<p>nbachris2788,</p>
<p>I'm an arts student at McGill.. so I can give you a general idea-- where there any specific fields you were interested in?</p>
<p>I'm in Honours English with a minor in history.</p>
<p>Hello, back to UBC- do any of you have information on the acceptance rate for American students? My daughter is waiting to hear...thank you!</p>
<p>How arethe English, history, and social sciences?</p>
<p>Hi Nbachris,</p>
<p>The courses that I have taken in english and history are very good. There are naturally a few duds among the professors, but over all it is a very strong facutly. Keep in mind however, that these are research professors: they teach and research and research is very important to all of them. It may make the appear standoffish at times. However, I would say that in English (and that's my bias) there are a lot of very good teachers who make class very enjoyable. </p>
<p>In English, you can major in one of three streams: literature, cultural studies, and drama and theatre (which really is more of a focus on drama and theatre plays than full out productions, which still are done). The strengths in the English department are in Shakespeare and in modernism, but there are a lot of really interesting film coureses and their 19th century group keeps getting stronger. The program is changing next year, so you'll actually be required to take a few more trageted classes (For example, you'll have to take a 19th century classs, but you will have your choice of which one to take).</p>
<p>History is much more flexiable: you just major in a particular area or period (europe, 19th century, North American). The teaching is relatively strong-- I'm not as interested in history, so I don't like anything as much! However, it does offer a wide range of courses and offers a lot more flexability. It's also much easier to get into honours (Only need a 3.3 as opposed to a 3.5 as in English)</p>
<p>I just know odds and ends about the others:</p>
<p>Sociology: rumour has it's easy A's.</p>
<p>Political science is very hot and very strong. There is a course called peacebuilding where students do a simulation of countries at war that lasts for a week. The students play politics and literally stay up all night.</p>
<p>Anything else I've missed?</p>
<p>UBC- The school I want to go to!!! I've done some research and here is what I can tell you...
* When I visited, the students seemed really friendly and approachable. Everyone was down to earth and polite (people kept holding the door open for me!)
* The campus has a lot of natural beauty. It looks out over the ocean and has its own beach. However, there is also a lot of construction going on right now. It is not a traditional looking, ivy and brick campus.
* Admission is difficult, at least for Canadian students. The average entering mark, according to Maclean's, is 89%. That means straight A's since 86% is an A in Canada. However, for Americans, the University wants at least 1300 SAT scores and a 3.7 GPA (that's the cut off though, which means it's the minimum marks you need to be considered for admission. Actual scores might need to be higher.)</p>
<p>3.7 cutoff????????? where did u get that info.. </p>
<p>also, SAT isnt required and it says that 1300 would "strengthen ur app"</p>
<p>I've talked to an admissions counselor about the GPA conversion and the SAT scores. As far as the SAT score, you're right about the wording. However, the reality is that the admission rate at UBC is around 45% (I found that statistic in a recent college guide book). It is not very likely that someone will get in with an SAT score of under 1300 (though it's not impossible with the right combination of other qualifications).</p>
<p>On the princeton review site, it says 49% admission rate.</p>
<p>what do you guys think about U of Western Ontario? someone told me it's a very good school for the sciences...</p>
<p>Yeah- now we are getting some good information! Thanks, you two, a lot! UBC is by far my (American) daugher's first choice for all the reasons listed, and more. I hadn't realized the percentages were weighted differently in the two countries so that I was assuming an American "B+" with the 85- 89% in the catalog and at the orientation meeting this summer. She did create an expanded application. I was worrying about the 1300 on the SATs, since it does seem vague- on the one hand, they don't "require" it, but on the other hand, she figured if she didn't send her scores they would think she had done poorly and had something to "hide". Anyway, she has a 1230 (because of the math), and a 3.6666666666666etc! So she would certainly seem to be teetering on the edge according to Chickadee. Uh oh. On the other hand, she is taking 4 AP classes this year and 2 last, and got a 4 and a 5- they seemed to like AP/IB??? The other thing I wonder is, at the meeting the advisor said they they calculate your GPA based not on ALL your grades, but only on a set of 4, junior and senior year, from classes in your Faculty of interest. IF that is true, she'd have a much higher grade point. What do you two think of all this? Many thanks!</p>
<p>It's true about how they calculate the GPA. Canadian schools mostly look at your junior and senior grades. It also definitely helps to take AP tests. I think if your daughter fills out a decent broader based admissions packet, she still has a good chance of admittance. Even though UBC looks at SAT scores, good grades and college prep classes are probably the most important. The admissions counselor basically said that first they look at grades and courseload. If they're very high, you're in. If you're on the bubble, they move onto SAT scores. If you're still on the bubble, they look at extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Thank you, Chickadee! Are you an American student with a very informed and helpful guidance counselor? (That would be a novel experience for my daughter, where the "counselors" seem bent on ruining students' hopes and dreams!) You've been very encouraging, and I appreciate your information. It is also more in line with what we were told at the summer orientation. On the other hand, the woman who spoke also said that they were on a par, in the States, with Columbia and Berkeley- ironically both places where my older daughter applied and was told at their orientation meetings that nobody gets in! Sigh. Thanks agaiin!</p>
<p>well im a 3.5 with 1300 (740m 560v) for UBC engineering.. no clue of my chances since im not IB dioloma. instead i have 6 certificates 3HL in Physics, Math and History</p>
<p>Dear Americanakidd, Those look like excellent credentials about which you should be very proud! My older daughter attended a different high school that had IB instead of AP. She was/is a pretty intense student and another story not relevant here, except that I noticed as we went to various orientations with her in the US the focus was always on AP, with IB as a kind of sidebar only addressed if someone brought it up. Outside of the Ivy League schools, UBC was the first university where they seemed genuinely familiar with- and impressed by- it. My older daughter would get kind of vague-ish, "Oh, yes....IB....hmmm- it is treated like AP but look for details on the Website..."! So I would assume that the fact that you are challenging yourself by taking the IB curriculum will be very impressive outside this country. You wouldn't have the diploma results until summer, anyway...best wishes, and thank you!</p>
<p>thanks.. thats a never ending debate IB v AP.. but IB wins.. easily cause people from my school have taken those AP Tests (IB doesnt get any college credit) and spanked the rest of them in the scores to get max course credit. </p>
<p>good luck to your daughter. everyday i keep loving UBC more</p>
<p>I think UBC is on par with those schools when you look at rankings. UBC recently beat Stanford in a computer science competition. However, admissions are different because it is still a public school. Plus, most Canadian students go to the school that is closest to home because it is more practical and cost effective (look at in-province and out of province numbers). This means that not all of Canada is competing to get into one school (such as Berkeley).</p>
<p>I have to second the comment about quality versus competitiveness.</p>
<p>Canada's population on the whole is much smaller that the states. In addition, I don't think we recieve as many foreign applicants as American schools would. </p>
<p>I may be misinformed but I think that the implementation of a very strict cut off (not sure if it is done in the states, as I only know about grad school applications) does actually give students a more realistic idea of whether they can get into the school or not, particularily in the case of using only GPA. Hence, the culture of reaches, matches, safeties is not predominant.
I only applied to two schools (for financial reasons), McGill and Concordia, and I think that many students also only apply to between one and three schools. </p>
<p>Hence, acceptances are so high, because students limit themselves to appropriate schools.</p>
<p>This is only a theory, but I think it might explain the difference in acceptance rates.</p>
<p>I used to live right next to McGill (on ave de pins) and always thought I would go there. Then my parents moved me to New Jersey. I will be going to Dartmouth next year which is close to Montreal. In fact, it is the closest urban center to Montreal, so, in a way, I'm going to school in Montreal! Oh Canada!</p>
<p>Well some time has gone by...my daughter is still waiting to hear from UBC (at least the Website has all the info, now) but has heard from both U Victoria and Simon Fraser. Do any of you have any opinions about either of those universities? Thank you!</p>
<p>hey everyone, i'm canadian too, in Gr11....</p>
<p>btw littlecannuck ===> where are you from ?</p>