Quick Info from BCIT Info Day

As you know, I was at BCIT for its high school counsellor's conference last Friday. There were some news, and some important information, about BCIT that you should know. Without going into great lengths in explaining each point, I will just list them in point form below; if you have any questions, please come to see me, or write down all your questions, and ask the BCIT representative on post-secondary day on October 31:

• BCIT currently has about 1000 students who enrolled into its program straightly after high school graduation. 
• Two important stats of BCIT's success that should be noteworthy to you: 91% of BCIT's degree programs' graduates are employed in the field of their studies. This is substantially higher than the 79% provincial average. 
• 95% of students who completed an apprenticeship programs at BCIT are employed within 2 months in their chosen trades. 
• BCIT offers programs in different lengths: 1-year certificate programs, 2-year diploma programs, and 4-year degree programs.
• Many programs allow students to complete a diploma in two years; you can then decide whether you wish to continue to complete the degree in the same area, or choose to leave with a diploma to go to another program or enter the work force (which is very different from most universities, where if you leave after two years, you will be leaving without a degree or any sort of certification of the work you have completed)
• Many programs have excellent job prospects; students who complete a program at BCIT can often find a job with very competitive wages 
• Program admission requirements vary: because of the variety of programs offered, it is very important for you to check your pre-requisites when applying

One impression I want to share with you from my visit to BCIT is that people often are not aware of the jobs that a BCIT program can train you for. BCIT focuses on hands-on, application skills training, and graduates from BCIT often are hired based on the skills they have obtained from a highly intense program. Students who have met a program's optimal admission averages are expected to be offered admission very quickly. This is a big plus that is not seen in other schools.

Because of its highly hands-on nature, it would be highly beneficial for you to explore for yourself what each program has to offer. BCIT offers several services to help you learn about the school. They include:

• BCIT tours - take a tour around BCIT's Burnaby campus to learn about its program (Go to bcit.ca/tours to sign up - click here)
• BCIT Big Info Day - all programs, all in one place for your to learn about (Go here to register for the October 24 or February 27 info day)
• BCIT Spend-a-Day - become a BCIT student for a day! Faculty would pair you up with a BCIT student currently enrolled in the program of your interest to take you through a day of classes. (Sign up here)

Info on the Language Challenge Exams

The packages for the language challenge exams have arrived - you can visit your counsellor for the registration package. Here are some important information for you to know before registering:

• The challenge exam is for students who have never received course credit for the course they wish to challenge (i.e. you cannot challenge for French 11 because you are not happy with the mark you received last year in the course)
• The challenge exam is not for students who have been granted credit equivalency for a course they are being given credit for
• The challenge exam's results may be used towards fulfilling an admission requirement by a post-secondary school, but it is NOT to be used for admission calculation
• A refundable deposit cheque for $50.00 is to be made payable to the Delta School District when you submit your registration. A refund will be issued when you show up to write the challenge exam.
• International students wishing to write a challenge exam must provide a $155.00 NON-REFUNDABLE cheque payable to the Vancouver School Board when registering
• P.7 and P.8 of the registration package are to be reviewed by your counsellor to determine your eligibility - it must be filled out completely and accurately.
• P.9 and P.10 of the registration package needs to be filled out ONLINE and printed to go along with your hand-written registration package. The online portion of the registration form can be accessed at this website: http://web.deltasd.bc.ca/schools/secondary/challenge-exams (click here to enter)
• Completed registration packages must be submitted to your grade counsellor by Thursday, October 25 at 3:03 p.m. (no exceptions). Completed packages need to be sent off Friday morning by your counsellors, so we cannot accept late registrations.

For more information, or to pick up your registration package, please come and see me ASAP.

Info/Facts from the UBC Counsellor's Conference

I was in attendance yesterday at the UBC's High School Counsellors' event. There are some important information that prospective students of UBC should know. UBC will be visiting Templeton October 10 (Wednesday) at lunch, so you can listen to this information yourself, first-hand. The following are some of the highlights that you may want to know coming into the meeting next Wednesday:

• New Bachelor Program: Starting in September 2013, UBC will open a new degree program called Bachelor of International Economics (BIE). It is a cohort program that will only accept 80 students; the program offers students who want to study economics in a more global sense to begin a program right at the start of year 1.
• Application Process: Starting in 2013, all applicants would require to complete an academic profile along with their regular application, which would be used to ensure you have the proper prerequisites needed for the program you are applying to.
• Application Process (continued): Also starting in 2013, most faculties would require students to complete a "personal profile," which would be used for UBC's board-based assessment in determining admission. The personal profile will help determine successful applicants into a program at UBC.
• Application Process (continued): Also starting in 2013, application for admission and application for entrance scholarship would be consolidated into one single application.
• Reporting of Grades: When filling out your academic profile, UBC only wants you to include COMPLETED COURSES. When self-reporting your grades during application, IN PROGRESS COURSE MARKS also need to be reported. 

There are also some proposed changes to the application and admission process that are currently being discussed, and may affect you when you apply for September 2014 admission (as well as current applicants for September 2013 admission):

• Conditional Admission: there may be increased conditionality in UBC's offer for admission
• English 12 Marks: Students who perform substantially worse in the English 12 provincial exam may have their admission retracted.UBC may also choose to use ONLY your provincial exam mark to calculate admission averages.
• Faculty-specific Minimal Mark: Many faculties have specific grade 12 courses used to calculate admission requirement, plus other provincially-approved courses that you can choose from your course load. UBC may set a faculty-specific minimum mark for those required courses when evaluating your application for admission.

There is a lot to digest, I know. Please don't hesitate to come by to ask me any questions, and remember to attend UBC's info session next Wednesday to have the people from UBC answer all of your questions.