The University of British Columbia is considered to be a top learning institution in Canada for its world-class programs, faculty and a beautiful campus. UBC also has one of the highest numbers of International Students in North America. With more than 17,000 international students, the university is well-versed with the education systems and grading policy of most of the countries, including the Indian curriculums as well as the IB and IGCSE.

To apply to UBC as an International Student, you should first create a Campus-Wide Login (CWL). These will be used as your login credentials for the Student Service Center (The University of British Columbia), the application portal of UBC. You have to then choose the programs that you’re interested in. The unique thing about UBC is that it asks all applicants to submit two program choices while applying. These choices can be from either of the campuses- Vancouver or Okanagan. 

The application will ask you to mention basic details such as:

• School curriculum, (IB, IGCSE, ISC, CBSE, State Boards) 
• Country of residence
• Expected date of graduation from high school
• Your academic performance in high school, which includes
  • Class 10 final exam scores
  • Class 11 final exam scores
  • Class 12 midterms, pre-board scores and predicted grades.
• Your extracurricular activities (sports, volunteer work, competitions)

Like most Canadian Universities, all transcripts can be uploaded by the student themselves. You will only need to courier your official transcripts after you have accepted your offer of admission.

After this, you can move to the Personal Profile section, where you are asked to write short essays on topics such as life experiences which acted as learning lessons for you and your interest towards the program that you’re applying for. This is a great opportunity for you to express your personality to the Admission Officer. These topics may vary from one program to another. For some programs, like the Bachelors of Commerce, you may additionally be asked to submit a video interview of yourself. You do not get the interview topics in advance, and hence, you have to answer them as an extempore.

UBC evaluates your application on your high school grades as well as your Personal Profile. Hence, the Personal Profile can be a great way for you to compensate for low grades. A 75% high school average is required in order for your application to be considered, but an 85% or above puts you in the competitive pool for most of the programs. You do not have to submit the scores of an English Proficiency Test (IELTS, TOEFL, PTE) if you are from the IB, IGCSE or ISC curriculum, but it is recommended to take any one of these tests as they would be required while applying for a study permit. Attached below is a table with all the English Proficiency requirements. 

Admission deadline for UBC is in mid-January before you take your class 12 final exams. To be considered for admission, you will also be required to submit your Predicted Grades, which is issued by your school for each subject based on your past performance. This is a prediction about your performance in grade 12 final exams. This predicted grade also helps the Admission Officers to decide whether you will be able to cope up with the academic pace at the university. These are usually required by all International Students. However, this requirement too may change depending upon your program and school curriculum. In 2020, applicants for the Bachelors of Commerce program were not asked to submit these grades while all other programs were asked to.

It is always suggested to apply before the deadline to every university. For the applicants of Fall 2020, applications opened up in September. For students interested in applying for the International Leader of Tomorrow Award (KMILOT), the deadline was Dec 1, 2019. This is a scholarship for International Students who have displayed superior academic performance, leadership skills, involvement in student affairs and community service. This award helps the student to finance their complete tuition fees along with the living expense incurred during the duration of the program. However, it is an extremely competitive award. You need to write a separate essay outlining your achievements and why you feel you deserve this award.

There are also two Entrance Scholarships offered for international students:

• The Outstanding International Student (OIS)
• International Major Entrance Scholarship (IMES)

You are automatically considered for both once you get an offer of admission. This can range from CAD 10,000 to CAD 20,000. Some of these may even be renewable in upper years, subject to fulfillment of GPA requirements.

You should keep in mind that when you apply for the ILOT, you are no longer considered for any of the entrance scholarships. Hence, you must choose wisely.

UBC is a very well reputed university with lots of opportunities for its students to make life-long connections and develop the necessary skills required in today’s time. Compared to other universities of the same league, its fairly high acceptance rate for International students is a plus point for all prospective applicants. Get in touch with the UBC mentors at UniRely to apply to this prestigious university and improve your chances of admission.