r/ubcsauder

i’m an international student who has lived in ontario for a few years.

i’ve been to toronto for a few times and really loved it, but i’ve never been to vancouver.

i’m also in my early 20s so i’m a little older than most UG students - which also means if i can avoid doing grad studies that’ll be better

UofT BA pros:
- location (in my bucket list, i aim to live in a big city like toronto before i turn age 35)

- networking opps for toronto jobs

- econs is not a bad degree - it’s versatile and decently regarded in my home country and i don’t need grad studies

- i can minor in GIS which i’m interested in (i guess this can open some doors?)

- i like ontario culture more than bc culture? i also love how diverse and accepting toronto is

UofT BA cons:
- too broad of a degree, i worry about job prospects

- my math foundation isn’t the best, so i have heaps to catch up on

- if things don’t go well in toronto (eg bad grades, can’t make friends etc), i worry i may be upset at myself for choosing a less employable degree.

- at the back of my head im still gonna try to transfer to rotman, although chances are low so i need to be okay w econs

- i hope to work in toronto eventually so i may need to do grad studies

ps im open to other BA or Bsc recs at UofT. i chose econs mainly for its employability.

UBC Sauder Commerce pros:
- recruitment pipeline (although it’s mainly to vancouver and i don’t really wanna live in vancouver after i graduate). but a job’s a job and maybe i’ll learn to like vancouver more

- possibility of doing an accredited professional programme (accounting) —> i’m not sure if i’ll like accounting, but at least i’ll give it a shot!

- less chance of needing graduate studies if i want to work in canada

- commerce is not a bad degree, i would say it’s equal to uoft’s econ degree in my home country.

- it’s so much harder to get into than UofT BA.

UBC Sauder Commerce cons:
- i don’t think i will like vancouver. i hate the rain. i hate skiing as its so expensive and i suck at it. i’m not super outdoorsy (although i’m down to pick up new hobbies like hiking)

- i worry it’ll be harder to make friends in UBC (apparently BC bail and Vancouver Freeze is a thing?)
i’m staying off campus (altho it’s near to campus). i’ll deffo join clubs but i heard they are cliquish?

ik i should have applied for other ontario commerce schools, but i was an idiot who only applied to uoft and ubc. and i’m really not keen on a gap year.

would really appreciate some insights! TYSM!

Quick disclosure up front: this is my own project and there's a signup link in the comments. Mods, happy to take it down if this breaks the rules.

Here's the thing nobody really says out loud. Turning to the person next to you in a 300 person lecture and starting a conversation is terrifying. You rehearse the line in your head, you wait for a natural opening that never comes, the prof starts talking, and then it's week six and you still haven't said a word to anyone in that room.

And you know for a fact half of them are sitting there thinking the exact same thing.

So I built Orbit. You add your courses and it matches you with other people taking the same ones. There's a chat for each course, so the first message happens in a place where everyone showed up specifically to meet classmates. No walking up to a stranger, no wondering if you're bothering them. They downloaded the app for the same reason you did.

That's the whole thing. No feed, no algorithm, no gamification.

Launching with Sauder and Engineering courses first, then adding more faculties after that.

Beta is close. If you want to be notified when it goes live, the form is in the comments. Takes about ten seconds and everyone on the list gets in before it opens up properly.

As a first year myself, I already registered for MATH_V 100 a long time ago, but only stumbled across the info that there are the three "flavors" A, B, and C for it: "There are three “flavours” of MATH 100, each with different applications. Flavour “A” includes applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering. Flavour “B” includes applications to Biology and Life Sciences. Flavour “C” includes applications to Commerce and Social Sciences." (Math 100's syllabus)

And I suspect many don't know this either and choose the wrong flavor. I, for example, chose B instead of C, and now all C classes are full.

So, I'm not here to tell people to drop their class willy-nilly, for I'm not entitled to that and I'm new to all this. However, to the more experienced, is it possible to discuss an en-masse drop of MATH 100 class so people can choose their right one?

If there're any other solution suggested, I'd greatly appreciate it!

really scared roght now

I'm an incoming first-year sauder student and I was just wondering if people actually use the career hub or if it's kind of just there.

Is it something you check regularly? Have you actually gotten internships, interviews, or networking opportunities from it, or do most people just use LinkedIn and company websites instead

Just trying to figure out if it's worth paying attention to from first year. Thanks