The University of British Columbia

Am I qualified to write a review for the University of British Columbia, or UBC? Yes I am.
You see, I lived in the Seattle area for almost 4 years and, once a month, I would go to Vancouver BC to be someplace more «European» (signs in kilometers and meters and words like harboUr, grEy, and centRE), which was easily done because the distance from Seattle to Vancouver was about the same as that between my native Los Angeles and San Diego. That means I’ve been to Vancity at least 45 times from Seattle and, with trips from other places I’ve lived, that number is even higher.
So, then, what qualifies me to write this review?
1. I have slept at UBC. Did you know that, during the summers when school is not in regular session, you can stay in Vancity, albeit not in the center, «on the cheap?» UBC Conferences and Accommodation is the wing of this institution that rents rooms and organizes conferences. They vary from basic dorm rooms, which are probably depressing, to accommodations that approximate suites. At about the midpoint is a residence like Gage Towers. Tall concrete structures of the Jetsonian era, they have about 6 rooms on each floor that open onto a central core area with a bathroom and a kitchenette /​salon. Breakfast is included. Parking is not. Still, you could only do this every now and then because it feels like one is going back in time.
2. I have been on their campus at least a dozen times.
3. I have gone to their bookstore to purchase UBC t-​shirts, which I either have or have used until they were threadbare and only suitable for waxing my car.
UBC is the «big cheese» of universities in Western Canada and is getting more important all the time. I tend to think of it as part of the Big Three: McGill (Montréal), University of Toronto (UT), and University of British Columbia (UBC). Canadians who don’t go to one of the three above schools can get defensive and extol the virtues of the university they’ve attended or send their kids to, such as Dalhousie (Halifax), Carleton (Ottawa), or U of C (Calgary). Locally, the other big school is Simon Fraser University (SFU). I would say that, in true flagship form, UBC is more «ivory tower» while SFU is more applied. I know someone who went to SFU to study forensics. It’s sort of like the relationship between UC Berkeley and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, if you will.
Having gone to UW-​Seattle, the two schools are compared just as are the two cities themselves. UW is truly an urban campus, with urban city neighborhoods encroaching on its boundaries. UW feels more compact. UW is at the same level as Lake Washington. Instead, UBC is at the edge of the city where tony neighborhoods with large mansions end. UBC’s layout feels more spacious and rectilinear. UBC is propped up on a promontory. In terms of academics, they excel in the same fields, more or less.
UBC is a city on the edge of a city, out at the very western end of the larger land mass of Vancouver. Buses, such as the 99 and the 4, will take you to UBC from the city center or from Kitsilano. UBC is also constantly growing, with cranes and construction barricades always in evidence. In terms of its rankings, UBC is top drawer in the sciences, business, engineering, law, architecture, and the liberal arts. Not only that, many of its facilities are top notch.
I don’t think that getting into UBC is easy. A Hispanic immigrant to Vancouver was ecstatic when telling me that her daughter had been admitted to UBC, indicating it was a feat to be proud of. Regardless, of the Big Three, I am most fond of McGill in Montréal, dubbed «the Harvard of Canada,» even though it’s actually a public school and getting into McGill is far more feasible than getting into Harvard. Mirroring Vancouver, UBC is diverse and cosmopolitan. However, I think that the diversity is somewhat clustered and reflects the demographics of the area — Anglo-​Canadians, Asian (–Canadians) primarily of Chinese and Indian stock, and a few others, such as some Hispanics, a growing group in Canada, various international students, and Americans who decided to venture up to Vancouver to be educated at this fine university.
If ever in Vancouver, Canada, do take the opportunity to visit this important and beautiful university, even if just for its views, its grounds, and its museums, such as the Museum of Anthropology. If Canadian, and pricey Vancouver beckons, consider UBC for school … or sending your children there if they are amenable to it.
Lastly, the experience is enigmatic in a way. As you walk around the University of British Columbia and if you could blot out anything around it, you might think you were in a Finnish forest, with newer Bauhaus inspired buildings, with many Asian folks walking around, with the wafting scent of high afternoon tea from the nearby mansions harkening to the province’s British roots, and with the unmistakable feeling that you are at the northern end of what is coined Ecotopia.

OMG I am writing this from an Alum experience so this one is going to take me back a few. Everyone’s experience is going to vary of course depending on the terms they attended, courses and area of compass that is explored. With that said it is hard to review the campass as a whole.
For starters there is a large campus with many departments and some touristy stuff. IT’S pretty much a city all on it’s own.
I came here to work at CITR and take some related courses as I wanted to be in the radio and entertainment field at the time before switching majors to accounting and film.
My experience at CITR was a positive one (see review for that).
Every time I am on campus there is always some movie being filmed here which is cool to see.
It is one of the things that as a city puts us on a map.

«Show you off, tonight I wanna show you off (eh, eh, eh)
What you got, a billion could’ve never bought (eh, eh, eh)»
UBC’s campus is beautiful. You’re next to the water, views of the mountains, it’s near a (skechy) nude beach, and the buildings are all nice. By comparison to other schools in the Pacific Northwest, in terms of aesthetics, UBC wins hands down.
In September, you’ll feel like UBC is a slice of heaven when you walk around in the evenings — that’s how pretty it is here. But when it rains, and it rains a lot, it’s awful. It can take 20 – 30 minutes to walk to classes, and when it’s windy too you’re umbrella is going to get owned.
In terms of facilities and the way this campus looks, you feel like you’re going to a school that would cost $ 30,000 a year.
«We gonna party like it’s 3012 tonight
I wanna show you all the finer things in life
So just forget about the world, we’re young tonight
I’m coming for ya, I’m coming for ya»
I have friends that went here from the U.S., and they’ve been to party schools in the U.S. They think UBC easily has these schools beat. From what I’ve seen, I would agree.
There are 3 student run bars on campus, 1 that gets crazy on Wednesday and Friday nights. As well as other privately owned bars and restaurants.
«Body rock, girl, I can feel your body rock (eh, eh, eh)
Take a bow, you’re on the hottest ticket now (eh, eh, eh)»
The girls here are gorgeous! Vancity girl demographic, with a bit of an inner-​nerdy side :)
«In time, ink lines, bitches couldn’t get on my incline
World tours, it’s mine, ten little letters, on a big sign»
There’s a pretty prominent international student population here. When they decide residence assignments, for the most part you can’t really state any lifestyle preferences. All UBC Housing dorms are alcohol, only a few houses are same-​gender, and there are few religious accommodations made.
So there are a lot of people living together from around the world. It works out pretty well, and people seem to have an overall easy rapport with each other. The frats/​sororities are all diverse, you’ll see non-​Asian people at Asian culture club events, and major student body events like AMS first week have extremely diverse crowds.
«Cause alllllllll I need
Is a beauty and a beat
Who can make my life complete
It’s alllllll about youuu,
When the music makes you mooove
Babyy, do me like you doooo»
I’m pretty happy with my experience here — 3.5 stars. Here’s the thing, if you want to have a fun time and meet lots of people, it’s a great place. But the career services (a big part of why we pay to go here), it could be far better. Most of my friends that ended up in good jobs out of school have the type personalities where they could have went to any school and been successful.
But a lot of other people I know ended up finding «survival» jobs. Quite a few people also ended up at BCIT or Langara for more career specific training. I’m tempted to give this place 4 stars, but when I asked a friend about his thoughts he pointed out to me, «Some people did well, but a 4 star school should have the majority of people succeed right out of school.»
In terms of power within the business industry, Sauder is far lacking behind American schools within the same global ranking. So, if you can afford the tuition at a good US business school, I’d avoid Sauder unless you’re majoring in something technical like Accounting. Same goes for Arts, if you have top notch grades try for a top notch US school, you’re essentially paying extra for a stronger career network.
And like most schools of this size you have some great professors, some crazy professors. A lot of the staffers suck, but they’re supported by student staffers who are usually excellent. Go here for Engineering or Science, most of the smart people I know out of those 3 departments ended up with what they wanted educationally and career wise.
Overall, it’s a good place to spend four years of your life.

What can I say. As an alumni, I am always amazed at how quickly the place changes. Every once in a while I swing by and see all the new construction.
Parking here is absolutely horrendous. They really want you to use the U-​Pass. With that said, during non-​peak hours, there are spots available on Marine Drive.
The campus is quite a bit like a park — lots of walking can be done here, and the view of the ocean really can’t be beat. They have way too much land here.
No need to discuss the academic programs here — that’s what the website is for.
What I will say though, is that they tore down the Cheeze pub. No idea where the students will go now to get their ghetto beers.

25^th best University in the world… not a bad ranking for 2012

This review is for 01/​02/​2012. I’ve been out of action for the past couple of days because of the flu. I still think about Vancouver everyday. I am already thinking retirement after my duties in Los Angeles are over. If I had been living in Canada and I had my choice of a college to go to, I would consider going to the University of British Columbia.
With everything so convenient in Vancouver, I took the bus from Granville St to University of British Columbia (UBC). There were so many different bus numbers, I don’t recall which one I took, but they all had signs headed to UBC. If you do arrive at UBC by bus, you’ll notice there are tons of bus depots on the property. I guess its TOO convenient. I guess you can live 20 miles away and still make it to class before it starts.
On that day, it was FREEZING COLD. I believe it was 19 degrees with wind chill. I didn’t realize the school was next to the water and my face froze fast. There was one facility on the campus grounds that was amazing. It was the Aquatics Center. With Vancouver being about 17 degrees, the Aquatics Center was about a nice 80+ degrees. With you inside the Aquatics Center, you’d never thought it was cold anytime during the day. The Aquatics Center has a bunch of memorabilia from their Olympic Games.
There are other beautiful view of the gardens, Anthropology Department, and very nice buildings. It was like a mix of England meets the future. I did like the Graduate School of Business Building. I am curious how Canada can help the U.S.‘s economy get better. You ask a Canadian about the impact of the global market, they’ll probably say…“You Crazy, eh?!“
UBC is just one big beautiful campus. I would have preferred visiting during the summer when its warm. It felt like I was doing a Polar Bear Plunge without even me stepping into the water. The one place that I was glad was open was the Aquatics Center. Without it, I would probably have turned into a frozen statue. Such a beautiful campus… I might have donate millions of dollars to this campus in the future.
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My UBC experience was sadly short but utterly brilliant. Great customer service, inspiring prof, and a challenging course.
It started when I accidentally applied as the wrong category of student. Unlike a lot of unis these days, where you phone and wait an hour on hold or get a student rep who can’t help you, the UBC number got me through to someone who immediately changed my application status and sent me a list of required documents. A mere 24 hours after sending in the documents, I my admission was confirmed. So easy. So civilized.
The course I took was amazing. Super informative and really challenging. The prof was an outstanding lecturer and a clearly brilliant and well-​read guy who, nonetheless, treated every last student as his peer. When I had a concern about one of the assignment requirements, he was totally open to hearing me out and finding a solution.
I really have nothing bad to say about UBC. It was a highlight of my academic life so far. I’m at SFU now, and I miss UBC desperately.

Great university with a lot of brilliant minds at work. Awesome active life, super easy to get involved in anything if you put yourself out there. The campus is indeed gorgeous during a sunny day. We’ve got:
–the Museum of Anthropology,
–a Rose Garden,
–Nitobe Japanese Tea Garden,
–Botanical Gardens
–UBC Farm…
Plus a lot of films and TV shows are/​have been filmed here including, but not limited to, The Butterfly Effect, 88 Minutes, Smallville, Psych, Supernatural, Try Seventeen…
Educationally, the first two years of your Bachelors will most likely be tough because typically class sizes are large, and it’s hard to get advice about anything from advisors (if you’re in Sciences – but Land and Food Systems has the best undergraduate advisors) but once you get through it all, it’s a breeze after that. Well, unless you’re studying something hard like Chemistry. UBC has a lot to offer, so if you’re considering studying here, be sure to check out all your options. You may discover a new found love for a subject you never knew existed (like food science!).

It is very hard to take away a star from the school I attend (and LOVE), but I am because the brains who control UBC are planning to demolish the UBC Farm to build condos. If this changes, I will update my review!
The remaining four stars are for:
* UBC has to be one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, April to October is best. But there are random sunny days in the winter that make us forget about the doom and gloom RAIN.
* The profs are very good at what they do for the most part. TAs are usually on the ball too. You just need to play a more active role in interacting with them.
* Storm the Wall competition every March. One of the funnest and largest intramural events in North America
* They have one of the best university libraries out there. Millions of dollars spent on keeping online databases of journals available to us students. Just wish there was a bit more space to actually study!
I grew up on campus, and I still love it. The unrelentless construction is changing the campus at an incredible rate. I hope it doesn’t totally lose its character. Hey, at least there’s Wreck Beach close by.

«When I was growing up, I had an imaginary friend named… Bort.» The former president, Dr. Martha Piper would often go on at length about her imaginary friend during her welcome speech to new students at UBC. No doubt, several of those new students would go on to develop their own imaginary friends through a combination of stressful assignments, illicit drugs, or alcohol throughout their university careers.
Catching cheap movies at the Norm theatre, attending the Friday and Wednesday night meat markets at the Pit Pub, playing shuffleboard at Koerner’s pub (because Koerner’s library has no shuffleboard), attending keggers at the Cheeze, crashing Buck-​a-​Beaker chemistry club beer gardens, being involved in seven different clubs, and rocking out at ACF (Arts County Fair) at the end of the year were quintessential parts of our educated hero’s university experience at this world-​class institution. Oh, and studying sometimes too.
As the home of the world’s largest cyclotron, it is recommended that you buy an anti-​rad suit before visiting, or possibly never have children again.
PROS:
— Consistently ranked in the top 3 Canadian universities by MacLean, and ranked 27^th in the world by Newsweek (circa 2006).
— Sprawling, scenic campus with lots of old trees, museums, libraries, and social spaces scattered around.
— They have a Wine Research Centre, a life sized earthquake machine they test actual buildings on, and an observatory that’s open to all students (on certain days) at this university… how cool is that?
— Friendly squirrels all around campus.
CONS:
— Wild birds will steal your food around the Student Union Building.
— Lack of school support for athletics.