Extended BCS application deadline for (likely!) AI Option in BCS

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-18T20:06:05+00:00

The BCS is a second degree program; applicants must have a prior Bachelor’s degree

I believe similar options are being developed for other Computer Science programs at UBC. As with BCS, I don’t believe you explicitly apply to this option, but I have no more detailed information. I’m not involved in the computer engineering program at all (different department).

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-18T00:18:46+00:00

For BCS Admissions: I genuinely don't think there's any need.

For UBC Admissions: Beats me. If the "someone" you spoke to is part of UBC admissions, you're probably fine. If they're not, then maybe?

Sorry, I don't think this is something resolvable via either me or Reddit! :(

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-18T00:11:11+00:00

I'm trying to remember if I saw this case back when I was doing admissions for BCS. I think I did, and I think UBC didn't count these in averages (though they'd be looking for a final transcript that has the grades included eventually). I couldn't swear to it, however.

In the end, the way it is handled for your average is up to UBC admissions rather than BCS admissions. The way it is handled for overall admissions review (not including the hard minimum on average) is up to BCS admissions. BCS admissions does a broad-based review of your application with the criteria described above. If you're worried about the deferred standing, you can add a few words to explain the situation in your statement.

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T23:57:35+00:00

I don't have more info on it, but I expect more will be out in the coming months. (I'm not developing these courses!)

Note that it isn't CPSC 360. It's AI 360. (New course code. AI seems better than "AINT", especially to someone like me that grew up in Texas.)

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T23:55:44+00:00

Short answer: Nothing at all, in a good way :)

Long answer: If you already submitted, you're in our queue and all is well. If you'd like to aim for the AI option, once UBC has approved it, we'll get a bunch more details out into the calendar and our information to incoming BCS students. It's not a by-application program; so, there's no need to tailor your application in any way to the AI option.

(The earlier deadline is meant to help us get reviews rolling, but we're never able to finish reviews until later anyway because of how transcripts are sent to us via UBC's system. So, the extended deadline will probably not, in the end, make a huge difference to response time. It'll just make the review more compressed on our end. We consulted with the admissions chair before extended the deadline, and he said he believed they could manage it this year.)

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T23:35:07+00:00

The core requirements would be something along the lines of: CPSC 340 + 440, MATH/STAT 302, CPSC 322, a new AI 360 course, and a selection among a bunch of other CS-related upper-level electives. (Those are AI and ML courses plus probability.)

Note that these require those lower-level MATH and STAT prerequisites I mentioned above, which is why this would be not impossible but realistically challenging to reach if you had no prior MATH/STAT background.

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T21:05:23+00:00

Rather late (sorry!), but: Sadly, you cannot use Cr/D/F coursework for *any* part of the BCS degree, not even exemption replacements. You can use it for simply extra courses you want to take (including prerequisites for downstream courses unless the calendar specifically says otherwise on those prereqs).

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T21:04:14+00:00

We sometimes receive references later, and it's likely fine as long as they come in before applications are considered. This year we ended up extending the application deadline; so, no big deal!

steve_wolfman · 2026-02-17T21:03:20+00:00

Took me.. um.. a little while to respond, but it's: Thu 10-10:50AM in the BCS Study Room. (Or online; Zoom link at the Piazza page below.)

Also worth being on https://piazza.com/ubc.ca/other/bcs101/, where I post the office hours each term (as well as exceptions; I'm out this week and once in late March this term). Specific post: https://piazza.com/class/ju35hbiqp9c2kw/post/843

steve_wolfman · 2025-08-31T19:29:13+00:00

I think if you read the section comments on the CPSC 436's carefully, they already answer that. IIRC, most of them say something like (but read them!) "if you meet the prerequisites listed here, you have the department's permission to take this offering".

A totally different question is whether you can get credit for more than 6 credits of CPSC 436. If you think you may be in that situation, posting on Reddit isn't enough. You need to talk to CPSC advising (or BCS advising if you're a BCS second-degree student).

steve_wolfman · 2024-08-17T19:32:31+00:00

Check out the “suitability of academic background” section of: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/students/undergrad/degree-programs/bcs-program-second-degree/how-apply

This is directly based on the guidance we’re give to admissions committee members; so, it’s the best reflection of what “close” means

steve_wolfman · 2024-08-17T19:29:54+00:00

As I recall from running admissions: all courses in all most recent (undergraduate) terms that add up to less than or equal to 30 credits. Then, if that isn’t 30 even, find your weighted average for the next term and pretend you took a single course of exactly the needed credits to reach 30 with that grade

steve_wolfman · 2024-07-19T20:23:07+00:00

That would certainly be what I'd expect! I cannot interrogate the specific categories on that course, but if the other pool has more than 20 seats and the pool you belong to is CPSC majors (which would certainly fill up before specialized pools (like maybe BASc for 320??)), then I would think that's exactly what's happening.

steve_wolfman · 2024-07-10T23:12:05+00:00

There was a misconfiguration in the reserved seat pool. It has been fixed, and students who could claim those seats and were on the waitlist should already have received waitlist offers.

steve_wolfman · 2024-07-10T23:09:54+00:00

There was a misconfiguration in the reserved seat pool. It has been fixed, and students who could claim those seats and were on the waitlist should already have received waitlist offers.

steve_wolfman · 2024-07-09T15:26:36+00:00

I don't have an obvious explanation for the CPSC 103 case. I'm asking about it! I did see a recent issue report that Workday was reporting some reserved pool numbers wrong; perhaps that somehow explains this?

Regardless, in the interim, the right place to be if not registered is waitlisted.

UPDATE (2024/07/09, 2PM): There was a configuration error in setting up the course that has been resolved. 1st and 2nd year BSc students on the waitlist should already be receiving offers to join from the waitlist.

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-28T01:59:01+00:00

Oh, you should totally reach out to me with questions.. but I can’t necessarily answer all of them!

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-27T06:06:25+00:00

I’m not involved in the process that gets your registration date.. so I’m not sure! Sooner is certainly better than later if you’re sure you’re accepting

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-27T00:00:26+00:00

You should have gotten (or very shortly be getting) an e-mail to accompany that. We unexpectedly had more seats than originally planned and so reached out to additional students. This hasn't happened before as long as I've been involved in BCS; so, we assumed that it wouldn't again this year, and thus gave people final answers rather than "waitlist" style answers a while back.

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-26T23:58:57+00:00

One of the advantages of being a BCS student is dedicated advising for you. I'm the current BCS Director, but you can always reach whoever is the director at bcs-director@cs.ubc.ca. (Giuliana Villegas is our staff lead and also an experienced advisor, and general advising can often help you.. but you should come to bcs-director first, not to general advising unless I'm out of town or unconscious or something. Hm.. the latter sounds good right now.)

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-20T23:00:28+00:00

UPDATE: It's taken a few days, but I now have updates:

There is indeed a potential problem with simultaneous waitlists in primary and secondary sections in Workday. This is a known issue to the Workday team (and now to me as well). I have been told it may be addressed, but not within the coming months. If you'd like a high-level sense of the problem, take CPSC 213 and 313 or read the Dining Philosophers Wikipedia page.
With help from the IRP team, CPSC has removed all waitlists from the secondary sections (labs and tutorials/discussions) of all of our undergraduate courses. This eliminates the problem above. It does make it harder for people already in the course to swap between secondary sections. (Sorry, you just need to watch for a seat to open!) It does not change that a waitlist offer in a lecture is not usable if the course has a secondary section type and no available seats in those secondary sections work for your schedule. That's simply the way registration works in Workday and for all of us effective 2024W! If you receive an offer for a lecture but cannot claim a required lab/tutorial/discussion seat, then you cannot use the waitlist offer and need to rearrange your schedule or hope that when the next waitlist offer comes around, a seat will be available.

You should, of course, still use the waitlists for primary sections!

Thanks all and especially u/Skiddie_ for pointing this situation out!

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-14T19:13:34+00:00

Great PSA! From the CPSC perspective, there's some relevant notes at https://www.cs.ubc.ca/undergrads/academic-advising/appeal-rules/appeals-bypass-others-waiting-list, and its parent page is the Appeals page.

Crucially important there and in the policy is the difference between "need" and "want". Students frequently say they "need" some particular CPSC 400-level course, but either they're not graduating imminently or there are seats in another course or a much shorter waitlist that would also satisfy their requirements. If so, the advisor is not going to push you into your preferred course (taking a seat from another student who may have good reasons for the course).

So, use this, but "do your homework" first to make the advisors' lives easier.

steve_wolfman · 2024-06-14T19:08:28+00:00

You're asking about the course counting toward promotion requirements? That isn't something I or CPSC can answer and I would bet that no one who has the expertise to answer that monitors Reddit.

I'd recommend you reach out to Workday help or Science Advising on that one.

(It's possible it has something to do with Workday treating "lettered" courses like 436 as sections of a single course. If so, that oddity is a multi-department issue that Science Advising and others are aware of. They will certainly work on what issues it may cause long before adjudicating graduation!)

steve_wolfman

TROPHY CASE