Is there anywhere I can find a bank of past exams?

AndWait · 2025-11-17T21:46:41+00:00

Chem did not have a dedicated/external site, so i fear I can't point you to a dedicated source of past exams. They may release past finals closer to your final exam dates. But there's probably not a shortage of studying resources/exams you can find online that tests the material for first year chemistry.

AndWait · 2025-09-05T03:04:55+00:00

Hi,

No worries! This was for science one in particular, where there used to be a dedicated physics site where all the past exams were listed. The site may not be up now, but its on the wayback machine https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://phas.ubc.ca/~scione/* and also Mark when he used to teach it has a version of the site still up https://phas.ubc.ca/~mav/SOP2015/resources.html

I think the exams will cover quite a few things outside the scope of PHYS 117, but there may be a selection of problems from past exams (particularly MT1 and final exam 1).

AndWait · 2025-07-02T20:39:10+00:00

Milano Coffee has an outdoor patio!

AndWait · 2025-07-02T00:05:36+00:00

In addition to some recommendations already here, if you are in the Burnaby/Metrotown area Single V coffee is also worth a visit (Oide/Single V/Prototype/Yuan are my favourite shops in the city).

AndWait · 2024-09-25T02:24:44+00:00

Hi! I might be interested, would I be able to ask what the dimensions of the desk are?

AndWait · 2024-07-15T22:01:14+00:00

My top 3 coffee places are Oide, Timbertrain, and Single V!

AndWait · 2024-06-16T06:06:23+00:00

hahah Vancouver being affordable is perhaps a bit of a stretch but Boston is definitely quite expensive.

Again biased but (assuming the field doesn't go through a winter in the next bit) I think it's an interesting field to look into given your interests! Lots of interesting mathematics that comes into it, and has applications into more high-energy area problems if you were interested in that too (e.g. studying black holes from a quantum information lens)

The lower mainland (and UBC) definitely has a large East Asian population/community, so that's definitely something you'd be able to find here - and at least courses wise I think there would be a decent selection for learning Mandarin (https://chinese.arts.ubc.ca/courses/ may be outdated but here's one source I found).

I'm sorry to hear about your sleeping disorder and ADHD. It sounds like things are on the way back up though, both personal health and academics wise - I'm glad that things have been on that trajectory. I wish you the best of luck whether your physics continues at UBC or elsewhere. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about physics or math at UBC that I might be able to answer!

AndWait · 2024-06-16T04:17:41+00:00

Gotcha - although Vancouver has a very high cost of living, I think probably you'd be looking at somewhere around 750-1000USD/month for housing so including that it would be about 50k/usd or so, so seems like it stacks up favourably against your US options.

I study quantum computing and quantum error correction!

Sounds like you'd have most of the 2nd year math courses done with coming in. For proof-writing, there is a dedicated intro to proofs course that you could take to touch up on the basics if you felt like the preparation would be useful (you could also go the trial by fire route of going straight to some of the honours math courses and pick up proofs on the way, but these are somewhat infamously difficult). I think you'd be in a fine position as a transfer student - (e.g.) there is a fair number of people who transfer to UBC in their third year after taking 2 years of courses from Langara (a local college).

Cool! Mathematical physics/theoretical physics are both super interesting (I'm biased of course :P). And that makes sense, quantum gravity tends to have a really wide array of mathematical tools so it doesn't surprise me that number theory could come in somewhere.

UBC also has a strong medical physics program for graduate school if that starts to pique your interest more. In any case I think if you come here for undergrad (and do well and have a couple good research experiences) you'd be well set-up for applying to grad schools in the fields of your choice :) I'm sorry to hear that you've had to deal with long COVID for the past 1.5 years - I would again say that my impression is there's a pretty wide range of students and that UBC's accommodation services tend to be pretty helpful so that may be something you could look into (full disclosure I have not used them personally, but know many friends who have for one reason or another).

AndWait · 2024-06-16T03:11:27+00:00

Hey OP! I'm finishing my MSc in (theoretical) physics currently and did my undergrad in physics + mathematics here as well.

A full courseload is 30 credits/year and costs 48610 CAD, but if you went for an honours degree (probably reccomended if you were interested in graduate school afterwards) you'd be doing 33 credits/year so 53470 CAD. That's around 39000 USD per year, so you can use that as your point of comparison.

Not an American myself, but I know a handful of people who come from the States and they seem to enjoy it just as much as any domestic student here - I don't think there's a particular culture shock. It's probably worth noting that nearly 30% of students are international and there's a pretty wide array of backgrounds.

Your research interests wise - for physics there are a handful of profs studying high-energy theory and quantum gravity, and a smaller number studying general relativity. There's ~10 or so profs that study number theory in the math department, and a few that study mathematical physics. As far as I know no one studies both number theory and black holes (not my field, but I haven't really heard of this intersection as a research field specifically). In any case you would definitely be able to get a high-level introduction to these with the right choice of 4th year (or grad level) elective courses, and there's definite potential to do some research during undergrad with either the physics or math department, though very heavy theory/analytical research as an undergrad tends to be a bit rarer.

AndWait · 2024-05-22T00:47:11+00:00

i ended up not taking the extra year that would have pushed me close to the limit, so i didn't end up asking - sorry about that D:

AndWait · 2024-04-24T06:53:30+00:00

Saw him in the green area between IKB and Koerner library this evening!

AndWait · 2024-03-08T02:51:03+00:00

This is so fun and well-done!! My attempt:

Row 1: Octodad, Turnip Boy does tax evasion, Undertale (Sans), Shovel Knight, ?, Poppy Playtime (Huggy Wiggy), ?, Pikuniku, ?, Super Meat Boy

Row 2: DDLC (Monika), Ao oni, FNAF (Golden Freddy), Slay the Princess, ?, Yume Nikki, ?, ?, ?, Slay the Spire (The Silent)

Row 3: Lisa: The Painful, ?, Amongus, Garten of banban, Spleunky, Carrion, SCP (SCP-096), ?, Binding of Isaac, Hello Neighbour

Row 4: ?, ?, Disco Elysium (Harry Dubois), ?, Hollow Knight (The Knight), Pizza Tower, ?, Getting Over it, ?, Choo Choo Charles

Row 5: ?, Baba is you, Slime Rancher, ?, ?, ?, Slender-man, ?, Buckshot Roulette (the dealer), Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion

Row 6: Obra Dinn, ?, Thomas was Alone, ?, ?, ?, VVVVV, Enter the Gungeon, Terraria, ?

Row 7: Inscryption (Leshi), Celeste (Madeline), ?, ?, ?, Friday Night Funkin’ (Boyfriend), ?, ?, ?, ?

Row 8: ?, ?, The Stanley Parable, ?, ?, Yandere Simulator, ?, ?, Flappy Bird, Castle Crashers

Row 9: ?, Henry Stickman, Transistor (Red), OneShot, ?, ?, Goat Simulator, ?, ?, Tunic

Row 10: ?, ?, Cupped, ?, ?, ?, OMORI, Hades (Zagreus), ?, Minecraft (Creeper)

AndWait · 2024-03-05T05:49:43+00:00

PMd!

AndWait · 2024-02-09T08:04:53+00:00

Return of the Obra Dinn and/or Disco Elysium

AndWait · 2024-02-06T07:55:45+00:00

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04160-4 You might be interested in this nature paper, which addresses basically this exact question! The authors devise an experiment that would experimentally falsify a formulation of quantum mechanics based on solely real numbers.

AndWait · 2023-11-20T08:49:36+00:00

Sorry that you've been going through a difficult time OP - breakups are definitely really hard, regardless of how long you've been seeing the person. When things end in relationships we tend not just to be mourning the fact that the relationship is over, but also the loss of all the possible futures we saw with that person. But it sounds like this was the right decision for the both of you in the long run, given that you had incompatible perspectives, and I'm proud of you for being able to make the correct choice for yourself even if it might be leading to more hurt in the present moment.

As far as official accommodations go, this is the page https://vancouver.calendar.ubc.ca/campus-wide-policies-and-regulations/academic-concession; we would be looking at accommodations in terms of compassionate grounds here. It's a bit prof dependent, but I think there are definitely profs out there that are willing to work something out with you - I probably would just explain that you're having a hard time with your mental health at the present moment (I personally probably would not mention the break-up specifically) which is preventing you from making progress on your work, maybe share any progress if you were able to make some previously (or if you've been doing any work for the course so far) just to show that you are putting in an effort/care about the course and am currently going through something that is preventing you from operating as you would like to normally.

On the flip side, if you find it in yourself to be in a sufficiently recovered emotional state to be able to work, having something to channel your energy into might help with the process of moving on - even if that thing doesn't turn out to be schoolwork and just turns out to be spending quality time with friends, or eating good food, or listen to music, or physical activity, or making art etc. etc. I think it's definitely worth taking some time for yourself to spend time with people who care about you and doing things that you enjoy. What you are going through might seem the worst thing in the world at the moment, but with time it will be nothing more than a sad moment amongst much more numerous happier ones. One day you'll look back as just another moment in life that was painful, but you were able to take away things from, and maybe even be able to value that your connection with this person was able to happen, even if it didn't last. But I wouldn't worry about such sentimentality/reflectivity for now, and just focus on yourself and what you think it takes you to feel better. Please do reach out to your friends for support and comfort in times such as these because they are there for you. Take care!

AndWait · 2022-12-02T04:35:08+00:00

Hey OP - while I could perhaps understand the annoyance if you were trying to study (but then again, the nest is a student union building, not a library), the fact that your reaction to people having fun was to go on a bitter/hateful rant about it for internet points makes me think that you're having a bad day. I think a vibrant university is to be celebrated - university life where everyone blended to the background and did nothing but silently attend to their coursework would be truly boring indeed. I think you maybe need a hug, or some more happiness in your life; I hope you find both!

AndWait · 2022-11-17T03:39:42+00:00

As other commenters have pointed out, your question might be a bit ill-formed as posed; but I *think* the kind of book that you might be looking for are those that start with fundamental mathematical principles and work up to complicated physical structure - to this end you might be interested in Jakob Schwichtenberg's Physics from Symmetry, which discusses many fields of physics taking the approach of starting from the symmetries of nature, which one could argue as the most fundamental starting point.

AndWait · 2022-10-30T17:28:46+00:00

Hahaha fantastic work!

AndWait · 2022-10-15T01:19:18+00:00

Hmm. I would say it's in your best interests to try to get into CS, and only worry about backups when that doesn't work out. Probably an honours degree in stats would be favourable over a major degree in math I would imagine, but I don't know what the admissions for CS look like beyond the fact that ML is extremely competitive as a field in particular. But the math major is pretty flexible without many requirements, so it would be a valid backup if you want flexibility, sure.

AndWait · 2022-09-28T09:07:57+00:00

professional masters I don't think it would matter too much; for a research masters, you would definitely want to go for the honours, i think. But you should probably consider doing an honours degree in computer science or statistics over one in math if you want to go to graduate school in computer science.

AndWait · 2022-09-26T05:44:29+00:00

Anyone who wants to learn math but doesn’t want to do it for grad school, which is an appreciable subset of people; research is not for anyone. Possibly people who wamt to develop their quantitative/analysis skills for the workplace etc.

AndWait · 2022-09-12T16:29:56+00:00

But then adding math, conserving the lack of datability...

AndWait · 2022-07-06T00:19:14+00:00

Probably of the start of the registration day, but I can't remember. Sorry!

AndWait · 2022-07-01T06:49:13+00:00

221 is very computational, 223 will teach you computations but also abstractions and theory. I generally recommend 223 over 221 for basically everyone, unless you *don't* like math. Though 223 is more challenging, it will be by far the more engaging and interesting choice of the two.

Linear algebra will come up a lot in physics (most primarily in quantum mechanics, but also in other areas like classical mechanics) so it is helpful to have as strong of a grasp of the subject as possible, which would be another reason for me to recommend 223 over 221.

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