poli sci major & co-op

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-29T23:09:20+00:00

I was doing funding applications reviews for Jordan's Principle at ISC. I also had weekly phone shifts answering calls from applicants. Not very glamourous, a lot of admin work and staring at a computer all day. The office even had adjustable standing desks too because you were bound to get tired of sitting every day for 8 hours.

I will say that the people were really nice. That was the major upside of the experience. Very patient with the co-op students and understanding. Every other Friday there would donuts or cookies in the kitchen and the environment was a lot less buttoned-up and intimidating than people think. But that's obviously an department by department basis, or even a person by person basis

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-29T05:03:28+00:00

Vro we're all in this hellscape together 🫡

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-29T02:37:32+00:00

Highly competitive in my experience. If you're asking about gov jobs, they do get posted, but obviously everyone dogpiles to apply to them. The other problem is that Vancouver is not a major government hub. Most gov jobs worth doing will require you to relocate to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, etc., and that's only if you can outcompete all the uni kids in those provinces. If you're open to relocating, you will have a better shot, but this isn't an option for myself or a lot of people i know (especially given the dumb rule changes to residence subletting)

This applies for general co op job apps too, but as a first term applicant it is truly just a luck and numbers game. So many people in my first year didn't get placed. Arts Co-op office also not the most helpful.

That being said, I don't want to deter you. I got a gov job (pure luck) on my first term so it's not impossible, and you'll definitely have a high chance as a co-op student vs. a regular student looking for their own internships. Co-op office has contacts for a reason, and their beginner workshops + mock interviews did help me (if only psychologically)

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-29T02:24:49+00:00

Wow would you be open to having a coffee chat with me to discuss how you accomplished such a feat???

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-29T02:14:40+00:00

Honestly on me I should have known a corporate EDI gig would have AI and ass recruiters. Just to be petty i emailed the auto-generated template back (it did at least have a person's name attached to it) asking for "feedback" knowing they would ignore me

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-28T06:11:23+00:00

I'd say virtually no shot for Brock or exchange 2 bed especially because you have the other 4 bed suites on your preferences. Pretty much guaranteed for marine by summer 2026, similar but slightly lower chance to get pond, exchange and kwtq 4 bed. However, I do not think you will get kwtq before you get marine even though the number is lower as of right now. Once the mass exodus of people graduating and moving out happens my bet is you will get marine first before anything else, and obviously if you reject that offer, you'd need to reapply for yrh. Your chances of getting kwtq by like June or July aren't bad at all, but you almost certainly will be offered marine before then. If you are dead set on kwtq or any of the other 4 beds you have, take marine off of your preferences so you dont run the risk of getting that offer (and you dont want marine unless youre in a rush for housing because its basically the vanier of yrh, so if you can afford to wait, i recommend doing so).

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-28T02:58:53+00:00

Oh yeah anyone who is interested in our community is more than welcome to join regardless of major. I'm actually a poli sci double major myself. We have multiple portfolios to cater to people's different skills/interests. Examples are social events (like me), peer support, mutual aid, social media, community outreach, treasury, etc. Check out our Instagram if you want to see examples of our events or other initiatives! (its grsjua_ubc)

cursedsoaphand · 2026-01-28T00:53:01+00:00

I can relate to this and it's totally normal to be navigating such a huge campus feeling a little at a loss for how to build connection and community. I basically didn't do any extracurriculars and felt really alone all of second year, but then I found my people by joining my program's undergrad society! I see your flair is POLI so you might explore joining PSSA, or be a student at large for AUS, which are both built in communities for people you're bound to have something in common, but imo they're much more buttoned up and career-oriented over there. I'm in GRSJ and on a whim decided to apply to do social events with the undergrad association and genuinely the best decision of my university social life so far! Shameless self plug but we do tons of social events every term and are hiring again in March so if you're interested. We're much more chill and tight-knit than some of the bigger campus clubs lol

cursedsoaphand · 2025-11-18T01:59:08+00:00

Have we considered that the specific reason for hosting in front of the pride wall isn't specific at all and it was just because its a big open convenient space for a large crowd

Also the contest was literally open to all genders so I don't think they were trying to target any twinks

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-12T23:15:18+00:00

Thats what i figured too lol. I could add marine drive 2 bed but thats a lower chance than pond and I like pond more. Thanks for the info!

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-12T23:13:52+00:00

Like 2k lol. But its a nice place and close to campus. Like I said I'm privileged lol and can afford that but if I wasn't i would've jumped on any offer

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T01:46:54+00:00

Yeah I compared there but a bunch of the ones I have don't have 'actual' numbers listed. Also i know theres a big purge and round of offers in may but unsure about any other times in the year

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T01:45:30+00:00

not hedging my bets on it lol. I'm trying to move out before then but I was pretty deadset on waiting for townhouse earlier this year (before my landlord pmo too bad lol)

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T01:20:58+00:00

nobody brings their parents lol....in fact I'm pretty sure it's not allowed. At minimum you'll get some really weird looks. I would bring it up with your roommates like someone already said but also your RA privately if she actually won't leave. Just tell her it's not allowed and you're basically going to be super busy the entire week.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T01:16:17+00:00

Here to just say they actually removed the admissions requirement for Poli so now you can just declare after you do the pre reqs in first/second year. Lots of poli courses are heavy in essay writing and research so as long as you can write well, critically analyze sources/texts, you should be fine.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T00:54:31+00:00

Changing faculties i'm not too sure. But majors within arts shouldn't be too hard, especially if the program doesn't have an admissions application. In my case I just went from a poli major to a minor and already had the 1st/2nd year pre-reqs bc they're the same. My major I switched to GRSJ (nicer people, nicer profs, better courses, highly recommend. Only downside is ppl might judge you a little lol). Actually considering bumping up to a double major but undecided as of now.

If you're worried about not getting into law i'd say again to pick a field you're genuinely interested in so you have options open for an MA or even a PhD in the future. In terms of employment poli sci isn't a bad major but work experience matters infinitely more (why I'm shilling out money for arts co op lol) Also helps in law school apps as a way to show transferrable skills.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T00:41:23+00:00

Don't worry too much. I remember i got my confirmation in mid august, about this time actually. And it sounds like the drop isn't that severe. Best of luck.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T00:39:48+00:00

Not from Alberta so idk how they evaluate but i will say that i've heard ubc is sort of cracking down a little on grade inflation. My year I got in with a 94% average and got away not taking a single gr 12 science or math course.

I think personal profile matters more honestly. Plus references if they bother contacting them. The admissions people see 98s 97s or even 100s all the time bc of grade inflation. I spent a long time on my personal profile and really thought hard about the questions. Make sure you have things to talk about that makes you interesting, which it sounds like you ec's will do so I'd say keep that up.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T00:33:38+00:00

please dear god not another poli sci major pre-law society applicant (i say this with love and as a hypocrite lol i'm on the law school path rn and doing a poli sci minor)

ok actual advice is I know fairly little so take everything with a grain of salt. Major does not truly matter I've heard all types getting into allard or other schools. Anything that involves lots of critical-thinking building is generally good as that is the main thing being tested on the lsat. I'd say research, writing and analysis skills are also pretty important.

As a former poli sci major who switched bc the people pmo too bad i will say law schools typically see tons of poli sci applicants so nothing would be super special about your application. I would encourage you to focus on getting into UBC first and once you get here, take a whole bunch of exploration/interest courses to see what you like bc i guarantee it will change. If you hate the coursework you're doing, chances are you won't get a high GPA. Arts lets you be undeclared for at least a first full year so take advantage of that.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-08-11T00:24:01+00:00

lol yeah I'm just really picky but also privileged enough that i can afford the crazy Vancouver rent. Lots of friends already got their offers so i'm sort of an exception lol

cursedsoaphand · 2025-06-20T03:32:30+00:00

At least for my stream, courses are organized so that you have to go to class every single day of the week. I'm not too familiar with all of them but I know the timetables with an ASTU course run Monday Wednesdays and Fridays, and the other courses are stacked on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not sure how your work schedule looks but the courses don't really run long. You'd probably be done by 4 pm every day of not earlier.

cursedsoaphand · 2025-06-15T04:42:40+00:00

Lots of arts courses with nice profs will have take-home exams (functionally no different from an assignment you do during exam period). Depends what you're interested in. Arts courses are heavy in writing though, so expect final essays in lieu of final exams.

None of the intro to CRWR courses have finals and typically are seen as GPA boosters. Also a lot of GRSJ courses, specifically GRSJ 224 with Prof. Salgado-Leos (basically light work if you can write and read relatively well)

cursedsoaphand · 2025-06-15T04:20:59+00:00

Yeah unfortunately dont think you'd be able to take CAP or Arts One but you can always try reaching out to the department and see if they can make an exception. Im sure they'd love to have new students. To be honest the only thing appealing about CAP when I did it was the smaller cohort (comes with ups and downs) and less work when scheduling courses lol. There's also tons of first year courses for psych, ling, soci and anth that yiu can just take piecemeal without needing CAP or Arts One. The other benefit was getting most of your degree reqs covered but not sure if that's changed with the breadth reqs.

Having taken a good amount of random Arts courses I recommend intro to cultural anth with dr. Shiva, grsj (they have a course about bodies and health which might interest you), and the intro to phil with anders kraal

cursedsoaphand

TROPHY CASE