transfer prospective major, and I will tell you a few universities that are top notch in the program, and that I think you stand a chance. Applying to many universities is always safer than applying to only one.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech is not "prestigious". It may be hard to transfer into UBC with that GPA, but you still have a chance. It would be slight reach, if I had to guess. Another problem is credit transfer. If you are in your later years of study you might not be able to get full credit transfer and consiquentially it will take you longer to graduate.</p>

<p>The best option would probably be U of Georgia. It is about the same tier as Georgia Tech, and has a pretty all-round academics. It's wide variety of majors might be of interest to you. U of Georgia would be a match.</p>

<p>Well, I wanted to go there to study either econ or food science, and I know it has a good econ program.</p>

<p>And you're right, I could go to UGA, but I have been there to visit friends, and I don't like UGA or Athens very much at all.</p>

<p>I'm also in my second year. I have just started with my major-level classes, and I'm only in one right now.</p>

<p>I was also looking at other colleges, but I am particularly interested in UBC because I have relatives that live in Vancouver, so it would be nice to live nearby some people I knew. Plus the city is gorgeous.</p>

<p>As it turns out, Jwei, we are twins!</p>

<p>I just finished my freshman year at a US college. I am considering transfering to UBC, in particular their econ program, and why, you ask? Becuase I have relatives up there! haha. </p>

<p>Anyway, if you happen to be a Canadian citizen, UBC is wicked cheap, which is a big reason why I am applying. If not, I think it is comparable to a US Uni. That info is pretty easy to find on their website (I am lazy at the moment). </p>

<p>My uncle works there, so I will ask him about transfering to the econ department. I am not sure really how selective they are, but I think you stand a chance. It doesn't hurt to apply. However, I might get some econ classes behind you if I were you. THey want you to be sure that you know what you want.</p>

<p>The problem with UBC is that they really will only look at your gpa but they calculate it in percentage. I think you need to have about a 70% average to at least be competitive but hopefully they take your uni/course load into consideration.</p>

<p>Tuition at UBC is cheap, what makes it expensive is living in Vancity. Vancouver has expensive housing but if you can get oncampus you should be fine.</p>

<p>Food science I am not too sure about. But for economics, UBC has a good program. I think it will be a reach for you, but this judgement is only based on your GPA that you told me. I assume you can write a good essay and get good recommendations to support u in getting admitted there. Vancouver is a great city. You should apply there if UBC is the place you want to be. Good luck in wherever you end up =)</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure you don't need/have to write essays or get any rec's for a UBC transfer. It's just your highschool transcript, your college transcript, and possibly a score report if you are from the states.</p>

<p>If UBC is the same sort of application process and tuition as McGill, it is a "by the numbers" application. No essay, no recs. And the tuition, even for US citizens, is significantly cheaper than most US privates. </p>

<p>Georgia Tech is definitely highly regarded in the tech fields, whether anonamous knows it or not. I hate the word "prestigious" wrt colleges so I won't use that word, though. </p>

<p>jwei, I think your best bet would be to speak to someone in UBC admissions. Ask them how they evaluate GPAs from tougher programs (Engineering) and tougher schools like Georgia Tech. Ask if you can submit supplementary materials to discuss that, so that adreps who may not be familiar get the idea. Kind of like a high school profile that goes with your high school transcript. Ask if you can submit recs as supplementary materials from a college prof.</p>

<p>Good luck and please come back and tell us what you find out.</p>

<p>Thank you for the replies everyone.
As I said, I'm only really interested in UBC at this point. I'd love to go there but am looking at other places as well, but all of this is very helpful. I guess I will have to get in contact with the admissions department then. :p</p>