The University of British Columbia was the last stop on the Summer 2014 college tour.  The other schools we toured included:  University of Oregon, University of Washington and University of Puget Sound. As long as we were in Seattle, we thought a “quick” drive across the Canadian border to Vancouver would make a fine stop. (Not quick!)   Our guide here was very personable and upbeat.  He wasn’t afraid to talk directly to a prospective student as we walked to the next point of interest on the tour.  He remembered my son’s major, International business and asked him about it.  After three tours, the questions seemed more obvious to ask, music for non-majors, international business, freshman orientation, swim team (younger son).  The girl that checked us in was pretty friendly too.  Her BFF at UBC is from my son’s high school.  When you say where you are from, as every tour asks, it is appropriate to say, “USA.” It’s easy to forget Canada is not the US.

University of British Columbia, Canada

Draw: UBC is an  international school with a heavy emphasis in the Pacific Rim and known globally for its academic excellence. The urban location is a plus.

Likes

Majors/Culture: UBC is friendly! The staff, students and even the families touring the school were the most forthcoming of any school we visited. We loved just about everyone we met and got the impression the students and professors are pretty darn smart. There are lots of majors to choose from here.

Location: UBC is in a very international city with tons of great, great food, shopping and parks. The “freshman fifteen” might not be so much a result of too much pizza but too much of any food off campus.  The restaurant scene is so delicious, even after 2 days we gained at least 5 lbs.  The beach is close by and the water cold, like San Francisco.  Public transportation is offered at a reduced rate for students. By plane, Vancouver is 2 hours and twenty minutes from San Francisco.  Driving is possible from Seattle but we don’t recommend it very highly as just crossing the border can take 2 hours on top of a 2.5 hour drive.  We drove in from Seattle and with all that time on our hands at the border, the guys looked for ways to mess with the border police.  They scrolled through their music playlists, threatening to play an unflattering rap song about George W. from AMURICAH or “Funky Jesus Music”  We went radio silent when it was our turn at the gate.  Rascals.

Residences: Dorms are a pretty good size and most freshmen live on campus. Upper classman can move into residence halls with kitchens. Workout facilities are in the dorm and at the recreation center.  Getting to the recreation center might be a workout in itself depending on the residence hall proximity.

Admissions: Grades are important but it’s tricky to gauge since the US system is different from the Canadian. The admissions counselor said: A- or B+ are good, no Cs. Extracurricular activities play a very important part, sometimes overcoming a lower GPA or as our Canadian tour guide stated, “Low marks.”

Football: Yes. But we couldn’t get a sense of passion for any sport on campus or with our guide.  School spirit not prevalent, not even flags with school colors.

Japanese garden–prettiest spot.

Dislikes Campus/Population: The school is huge as in the campus and the number of students, 57,000 to include grads and undergrads. We could only cover a small portion of the campus on the tour. The area surrounding UBC is beautiful; the actual campus is not pretty. Most of the buildings looked tired and so did the concrete in the plazas and walkways–cracked and uneven.  The insides of the buildings were unexciting.  UBC prides itself on being a sustainable university so that might explain all the yellow grass in August.

Freshmen Orientation:  The freshman orientation lasts one day and is organized by “faculty” or in US English, school, as in Business, Engineering.  Somehow they look at majors and course schedules to group kids together–magic.

Location: To enjoy the great city of Vancouver, students must leave campus by bus or car. Nothing is close as in restaurants or bars within walking distance.

Parent Take: We loved the friendliness of everyone around us even the prospective families. UBC exudes high intelligence and international feel. We love Vancouver! However, given the enormity of the school and dreary campus, we are not so excited.  Canadian football?  Hmmm.  TBD.  We found it interesting that three of the four families in our walking tour were from Northern California, the other was from Austin, TX.  Pot is legal here and the drinking age is 18; that’s A LOT of freedom.  I’m tan here too.

Kid Take: The high school junior says the school is accessible. Translation: friendly and helpful. Size and beauty were negatives.  The youngest summed it up best, “For a school that is so great, the campus doesn’t look it.  Weeds grow in the cracks of the concrete.  I feel like I’m at a BART station.”  (BART is a public transportation train, like a subway but mostly above ground.)