It's one of the best research universities in Canada and has a really diverse student body. The scholarship was also an added incentive, but the beautiful campus, and the engaging community within, had appealed to me already before I found out about the scholarship.
Course Curriculum :
It's great, and it's pretty much exactly what it's built up to be. They have a lot of incentives like scholarships, competitions, and prizes for students, and are really trying to normalize advocating for mental health, which is something I really like. As for the courses, I think most of them are at the right level of difficulty, but I did think some of the delivery of said courses could be improved.
Exams :
For my application, I submitted an SoP and had to write responses to some prompts by the university. Since I wanted to apply for the IMES award, I applied by their early deadline and made sure to emphasize my extracurricular achievements since my grades would already show academic rigor. I talked about what made me want to go into engineering, and I made sure to research opportunities at UBC in advance so I could express my enthusiasm and interest in the university and demonstrate that I had a plan before I even went into university. I wrote as though I already saw myself as being part of the community at the university, and I didn't shy away from writing about why I thought I was a good fit (my values and beliefs aligned really well with UBC's). No, I did not have any rounds of interviews for UBC, but I did have one for UofT (I received an offer from there but chose to attend UBC instead). My advice to anyone partaking in interviews would be to just relax and try not to seem superficial - if you are who you say you are, then you will naturally be able to ace the interview. I recommend not memorizing anything, but having a brief idea of what you might say when responding to any questions. Be prepared, but not overprepared. Also, looking at the university's website and their motto as well as the qualities they look for in their students is a good place to start so that you can highlight those qualities in yourself. Keyword: highlight, do not lie about it if you do not have the quality in question!
Placement :
I actually do not have much experience with this as I'm still applying for the co-op program, and will only find out more about the opportunities, and whether I've been accepted into the program or not, sometime in October. I've heard mixed reviews about the placement program, but it seems that most people who do apply through their portal land jobs.
Internship :
Yes, I just recently completed an internship at Binate Solutions. It's a software development/outsourcing company, and I spent two months doing work here (remotely). It was an unpaid internship, and I got it mostly through a connection, but I did have to go through a formal process regardless.
Events :
I have only good things to say about campus life and events, etc. The community is amazing, and you will almost always find someone who shares the same beliefs and hobbies as you. There's a club for literally anything and everything! I joined 5 of them, all based on different interests I have, and I think that was probably the best decision I made in the first year.
Fees :
For international students, it's around CAD 50,000 to CAD 60,000 per year, so if one takes four years to complete, then the range is between CAD 200,000 to CAD 240,000.
Scholarship :
Yes, the IMES award, worth CAD 80,000 over the course of the four years during which I will be doing my Bachelor's degree. For this scholarship, one is automatically considered when applying for the early application deadline - it is for international students only, however.
Faculty :
Not sure about the ratio of faculty to student, but the staff are extremely approachable and encourage you to reach out to them with any advice. I've only had very few experiences dealing with them directly, and they were able to assist me in resolving the transfer credit issue I had. While there are a lot of engineering students, students, in general, takes extreme pride in being part of the engineering community. There have been times, though, where this pride was borderline egotistic and arrogant, but for the most part, the faculty is great. Just not very humble at times is all haha.
Hostel :
I opted to live on campus during the first year, and again, it was really great. I lived in Place Vanier, and I shared a room with my friend from high school, who had also decided to study engineering with me. We are not sure of our plans for the upcoming year given everything is online now, but overall, the experience was great. I met a lot of my close friends from our residence, and the RAs there are ready to help whenever - at least this was my experience. One thing I wish they'd improve on is access to a kitchen, but I can understand their reasoning behind not proving this service. There was only one kitchen for the first years amongst all the buildings in our residence because meal plans are mandatory for the first years living in the residence. Still, it would've been nice to be able to cook more often, and without being supervised at all times. The rent per month for our room was CAD 1100, and I would say it was worth sharing, but that may be because I knew my roommate and was, and still am, very good friends with her.
