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Hey everyone,
I’m starting first-year engineering at UBC this fall and I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what to expect. I’m honestly not the smartest person academically, and I’m a bit nervous about keeping up with the workload. How difficult is it compared to high school? How many hours a day or week did you usually spend studying, doing assignments, and labs? Did you still have time for friends, hobbies, or going to the gym? I’ve heard the workload is pretty intense, especially with calculus, physics, chemistry, and coding. Is it manageable if you’re willing to put in the effort, or does everyone struggle? I’d also appreciate any tips or things you wish you knew before starting first year. Thanks!

Hey everyone,
I’m going into first-year Applied Science at UBC this upcoming year and I am trying to make sure I understand my course planning and registration correctly in Workday.
From what I understand, we have to take all the mandatory engineering courses such as MATH 100, PHYS, CHEM, and the required APSC courses. I am clear on those, but I am confused about the elective requirements.
My main question is whether I need to take one English course and one Humanities elective in total for the whole year, or if it is required to take one English and one Humanities course in each term, meaning two English courses and two Humanities courses across Term 1 and Term 2. I want to make sure I am not underloading or overloading my schedule by mistake.
I also ran into an issue when trying to register for ENG 100. A lot of sections appear to be full or closed, and the ones that are still open often overlap with my other required engineering courses, so I am unable to actually add them to my schedule. I am not sure if this is something that usually resolves later or if I should be looking for alternative sections or courses instead.
If anyone has gone through this before, I would really appreciate advice on how to deal with the registration conflicts and whether there is usually more flexibility later on in Workday.
Finally, if it turns out that I do need to take English and Humanities electives, I would also appreciate any recommendations for the easiest or lowest workload courses that fit well with first-year engineering since the workload already seems pretty heavy.
Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning my first-year course schedule for UBC Applied Science and wanted some feedback on whether this is a good setup in terms of workload and balance.

Term 1:

• APSC 169 Sustainable Design
• APSC 172 Engineering Analysis I
• APSC 179 Linear Algebra
• APSC 180 Statics
• APSC 182 Matter & Energy I
• APSC 176 Engineering Communication

Term 2:

• APSC 173 Engineering Analysis II
• APSC 177 Engineering Computation & Instrumentation
• APSC 178 Electricity, Magnetism & Waves
• APSC 181 Dynamics
• APSC 183 Matter & Energy II
• APSC 171 Engineering Drawing & CAD/CAM

I was trying to balance the workload as evenly as possible across both terms while also keeping prerequisites in mind, but I’m not sure if Term 1 might be too heavy or if Term 2 is manageable. Does this look like a good choice overall, or would you recommend changing anything?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hey everyone,

I’m going into first year Engineering at UBC (Applied Science) and I’m currently doing course selection for Term 1. For students who have already gone through first year, which courses do you recommend taking in the first term specifically, and which ones are better to leave for Term 2 if possible? I’m trying to plan my workload so I don’t overload myself right away, so I’d really appreciate any advice on:

• Which courses you think are best to take in Term 1
• Any that are better to delay to Term 2 (if that’s even possible)
• How you personally split your first year between the two terms
• Any mistakes you made in your own scheduling

Thanks a lot!

Hey everyone,
I recently got into UBC Engineering and I’m trying to figure out my math course options for first year. I’m interested in taking MATH 180, but I’m not sure how common it is for engineering students to take it in first year or if it’s even possible within the program structure. Has anyone here in UBC Engineering taken MATH 180 during first year? I consider myself decent at pre-calculus, but I’m not fully confident in my math foundation, which is why I’m interested in taking MATH 180 as a bit of extra support.

If so:
How did you manage to enroll in it (was it through advising or manual registration)?

Would you recommend it for someone with a weaker calculus/pre-calc background?

Any advice or experiences would really help.

I’m trying to plan ahead before registration.
Thanks!

I’m going into first-year engineering at UBC and I was wondering if it’s okay to take Math 100 even though I didn’t take Calculus 12 in high school. My math background is Pre-Calculus 12, but I didn’t get to do a formal calculus course (limits, derivatives, etc.) in school. I’ve heard Math 100 starts from the beginning, but I’m a bit worried that I might be behind other students who already took calculus.
For anyone who has taken it or is in engineering:

Is it realistic to do well in Math 100 without Calc 12?

What should I review before starting if I haven’t done calculus before?

How difficult is the transition from Pre-Calc to Math 100?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to study Pre-Calc 12 and calculus on my own because my math background is pretty weak, and I want to understand the subject properly instead of just jumping around. My main issue is I don’t really know what order to learn the topics in, or which ones build on each other. For anyone familiar with Pre-Calc 12 and calculus 12, what would be the best order to study the topics in? Also, which topics are the most important foundations that everything else depends on? Right now I struggle with:

Graphs and understanding what they represent
Algebra manipulation
Knowing how topics connect

If you had to structure Pre-Calc 12 from scratch, how would you organize the units?
Thanks.

Hey everyone,

I’m planning to study Pre-Calculus 12 and Calculus 12 in about 3 months. My math background isn’t strong (I didn’t take Calculus 12 in high school and I struggle with reading graphs and understanding how they behave). My main goal is just to get to a passable level and survive the course. Has anyone done something similar? Is 3 months realistic if I study consistently? And what’s the best way to start from almost “zero confidence” with graphs and functions? If you have any resources, study plans, YouTube channels, or strategies that actually worked for you, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Hi everyone,
I’m a first-year UBC Engineering student and I’m being honest—I’m mainly just trying to pass Math 100. My background in Pre-Calc 12 is weak, and I never took Calculus 12 in high school. When I look at calculus concepts (especially graphs and functions), I struggle to understand what’s going on. I’m not aiming for a high grade right now, just want to survive the course and get through it. I’m willing to put in the work, but I feel like I’m starting way behind compared to everyone else.

For anyone who has been in a similar situation:

Is it still possible to pass Math 100 with a weak background?

What should I focus on first to catch up (pre-calc basics, limits, graph reading, etc.)?

Any specific resources or study methods that actually helped you?

How hard is it realistically if you’re just trying to pass?

Any advice would really help. I’m just trying to figure out the best way to not fall behind completely.
Thanks.

Hi everyone,
I’m an incoming first-year Engineering student at University of British Columbia and I’ve been told I will likely need to take MATH 180. The problem is I’m not really sure how course registration works and how I actually choose it in my first year schedule.

A few questions:
How do I register for MATH 180 specifically?

Is it automatically assigned or do I select it myself in Workday?

Do Engineering students actually get placed into MATH 180, or is it rare?

If I’m placed into MATH 180, does it replace MATH 100 or affect my engineering requirements?

Any advice for someone coming in with weak Pre-Calc / Calc background?

I just want to make sure I don’t mess up my first-year schedule before it starts. Any help from current UBC Engineering students would be really appreciated.

I’m trying to make first year as manageable as possible. Based on your experience, what were the easiest courses in each category?
Easiest math course?
Easiest physics course?
Easiest engineering/APSC course?
Easiest communication elective (WRDS/ENGL)?
Easiest humanities/social science elective?
Any courses that were surprisingly easy or had high averages?
Also, which courses should I be most worried about?
I’ve heard people say PHYS 158, CHEM 154, MATH 100, and MATH 101 are among the tougher first-year courses, but I’m curious what current students think. Any advice would be appreciated.

I’m going into first year Engineering at UBC and I’m trying to be smart about my course choices for GPA/workload balance. I know first year is mostly fixed, but I heard there are some options or variations like different math, physics, English, or electives depending on placement or timetable. What I’m trying to figure out is basically what the easiest versions or options of the required courses are. For example, in math, physics, or communication courses, are there any that are generally lighter or more manageable than others, and are there any electives or complementary studies courses that are known to be GPA boosters. Also, I’d like to know if there’s anything people usually avoid if they want to keep their workload more manageable. I’m not trying to dodge work completely, just want to avoid unnecessarily brutal combinations since I’ve heard first year can get really heavy. If anyone has done first year recently, I’d really appreciate advice on easiest math route if there is a choice, easiest physics option if applicable, easiest elective choices, and any general “don’t do this if you value your GPA” warnings.

Thanks a lot 🙏