How to Get into UBC | Ultimate University Guide
UBC is one of Canada's top universities, and is situated on Vancouver's beautiful Point Grey campus. UBC's best programs include:
- Forestry (World Rank: 3)
- Geography (World Rank: 4)
- Transportation Science & Technology (World Rank: 3)
- Sport Sciences (World Rank: 4)
- Telecommunications (World Rank: 4)
We’ve helped countless students apply to and get into UBC (check out Paige, Ripdaman, and Amisha’s stories). Make sure to book an appointment with us to become one of our success stories!
If you'd like to know more about the admission requirements, English Language requirements, and degree specific requirements to get into UBC, check out our full video below!
Admission Requirements
We'll be discussing admission requirements for Canadian high school students. If you're a mature, or international student, your admission requirements may vary, so check out the UBC website!
So what are these admission requirements? Let's go over them together.
Grades & Courses
Students applying to get into UBC should have a minimum of 70% in Grade 11 or Grade 12 English (or their equivalents). However, given the competitive nature of UBC and their applicants, you should be aiming well above 70%! For a competitive average we recommend hitting the 90s range to increase your chances of getting into UBC. To ensure you're at a good academic standing, develop good study habits, and learn to organize your time! If you're wondering how other GrantMe students who've been admitted to UBC have done it, check out Maryam's story - she won $80,000 with GrantMe's support to get into UBC!
You must also take at least at least six academic/non-academic Grade 12 courses. These are recommended by UBC, but not required. Interested in how does UBC calculate admission average? Check it out here.
English Language Requirements
Next, let's go over the English Language Requirements. The good news is is that if you are a Canadian high school student who has completed 4 or more consecutive years of high school in Canada, you already qualify for the English Language Requirement and no further evaluation needs to be done! However, Canadian high school students that are looking to get into UBC have many stories, and thus, have many ways to complete this requirement. Whether you're IB, AP, or an international student from an English-speaking country, UBC has outlined 9 different ways that you can complete that English Language Requirement on their wesbite.
9 Ways to Complete the English Language Requirement
- Complete four or more consecutive years of recognized, full-time education in English within Canada immediately prior to attending UBC.
- Complete four or more consecutive years of full-time education in English in a country other than Canada where English is the principal language. These four years must be immediately prior to attending UBC.
- Achieve a final exam grade of 70% or better on the provincial examination portion of Alberta English Language Arts 30-1, BC English 12 (achieved August 2019 or earlier), or equivalents.
- Achieve a final grade of 4 or better on Advanced Placement (AP) English Language & Composition or AP Literature & Composition; or achieve a final grade of 5 or better on International Baccalaureate English A (higher-level or standard-level).
- Achieve the competence standard indicated by one of the tests of English Language proficiency that evaluates skills in listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
- Successfully complete six credits of post-secondary first-year English studies at a recognized university in an English-speaking country. You must submit a transcript showing completion of these courses by February 15. For students at North American post-secondary institutions registered in English courses in the January to April term, we will accept a final transcript showing completion of these courses until May 15, if there are spaces left in your degree.
- Graduate from a recognized degree program at an accredited university at which English is the primary language of instruction in a country where English is the principal language.
- Attend four or more years at an Eligible International Secondary School that uses English as the language of instruction but operates in a country where the primary language is not English. These four years must be immediately prior to attending UBC. You will need to submit a transcript as soon as possible to UBC's Undergraduate Admissions office.
- Achieve a UBC Certificate in English Language or CEL by completing Level 600 of the UBC English Language Institute’s English for Academic Purposes Program on UBC’s Vancouver campus.
Degree-specific Requirements
Now that we've gone over the admission requirements, and the English Language Requirements, let's go over degree-specific requirements. Degree-specific requirements are exactly that - requirements that students need to complete that are specific to their degree. With the myriad of degree and program options that UBC offers, there are a variety of requirements outlined for each program. We'll be outlining UBC's two most popular programs and their degree-specific requirements - Arts and Sciences.
Arts Degree-specific requirements
Arts is one of the most popular degree options at UBC. For good reason too - there are countless options to choose your major! To get into UBC Arts, you must have Grade 11 and 12 requirements.
Grade 11 requirements
- Any English Language Arts 11 or any English First Peoples 11
- A language 11 or waiver: includes all second language courses, including all Indigenous languages of Canada, but excludes introductory Grade 11 language courses)
- Pre-Calculus 11 or Foundations of Mathematics 12
- A Science 11 (Physics 11, Life Sciences 11 (Biology 11), Chemistry 11, Earth Sciences 11, or Environmental Sciences 11)
Grade 12 requirements
- English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12
- If you intend to major in Economics, you must complete Pre-Calculus 12
Related Courses
UBC also recommends taking related courses for each degree, as they may be relevant to the subject that you are taking.
- Language Arts
- Mathematics and Computation
- Second Languages
- Social Studies
- Visual and Performing Arts
Science Degree-specific Requirements
UBC Sciences have boasted world-renowned research and includes a variety of fields of focus to choose from! To get into UBC Sciences, you must complete the following degree-specific requirements.
Grade 11 requirements
- Any English Language Arts 11 or any English First Peoples 11
- A language 11 or waiver (includes all second language courses, including all Indigenous languages of Canada, but excludes introductory Grade 11 language courses)
- Chemistry 11
- Physics 11
- Pre-Calculus 11 or Foundations of Mathematics 12
Grade 12 requirements
- English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12
- Pre-Calculus 12 (minimum 67%)
- Anatomy and Physiology 12, or Chemistry 12, or Physics 12
Related courses
Just as UBC has done for Arts, they've also outlined recommended Science degree-specific related courses that students applying to get into UBC should take! These could be relevant to your degree and high school courses are a good launching pad to understanding university-level courses!
- Language Arts
- Mathematics and Computation
- Sciences
Interested in UBC criminology requirements, head here. Or want to learn more about last year's admissions? Check out the UBC common data set here.
Need support to get into UBC?
GrantMe has admitted countless students into their dream schools (it's true - just look at the first section of this blog post!). If you'd like to know more about how GrantMe can support your goal of getting admitted into a top university in Canada, start by taking our quiz to see if you qualify!
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