UBC or SFU for UG?

[science1000]

I will be entering university next year and I am wondering if going to SFU instead of UBC for undergrad will hurt my chances of for getting accepted into med school.

[hking03]

I think quite a but has been posted about this topic before, but it's not a simple yes or no answer...

You should look at a few of the variables and make your decidion based on what is right for you.

If you go to sfu are you closer to home?
Less time in transit?
Do you have a scholarship to one or the other?
Are your friends going to one school and not the other?

Ultimately, more people from Ubc get into Ubc medicine. But they also have a larger number of applicants and a large portion of the science students at Ubc want to get into med/dent/pharm and that's why they go there.

If you are smart and work hard and get good grades it doesn't matter what school you go to. Having said that... Based solely on numbers Ubc is a safer bet in my opinion.

[technicity]

All the points hking brought up are things you should think about.

I have to add to this:

Originally Posted by hking03

Ultimately, more people from Ubc get into Ubc medicine. But they also have a larger number of applicants and a large portion of the science students at Ubc want to get into med/dent/pharm and that's why they go there.

Last cycle UBC switched up the grade conversion scale for non %-age universities, and anecdotally this seems to have benefited SFU students - we'll see when full statistics come out in the fall. Depending on the curve of your faculty of choice, it might even put you at an advantage compared to a UBC student. As an SFU engineering student, I felt like I was given a bit of an edge with the conversion...

Keep in mind though that the conversion is subject to change; as a UBC student you'd know exactly how your grades convert.

[repede]

UBC for sure. SFU's grading system is a moving target - professors can set whatever %'s they want for an A. An A might be 95%+ for one class, or 90%+ and above for another class. I don't think you'll want to be dealing with that come grade conversion time.

[murphy303]

med 2016 here, and i have degrees from both universities (only a couple classes away from gradding at UBC for my BA). personally i liked SFU's UG a bit more, but I found SFU harder in terms of grading and professors. the changes to the grading system made it more fair for SFU students than it used to be, for sure.. not an advantage, more like "even playing field". ultimately, picking either school will not significantly affect your success at getting into med, imo.

[murphy303]

Originally Posted by Economist

You'll get higher GPA at SFU than UBC but for the opportunities and motivation to pursue medical school I would choose UBC if I were you.

total crap...!

my grades were WAY higher at UBC than SFU

[oops_letstryagain]

Originally Posted by technicity

All the points hking brought up are things you should think about.

I have to add to this:



Last cycle UBC switched up the grade conversion scale for non %-age universities, and anecdotally this seems to have benefited SFU students - we'll see when full statistics come out in the fall. Depending on the curve of your faculty of choice, it might even put you at an advantage compared to a UBC student. As an SFU engineering student, I felt like I was given a bit of an edge with the conversion...

Keep in mind though that the conversion is subject to change; as a UBC student you'd know exactly how your grades convert.

You can actually calculate the difference it caused. A 4.33 went up from a 90 to a 95 in the conversion scale, (and all the other GPA values went up accordingly to the mean value of that grade at UBC from the minimum). Overall it depends on what your degree is and your method of study.

The key thing here is the method of study: when you look at your grades, do you get very high grades for the given letter grade, or do you get more consistent grades across courses but they vary for a given letter grade. SFU allows you to focus on more courses broadly because you don't need to aim for perfection in a course to get a 4.33. At UBC, the only way you'll get a 100% is by getting 100% in everything. That being said, if you're good at getting every last mark, UBC is the way to go. If you're better at getting A+'s and A's without getting perfect, SFU is probably the way to go.

[murphy303]

Originally Posted by Economist

you mean your grades at UBC during your SECOND undergrad degree in BA compared to your FIRST undergrad degree in double major of applied sciences at SFU?

yea, but i took very difficult courses in my BA as well (eg. 5xx medical science). and, my BA was almost exclusively upper level as you'd expect for a 2nd degree.

my answer is based on a holistic assessment of my years of experience at both schools. just saying its absolutely absurd to claim SFU is easier than UBC to get good grades, imo. i wouldnt claim the opposite either though

just thinking of SFU chemistry/mbb/computing ... GAHHHHH nightmares!

[murphy303]

Originally Posted by oops_letstryagain

You can actually calculate the difference it caused. A 4.33 went up from a 90 to a 95 in the conversion scale, (and all the other GPA values went up accordingly to the mean value of that grade at UBC from the minimum). Overall it depends on what your degree is and your method of study.

The key thing here is the method of study: when you look at your grades, do you get very high grades for the given letter grade, or do you get more consistent grades across courses but they vary for a given letter grade. SFU allows you to focus on more courses broadly because you don't need to aim for perfection in a course to get a 4.33. At UBC, the only way you'll get a 100% is by getting 100% in everything. That being said, if you're good at getting every last mark, UBC is the way to go. If you're better at getting A+'s and A's without getting perfect, SFU is probably the way to go.

the old way of calculating grades was totally unfair to GPA students (uvic/SFU). If you were an SFU student and got a perfect grade in every class (which would have been near impossible, many profs dont even give A+'s)... then you would have a 90% average, whereas UBC students could be getting 99% averages because they are on a % system. We don't need to revisit this issue right? it was discussed on here ad nauseum

[repede]

Originally Posted by Economist

since the majority of students at sfu take three course per term... (many at ubc take 5~6 per term)

Uh, definitely not true based on who I've known that went to SFU...

With these debates, it's always grass-is-greener-on-the-other side.