UBC admissions blog

Have you applied to study at UBC after you’ve already begun your studies at another post-secondary institution? Every year, the University receives and reviews more than 9,000 post-secondary transfer applications from students in Canada and elsewhere around the world.

Your application assessment

We are in the process of evaluating applications. If you applied by December 1, your application will be evaluated on the interim grades that you have already provided. If we ask you for a final transcript, we will evaluate your application based on the available grades from that document. In the event that we require any additional information from you in order to process your application, an advisor will be in touch.

We appreciate your patience as we evaluate applications in the coming months. Application decisions will continue to be made throughout June and July.

Offers of admission

Admission decisions are posted in UBC’s Applicant Service Centre. Keep an eye on your Applicant Status for the most up-to-date information.

Transfer credit

Any transfer credits that you have been granted will be posted in the Applicant Service Centre under Grades & Records. If you are transferring from a BC institution, you can use the BC Transfer Guide to determine what transfer credit you can receive. Please note that in some cases, your transfer credits may not appear until you’ve accepted your offer and paid your deposit.

If you have a prior degree, transfer credits are not assessed. Please connect with your faculty advising office to determine second-degree requirements. Remember that you can only satisfy up to 50% of your second degree with credits from your first degree, even if your first degree is from UBC.

If you have questions about your post-secondary transfer application or transfer credits, please contact us.

We’re pleased to announce that first-round offers of admission are now complete! All students who have received a first-round offer of admission will now see that reflected in the Applicant Service Centre under Admissions > Application Status.

What happens if I didn’t receive a first-round offer of admission?

If you did not receive a first-round offer of admission, your application will automatically be reconsidered as part of our regular round of admission offers.  Not receiving a first-round offer does not in any way decrease or jeopardize your chances of receiving an offer of admission in the regular round.

Students who did not receive a first-round offer of admission will now be considered based on grade information that UBC receives from IB counsellors, Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) download, the BC Ministry of Education, and document upload in March.

• Ontario high school students: Your grades will arrive through the OUAC download. No further action is required unless we connect with you directly.
• BC and Yukon: Your grades will arrive through the BC Ministry of Education, and no further action is required from you.
• IB students: Your grades are being submitted by counsellors. No further action is required unless we connect with you directly.
• All other Canadian high school students: Upload your documents before March 15. Check out our document upload blog post for more information.

For up-to-date and current information, please check your status in the Applicant Service Centre under Admissions > Application Status.

We know that selecting universities to apply to is a huge decision – one that involves plenty of research and preparation. And although that part is done, you still have one big decision left: which admission offer will you accept?

The UBC Admissions Office is meticulously reviewing your application so that we can give you our decision as soon as we can – we want to help you make your big decision in good time. That being said, we’re not going to rush through our evaluation of your application – we want to make sure you get a carefully considered decision from us. As soon as we have evaluated your application, you will see our decision on the Applicant Service Centre under Admissions > Application Status.

Why do some students receive their admission decision before others?

The simple answer: we receive grades at different times depending on your school system.

For some of you, we started evaluating your application in mid-to-late January because you applied by December 1 to be considered for a first-round offer of admission. Right now, we are receiving International Baccalaureate anticipated grades for Canadian high school applicants, BC Ministry of Education grades, and OUAC grade information from Ontario, and we continue to receive international documents.

From March 1st to March 15th, applicants from Alberta, Manitoba, the Maritimes, and Saskatchewan will upload their documents so that we can evaluate their applications.

Our Admissions team has been reading personal profiles and evaluating applications as we receive grades and other information, and we will continue to do so until all applications have been carefully reviewed. We’re working as quickly and carefully as we can to give you an admission decision shortly after we receive all of your grade information.

Admission decisions are not first come, first served

Most important to you: we use the same evaluation criteria for everyone when their files are complete. If your files are complete in March, we will evaluate your application exactly as we have done for those whose files were complete in January. Our decisions are not made on a first-come, first-served basis, and we take great care to make sure you get the right decision shortly after your application is complete.