Excellent reading, writing, and speaking skills are expected of graduates of the B.Sc. program. These skills will develop from reading scientific and other scholarly literature, from summarizing and synthesizing information, from comparing and contrasting ideas, and from constructing original scholarly arguments.
Credits for the Communication Requirements may not be earned through Credit/D/Fail standings.
All students admitted to the B.Sc. program must take immediate steps to satisfy the Communication Requirements. The pattern of registration priority by class standing makes it more difficult for a student to register in first-year courses after being promoted beyond 1st -year class standing.
Students should note that the B.Sc. Communication Requirements do not necessarily align with professional school admissions requirements. Students should plan their breadth requirement and/or electives to meet the entrance requirement to potential professional and post-graduate programs.
SCIE_V 113 Requirement (First-Year Seminar in Science)
B.Sc. students are required to receive credit for SCIE_V 113.
Students admitted directly from secondary school are required to take SCIE_V 113 in their first Winter session. Students transferring into the B.Sc. at any class standing should register in SCIE_V 113 in their first year at UBCV.
Information about SCIE_V 113 exemptions:
- The Science One program incorporates SCIE_V 113. Students in SCIE_V 001 are exempt from the SCIE_V 113 requirement.
- Students admitted after completing a prior undergraduate degree are exempt from the SCIE_V 113 requirement.
- Transfer students who completed an equivalent course with SCIE_V 113 (via the BC Transfer Guide) will receive transfer credit for SCIE_V 113 and thus do not need to register in SCIE_V 113.
- Transfer students with credit for LFS_V 150 or FRST_V 150 are exempt from SCIE_V 113. LFS_V 150 is only available to students in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and FRST_V 150 is only available to students in the Faculty of Forestry.
- Transfer students who believe their prior coursework has enabled them to meet the learning outcomes of SCIE_V 113 and who do not want to register in SCIE_V 113 should follow the procedure to request an exemption.
Additional Communication Requirement
In addition to SCIE_V 113, B.Sc. students are required to receive three credits of approved communications courses from the list below. Please note that some specializations require a certain course from the list to fulfill this requirement.
Approved Additional Communication Requirement courses:
- WRDS_V 150
- ENGL_V 110 or 111
- SCIE_V 300 (required of students in the Combined Major in Science specialization
- CHEM_V 300 (required of students in Chemistry specializations
The most common way transfer students will meet the Additional Communication Requirement is by receiving credit for one of the following courses or its equivalent:
- WRCM 1st transfer credit
- ARTS_V 001 / Arts One (3 credits from Arts One meet the 3-credit BSc communication requirement)
- ASTU_V 100 (3 credits from the first-year CAPS seminar meet the 3-credit BSc communication requirement). ASTU_V courses are available to students in the Faculty of Arts.
- ENGL_V 100 (only available to students in the Faculty of Arts)
The following notes apply:
Information about SCIE_V 113 exemptions:
- Students with more than 108 attempted credits who have not completed the Communication Requirement will be required to discontinue due to insufficient progress (see Promotion Requirements and Degree Progression
- Students who have satisfied neither the SCIE_V 113 requirement nor the Additional Communication Requirement by the time they are promoted to 3rd year class standing may have their access to credit courses restricted so that they do not exceed the maximum of 78 attempted credits for a third-year student (see Promotion Requirements and Degree Progression without completing the Communication Requirement.