Info from UBC's Counsellor's Day 2013 (Part 1)

The following were pieces of information I gathered from UBC's Counsellor's Conference on November 1. Please read the following information very carefully - UBC has made some changes again in their admission and application process, and some of these changes may impact you.

There is a lot of information given, so this would be the first post of two to outline what I have heard:

Admission Process

• UBC has a set of minimum criteria for admission consideration. That is, if you do not meet any of these conditions, your application will NOT be considered. They include: high school graduation, program-specific pre-requisites, minimum admission average (70% for UBC Vancouver; 67% for UBC Okanagan), and a minimum mark of 70% in English 11 or 12 (UBC Vancouver only)
• Admission Competitive Assessment Criteria: When evaluating your application, UBC will be looking at several factors. They include: your grade 12 marks (because Templeton is a linear school, your grade 11 marks will not factor), faculty admission average, your personal profile (4 to 7 short essay questions)
• (NEW) Faculty Course-specific minima: For certain faculties, you may be required to obtain an unspecified minimum mark for a certain course to be admitted, regardless of your overall average. For example, Applicant A may be taken over Applicant B by the Faculty of Commerce if Applicant B has a much lower mark for Pre-Calculus 12, even though Applicant B's overall average is higher than Applicant A. 
• Admission Timeline: Self-reporting portal opens from March 3 to April 11 - students are to report their TERM 2 marks in progress (or completed grade 12 marks); UBC will begin making offers to qualified students in March. In May, UBC verifies the grades from the Ministry of Education, and may withdraw offers.

Self-Reporting

• (NEW) Unlike other post-secondary institutions, UBC does NOT look at your term 1 marks for admission purposes (except for major entrance scholarship applicants - see below). Students are to report their term 2 marks when the self-reporting portal opens on March 3. 
• (NEW) All documents used to self-report must be uploaded to UBC - this document to verify your grades may be your term 2 report card, or the Ed Access portal report for courses you completed. 
• (NEW) For distributed learning courses (including online courses), you must identify which course(s) are taken through this method, and who the course provide is. 
• Self-reporting a course you are re-taking: you have the choice to report a completed grade 12 course mark, or a term 2 interim grade for a course you are re-taking.
• Online Courses: To use it for admission calculation, the course must be completed by February 1. No exceptions to this rule.

Scholarship Application

• UBC offers two different types of financial aid/reward to students entering their programs, the Major Entrance Scholarship (MES) and the UBC Entrance Award.
• The MES is merit-based, and has a renewable value up to $10,000. 
• Application deadline is December 10, 2013.
• UBC will be using your grade 11 marks to create a shortlist of qualified applicants, then use your self-report grades to determine award recipients. 
• Grades reported in the academic profile will be used to render admission decision also. 
• All winners of the MES will be notified by April 28, 2014
• The UBC Entrance Award is needs-based. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2014
• Application requires a nomination letter and application found, which can be found at this address (click here)
• A separate application is required for this award

Read on for information regarding self-reporting, and English requirement for UBC. (Click here)