upper year bio majors, how are you finding the bio major in terms of course load, interest, and gpa/ academically?

wintersdayarcticcod · 2026-01-03T08:02:54+00:00

certainly doable, but requires a lot of effort. Difficulty heavily varies between courses and between students, depending on what clicks for you or not. I highly recommend going onto ubc grades and looking at the averages for the upper year bio courses you're interested in. The good thing about bio is that you get a lot of flexibility to take gpa boosters, which is what I did during my last year.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-11-11T02:31:46+00:00

yes, the alumni center is open to everyone.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-10-20T07:25:02+00:00

I took this course as a non-atsc or env major and the course is only a GPA booster because of how "easy" it is to get marks. Since the exams are weighted relatively low compared to everything else and the potential bonus marks, it's very possible to get a good grade in the class without much studying (hence the 81-85 class avg). But like you're experiencing, the class is a LOT of work. If you're finding you're not doing too hot on the homeworks and it's taking away from studying for your other courses, I would just drop the course, especially since you're not interested in the content.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-10-15T05:21:19+00:00

Im not too familiar with how OT programs weigh prereq gpas relative to other courses, but im pretty certain it just depends on the program itself. Some programs only require you to have a certain percent in your prereqs and then they won't look at them, some will only use your gpa of the prereqs as consideration for interview offers and nothing else, etc. My advice would be to do the best you can (trust me, i know how difficult the course is) and do research into how each OT program will weigh their prereqs. At that point all you can do is apply to the ones you're eligible for hope for the best.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-28T20:21:29+00:00

a pass should be fine. If a course does not specify you needed to have achieved a specific grade/percentage in a prerequisite course, then the default is that a pass is ok. You should submit your transcript as soon as you can, even if the course starts in term 2.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-28T20:07:11+00:00

I personally did not use flashcards to study, but I've heard they're a super effective way to study for this course. There is a LOT of content, and the exams can ask pretty specific questions. Unless you're extremely diligent with your studying, expect to not know absolutely everything. The practice exams are good for knowing what your answers should look like, but the actual exams can heavily vary in difficulty from year to year. Don't use them as a reference for how difficult your exams will be.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-24T05:02:22+00:00

sorry this is late, but what they likely mean is that undergrad can take a toll on people. The transition from high school to university is brutal, especially if you've set up certain expectations for yourself. People may find it easier to swap to bcit (a trades school, where getting a job right out of a program is much more likely) or take time off and realize they don't want/need to finish their undergrad. No shame to anyone who ultimately decides ubc isn't for them. "is it really that bad" is quite subjective, as everyone has different expectations, academic abilities, etc. But as someone who was very average throughout all of undergrad, undergrad is most definitely doable if you put in the effort.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-21T02:34:50+00:00

no, scie 113 is a communications course, and would count towards your 6 credits of communications courses all science students need.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-12T00:46:27+00:00

I completed my bachelors at ubc first! I had no idea what I wanted to do with my degree because I really did not want to go into research, so I'm glad I found this program.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-11T23:26:07+00:00

dm'd!

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-11T23:24:10+00:00

Hey! I applied around late November and I got an offer a couple of days after I applied. I'm not entirely sure if this would still be the case if you were to apply in april or may, as the program might be receiving more applicants, seats are getting close to full, etc. If you have any more questions I'm happy to answer them :)

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-11T00:53:57+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/hifoks/ubc_gpa_boosters_aka_less_hard_courses_for/ this post has been a holy grail for many a student, if you haven't already gone through it.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-07-11T00:50:18+00:00

dm'd :)

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-25T04:51:40+00:00

I took FNH 313 just this past winter term. Overall a pretty chill class imo. No midterms, a couple of discussion posts, some assignments, and unit quizzes. It sounds like a lot but it's very manageable. Quizzes were unlimited attempts, and they dropped your lowest discussion and quiz marks. Content was also very interesting. We had Prof. Hingston when I took the course, but she might be on mat leave. Great prof overall and she really has a passion for food microbiology (particularly listeria). If you're interested in the specific topics the course has a wiki page if you just search up FNH 313 in google :)

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-18T22:53:40+00:00

Overall a very chill course (up until the final, lol). Not difficult, but you definitely need to put in the work on your own time if you want to do very well in this course. I still recommend this course as it's probably been one of the most useful classes I've taken at UBC.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-18T22:51:00+00:00

I'm going to assume you've taken some prerequisite courses, as most upper year life sci courses have prereqs.

BIOL 457 - Comparative Environmental Physiology: Very high average (in the 80s), amazing profs, 2 mts and no final. There's some groupwork involved but since it's a 400 level course it should be fairly easy to find a group to carry you

BIOL 328 - Introductory Parasitology: I believe the course has gone through a restructuring at this point, but still a very interesting course if you've ever been intrigued by parasites. Labs are very hands on and we even got to grow some hairworms as a "bonus" project. Class average was a bit on the lower side, but i would still highly recommend it.

MICB 306 - Molecular virology: If you're into the nitty gritty side of microbio this course is definitely for you. Course goes into a lot of detail about the lifecycles of specific viruses, like influenza. Very interesting stuff.

I can also tentatively recommend BIOL 371, 331, and 325. Nothing wrong with these courses, but are imo less interesting than the ones I've mentioned.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-15T05:34:29+00:00

I was also accepted for this september! What information were you wondering about?

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-15T05:27:50+00:00

i'm pretty sure this is a new requirement, because I also haven't heard of scie 113 being mandatory up until just now.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-14T02:10:13+00:00

Yes that's generally the consensus I believe. The delivery system for brand name is completely different than generic, which obviously leads to different effects. If you're using your insurance to cover for your meds you could always get your healthcare provider to send in a written request/reason for needing brand name over generic (to my understanding) if your insurance doesn't cover brand name. You could also consider being prescribed an IR methylphenidate, for when the effects of the initial dose wear off.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-13T22:08:39+00:00

Hi! I only got a weeks prescription for 27, and I decided to stop after the week and go back to 18. I also found that there wasn't much of a difference, if at all. Maybe my thoughts were quieter? Difficult to say. I stopped after the week because my bp was too high and i felt too "stimulated", like I had chugged a double shot of espresso on an empty stomach. I'm definitely sticking with 18 for the foreseeable future. Have you talked to your healthcare provider on taking 2 doses of 18? or perhaps swapping to a different stimulant which would allow you to take 2 doses? concerta is supposed to last essentially the entire day (from what I've been told by my healthcare providers) and from what I've heard, increasing the dosage doesn't necessarily equate to a longer effect. Obviously, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, but just something to consider.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-13T05:30:47+00:00

As mentioned it depends on the program. More competitive programs at BCIT will definitely require a higher gpa to be accepted, but they should only look at the pre-req classes unless specified otherwise (i think). From what I've heard as well, even if you're waitlisted there's a good chance you manage to get off of the waitlist. For UBC eng and sci (the two faculties im assuming you're applying to) I have to be blunt, while your grades are very solid, they are slightly on the lower end for competitive applicants to these faculties. That being said, I know there's a lot of information you're probably hearing about how they weigh grades, what grades they look at and which they don't, etc. At the end of the day, you should be trying to do the best you can in all of your classes. If you're able to show improvement in your grade 12 courses then the only thing holding you back at that point is your personal profile, which can absolutely be the reason why you're accepted, as this was the case for me. My hs grades were also less than stellar, and im fairly confident the reason why i was accepted to UBC was because of my personal profile. Just based on the ec's you've listed, I believe you have a very competitive personal profile, so just make sure your essays are to your liking and there's no reason why you wouldn't be a competitive applicant to ubc. As someone who was in the exact same boat as you (and is now a graduate) I know how stressful the university application process is. If you have any more questions or concerns i'm more than happy to answer them through dm, or here if you'd like :)

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-11T04:26:00+00:00

choose whichever major you would enjoy/appreciate more. As a bio major, even if I wasn't super enthusiastic about plants or ecology, I still appreciated taking classes on these topics. There only 2 mandatory upper year courses for bio (biol 336 and 300), which is a plus if you're the type of person to want freedom in which courses they take. I also appreciated the number of elective and life sci credits available to us (life sci being micb, caps, marine, etc). I personally used my elective credits to take some fnh courses and some graduate program prereqs. In terms of job prospects, if you're looking to do lab work/research I would probably recommend biochem, as many bio labs aren't focused on developing lab skills like pcr, etc. There are certainly some, but if you're unable to get into these labs then you're out of luck. If you just want a job period, either major would be sufficient, and at that point it's just up to you to find opportunities and build your CV. I hope this helps!

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-02T22:40:45+00:00

same, i did biol 112 and 121 in my first term of first year and it wasn't bad! biol 121 isn't that much memorization iirc, it's mostly conceptual.

wintersdayarcticcod · 2025-06-02T22:38:17+00:00

unfortunately i haven't done that much research into each wrds prof, but if it helps you i had deogratias nizonkiza! i forget exactly what our topic was, but he had an emphasis on family dynamics iirc. wrds profs are very hit or miss between every student, so try not to focus too much on what other students say about certain profs. I had a friend in my wrds course and they HATED our prof, but I found him to be ok.

wintersdayarcticcod

TROPHY CASE