Can anyone give me information on University of British Columbia? How selective is it for American students? What is the cost? Any quirks in the application process I should know about?
UBC was suggested in response to another question I asked about University of Utah, University of Washington and University of Colorado. I checked out UBC’s website, and the school and location look incredible.
My S21 has an UW gpa 3.97, W gpa 4.26, 35 ACT, and very weak EC’s. I am interested in UBC for him not only because of the quality of the school and location, but I’ve also heard that the Canadian universities do not place as much importance on EC’s as the US schools. He would most likely major in chemistry or physics.
I’d appreciate any input. Thanks.
Tuition at Canadian universities is not the bargain for Americans that it was 20 years ago when my son went to McGill. Here is the cost calculator (all in Canadian $):
https://you.ubc.ca/financial-planning/cost/
Limited need and merit aid is available to Americans.
Here are the admission requirements:
https://you.ubc.ca/applying-ubc/requirements/international-high-schools/#united-states
UBC, like most Canadian universities, admit based on stats: UW GPA and SAT/ACT for Americans. EC’s, letters of rec, essays are seldom required and even when required are not enough to overcome subpar stats.
Overall UBC is moderately selective. Selectivity varies by major with science, engineering and business being the most selective.
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There are 2 UBC campuses. Make sure your son knows which one he is applying to.
If he has a 529, make sure that UBC is on the list for eligible foreign institutions that work with 529s.
How do you “tag” people when you reply? I can’t figure out how to reply to a specific comment.
Thanks for the info, both members. Re. McGill, I would love for my son to consider McGill, but I think it’s a bit too far away (we are in California), and I think the weather might be too different than what he’s used to. We were in Montreal last summer, though, and it looks like a very nice school in a good area.
Re. the tip about 529, thanks, will look into that. I hadn’t even thought about that. Also, you answered my question about the two campuses. Both look good, so we are considering both.
To tag someone it is @TomSrOfBoston or whatever screen name.
@MorseLewis, my understanding is that UBC is a slightly less competitive admission for a US citizen than UW for an out-of-state applicant. Like most schools, certain majors are highly competitive, though.
So I have to type the screen name to tag someone? I thought maybe there was a way to tag someone by clicking on a button or clicking on the screen name.
@MorseLewis You have to type the name in with the @ in front of it. There’s no button. You can private message someone, but then that keeps the conversation hidden.
Chemistry or Physics won’t be that competitive. Your son has great stats and should get in.
My two older kids are several time zones away and youngest child will be moving away from home to the same time zone as his siblings next month. Acck! You are wise to keep him in the same time zone. It’s very difficult to connect via phone or zoom when the schedules are out of sync.
“an UW gpa 3.97,”
This is most of what any university in Canada is going to need to know (along with contact information). Canadian universities admit largely on stats. An unweighted GPA of 3.97 sounds like either one B or a small number of A-'s. Either way your son’s chances of acceptance at any university in Canada is excellent. I do not think of admission to top universities in Canada as easy. I think of it as easy if you have the stats.
I agree that McGill is a great school in an attractive location. I also agree that it is quite far from California. I have lived in Montreal and I have lived in California, and the winters are indeed very different. Montreal gets cold. People seem to get used to it (I started there so I was used to it at a young age). Vancouver in contrast will be quite a bit warmer in the winter. It rains a lot in the winter in Vancouver. Summers are beautiful in nearly all of Canada.
Be aware that the costs that are listed are in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate is quite good for those of us who live in the US and are paying tuition to universities in Canada. The most famous universities in Canada (McGill, Toronto, UBC, Waterloo for CS) can get away with charging international students more compared to other schools in Canada. The University of Victoria and Simon Fraser are also very good, but are not nearly as well known in the US compared to McGill, Toronto, and UBC.
I have multiple family members who attended UBC and should be able to give more information if you have any questions.
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@DadTwoGirls
Thanks for your input. Do you know anything about University of Victoria, such as how hard it is to get in, what the environment is like, do the students seem happy, does it have a good reputation, and do you need to submit essays?
@MorseLewis Your son’s stats should be more than good enough to get into UBC. Canadian Unis are easier to get into in general, but the grading and workload can be a shock, to some.
UVIC and SFU have probably improved a lot since I knew them. I would say that they are above average but not outstanding schools, in general. UVIC, in particular, is a very nice campus, in a beautiful, sunny part of Vancouver island.
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@57special
Thank you. He will apply to UBC and UVIC and we’ll see what happens.
“Do you know anything about University of Victoria”
Sorry, I missed this back when you asked it.
I have never visited U.Vic. I have driven by a few times. Based on what I know from its reputation it is a very good university. It is not quite at the same level and not quite as famous as UBC, but it is a good school. If you do not like cold winters, then it probably has the best weather in Canada. Summers are beautiful (as they are in most of Canada). Winters will be only slightly milder than Vancouver, but will be significantly drier than Vancouver. It is about 7km from the heart of downtown Victoria, which is a nice and relatively safe small city.
You should check on-line to compare its price with UBC. My expectation is that it will cost less for international students but I have not checked for a few years.
At one point I found something on-line that listed which Canadian universities are okay for use with a 529. My recollection is that it included every university in Canada that I had ever heard of, and quite a few more. Since we live in the northeast I did not specifically look for U.Vic on the list.
Given your son’s stats I expect him to get into both UBC and U.Victoria. I think that both are very good choices. If we lived closer I would have recommended both for my kids.
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@DadTwoGirls
Thanks so much! Just waiting for the applications to open Sept. 1. I would really like to visit both campuses, but not sure if that is going to happen any time soon. I confirmed that 529 money can be used for UBC and UVIC, but I wouldn’t have thought to check if someone on CC hadn’t mentioned it.
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Hi, my HS senior from CA is considering UVic. I’m wondering if your child ended up going there and if so, how it’s been. (I know COVID has affected a lot.) Thanks.
No S is not attending UVic. I actually regretted having him apply there because the app fee was expensive and they didn’t even tell him that he had been admitted until after May 1. Also, because of COVID, we couldn’t even get there to visit and it seemed iffy as to whether students would be able to travel between Canada and the US.