Level Undergraduate
Language/s English
Chemistry students only Applying for the VIRS programme UBC - Okanagan
About:
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university, established in 1908 making it British Columbia's oldest university. It currently has over 9,000 students studying at the Okanagan campus.
Highlights:
In the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities rankings, the university ranked 39th in the world and second in Canada. The 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked the University 34th in the world, and second in Canada. In the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, the university ranked 31st in the world and second in Canada.
Location:
Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley are located in the southern interior of British Columbia, regarded as one of the most scenic regions in Canada, just over 200 km (120 miles) north of the U.S. border and over 400 km (250 miles) from the Vancouver campus.
Information for the Visiting International Research (VIRS)
UBC is a hub for outstanding researchers from around the world and welcomes Visiting International Research Students (VIRS) to participate in our community of inquiry.The VIRS program provides admission to UBC for international students conducting full-time research at UBC. The student is under the supervision of a UBC faculty member. Since 2014, UBC has welcomed over 2500 VIRS students from over 650 universities and 85 different countries. The VIRS program is managed by Go Global under the Office of the Vice Provost, International.
While registered as full-time students at UBC, VIRS students may not enroll in academic courses for credit, or formally audit courses.
The VIRS admission process is rolling and there are no deadlines** We strongly encourage students to submit their applications at least 12 weeks before the intended date of arrival. Learn more about the VIRS application process.
Ellie, Politics, Year Abroad 2018/19
I feel I am a very different person than when I left for my year abroad. Firstly, academically, my writing ability has developed largely. The way my host university structured the programme meant more frequent essay writing that had less weighting compared to my time at York. I found this allowed for more development in writing. Alongside this, I learnt more effective research techniques and how to plan as essay better as I was doing so more regularly. I also had the chance to write for the prestigious student newspaper and write articles every week. Again, more frequent than at York as they publish the majority of their articles online as opposed to print issues less frequently. In fact, I was invited to join the team as a paid staff member, yet sadly could not take this due to study permit restrictions, but it was amazing to be offered the chance.
Secondly, I have become far more confident. Previously, I would get very anxious about new challenges or meeting new people. After this year I have been able to approach this with a new attitude. I learnt from the beginning of both semesters to throw myself into things, which is how I met the most incredible people, and got involved with things like the Newspaper. This is something that I recall mentioning in the pre departure journal and I am really happy to have used the year to develop this part of my character.
Lastly, it has totally changed my outlook on issues, both in daily life and academic issues in my degree. This is something that I started to develop through being at university, yet my year abroad accelerated this vastly. I was able to read about current events and understand them through new angles that I would not have considered before leaving. A great example of this is when I learnt about trade and the new USMCA deal in one class and learnt about it from the Canadian perspective, when previously I would have only really thought about how it affected American politics.
Honestly, it was the most incredible experience and I would highly recommend it!
Please note: these tips have been provided by students who have studied abroad in Canada - Global Opportunities recommends that you use these as a guide only and do your own research on what is best for you.
Money and Banking:
Canadian Bank account and also an International travel card
It is absolutely a good idea to open a bank account in your host country to prevent losing money through fees for spending money abroad. For Canada specifically, Scotiabank is perhaps the best option due to the unique advantages they give to international students such as no monthly charges (which is a standard for most banks)
I got a Monzo account before I left for Canada, which doesn't charge any fees for international transactions, so I could basically just use it as a normal bank account. It also registered on most Canadian tills as a credit card which was useful as some places in Canada don't take debit. Overall I found this worked really well and I didn't regret not setting up a Canadian bank account.
Staying Connected:
EE let contract users pay extra to use their minutes and data while abroad
I didn't buy a new phone or SIM card because my current SIM allowed me to use data roaming in Canada without extra charges. It is definitely a good idea to either get a new SIM in the UK that provides this (O2 is a good option), or to get a new SIM in your host country because otherwise you would either be unable to use mobile data, or the charges will mount up quickly. Getting a Canadian SIM may actually be the better option because it was often inconvenient or impossible to input a British phone number whenever needed to.
I got a new SIM card once I arrived in Canada from the phone shop on campus in the Student Nest, which I mostly used for data. It was easy to set up and cancel.
Food:
I'm not sure if I have a favourite place because I made a conscious effort to mix up where I would order food from. Vancouver is a very diverse city so a wide variety of food options are available with Japanese and Chinese food especially good, but other food like Indian or South-East Asian cuisine are also widely available. That's not to mention Canadian food like poutine which is also widely available (and very tasty). In terms of standards like pizza, Uncle Fatih's is perhaps the best option on campus, while A&W is a good standard fast food chain which also offer their own root beer, which led to me developing a taste for it and missing it since returning.
I couldn't pick just one food place, Vancouver has so many! There's something for everyone and so many different cuisines. For food shopping, No Frills is the cheapest option but might not have everything in stock, and Safeway is a little more expensive but has a selection more like your average Tesco. Both are reachable by bus. There's also a save on foods on campus, which you can walk or get the bus to, which again has a wide selection but is very expensive.
On campus: Aroma cafe, but downtown the best restaurant by far was Sugo, a small Italian restaurant that I miss more than anything else. (YorkU, Toronto)
Paperwork and bureaucracy:
This is something which is best to deal with as soon as possible to keep it off your mind and allow you to fully enjoy your time. Keeping a list of what you need to do and when. is of course a great idea. I found a good thing to do was to do and prepare as much paperwork as possible before leaving. It is also a good idea to set a day where you will deal with as much as possible during the summer. A lot of paperwork is needed for your Study Permit application for example and it can be quite time consuming, so setting aside a day to just sort it out is not a bad idea.
UBC was pretty helpful in giving us checklists of everything that we needed to do. I applied for my student permit and went to give my bio-metrics before leaving for Canada and made sure to have all the possible documents that I might need for immigration. The process was pretty easy once I arrived to get my student permit, it just involved a long queue at the airport! Once arriving, the most important thing is to register for the healthcare system to ensure you'll be covered appropriately. We were given talks about this on imagine day, which gave exchange students an introduction to life at UBC, so it was clear what we needed to do.
What I wished I'd known...:
It will not always be loads of fun and not every day will be like a coming of age movie. I had some of the best days of my life in Canada and I met wonderful people but I also had some of the worst days. Without the mental health services offered at the university I might have come home early. I wish I had known that I would have such low points so I didn't feel so guilty about not enjoying every single minute.
The pandemic is obviously top of the list for this year, but I do think it links to other things in general that I wished I had known. That being, do not wait to try out new experiences or to visit certain places. While most years probably won't be interrupted early in such a way, it is nevertheless a good idea to seize the moment because this may be a once in a lifetime experience. I would tell my past self that if I'm ever on the fence if I want to go out and do something on one day to just do it and don't put things off until later.
For Vancouver specifically, it is amazing city that I would recommend to anyone but I do wish I had realised just how much it rained there. I had been told it rained a lot, but that doesn't prepare you for a solid month of almost none-stop heavy rain as was seen this winter. Linked to my previous point, it is a good idea to seize the opportunity to do weather dependent activities during the first few months before the rainy season begins in late October.
I would probably say not to put too many expectations on the first few weeks; it might take a little while to find your closest friends and feel like you've really settled in but it will happen! Personally I'm so glad I went on the exchange club trip organised early in the term as it really helped me to get to know the people that would become my best friends from exchange.
If you find any broken links, please email us at global-opportunities@york.ac.uk