UBC admissions blog

Did you know UBC has been named the most sustainable university in Canada, or that there’s an outdoor echo chamber in the middle of UBC’s Vancouver campus? UBC’s hallowed halls have produced some of the world’s best thinkers and leaders, as well as some exceptional curiosities, in its 100+ year history. Read on to learn more fun trivia about the university.

1. The Beaty Biodiversity Museum houses Canada’s largest blue whale skeleton. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can get close to the biggest creature that has ever lived on Earth.

2. UBC has a Quadball team, based on the sport of Quidditch from the “Harry Potter” series. Members compete at major events in North America, representing UBC and the city of Vancouver. Past players have also participated as part of Team Canada in the World Cup.

3. UBC’s Vancouver campus is home to a number of apple trees that are direct descendants of those that inspired Newton to compose his theory of gravity in 1661. The trees are planted near UBC’s TRIUMF lab, which houses the largest particle accelerator cyclotron in the world.

4. UBC alumni include eight Nobel Prize winners, plus three Canadian prime ministers, 74 Rhodes Scholars, and 226 Royal Society of Canada fellows. Our varsity athletes have won a combined total of 58 Olympic medals.

5. All the street signs on both UBC campuses are bilingual. At UBC Okanagan, the signs feature both English and Nsyilxcen, the traditional language spoken by the Okanagan’s original people. At UBC Vancouver, which is built on the unceded territory of the Musqueam people, you’ll navigate by signs in English as well as the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language.

6. The buildings on UBC’s Okanagan campus are heated and cooled using energy from the groundwater under the campus. At UBC Vancouver, the pools in the Aquatic Centre are replenished from rainwater that lands on the roof.

7. The Kryptonian language in the Superman movie Man of Steel was developed by Christine Schreyer, an associate professor of anthropology on UBC’s Okanagan campus.

8. UBC’s Vancouver campus is the ninth most popular filming location on earth. It’s served as the setting for many films and TV shows, including The Butterfly Effect, Smallville, three X-Men movies, The X-Files, Legion, Supernatural, 50 Shades of Grey, and more.

9. UBC’s Okanagan campus hosted the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate!) in fall 2016 during the pair’s royal tour of Canada. The couple dedicated a new Aboriginal art installation commemorating UBC’s centennial and the 10^th anniversary of the Okanagan campus, and joined 1,500 UBC students in watching an inter-squad volleyball game.

10. The Seed Lending Library on UBC’s Vancouver campus has a mission to conserve precious seed varieties by allowing members of the public to sign out seeds in order to grow, harvest, and pass them on to other gardeners.

Updated July 8: Registration is now closed.

If you’re entering first year at UBC Vancouver and coming directly from high school, you’ll want to register for Jump Start at UBC Vancouver. This multi-day program is designed to give you a first look at university life, let you meet your professors and academic community, and help you make your first friends!

What to expect

You’ll be assigned to a learning community which will be led by two upper-year students and a faculty fellow. Together, you’ll participate in a full range of activities during the program, from discovering the university learning environment and the classroom setting to fun events such as trivia nights, photo challenges, games, exercise, sports and dance tutorials, and art activities.

Residence stream

If you’re planning to live in student housing on campus (known at UBC as “residence”) in your first year, Jump Start gives you the opportunity to move in early, get to know campus, and meet new friends in-person. You will enjoy scheduled group events with your classmates, as well as sessions and offerings you can take part in at your own pace.

Move-in for Jump Start’s residence stream takes place on August 27. The three-day program runs from August 28 to August 30.

Commuter stream

If you’re planning to live off campus and will be commuting to UBC in your first year, Jump Start gives you the opportunity to practice your route to classes, get to know your new campus and your Collegium, and meet your first friends in person. The three-day program will include scheduled group events with your classmates, as well as sessions and offerings you can take part in at your own pace.

Jump Start’s commuter stream begins on August 28 and finishes on August 30.

Register now

Registration is now open! Visit the Jump Start Vancouver webpage to complete the registration form, pay the program fee, and save your spot.

Jump Start registration will close on June 27 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Registration is now closed.

What students are saying

“My experience in Jump Start was warm and friendly. At first, the environment was scary because a lot of the other attendees did not talk much, but over a couple of ice breakers, everyone’s shells started to melt away. We’d have break times for lunch and in our Collegia, everyone would sit down together in the biggest group possible and talk and laugh. I think attending Jump Start is a great experience overall because it really helped me break out of my own shell. For example, I wasn’t afraid to reach out to the people I had just met at Jump Start on social media. Even now, I still talk to them and I think some of my closest friends at UBC are the ones I made in Jump Start.” – Kayree R.

“Jump Start is such a great way to start the school year. I got to meet so many people who share common interests with me, and many of them I know I will be close friends with for life. It is also the perfect transition from summer to university, and also a great way to meet people and become familiar with the campus prior to classes.” – Katie A.