For upper-level credit requirements, see the table "Summary of Program Requirements". For the B.Sc. major, 30 of the 48 upper-level credits must be in science courses numbered 300 and higher. Students in honours, double major, or minor in science options have higher requirements for upper-level science credits. For students with a major+minor in Science, or students in honours or combined honours, 42 of the 48 upper-level credits must be in science courses. For students with a double major, or with an honours+minor in Science, 54 of the 60 upper-level credits must be in science courses. The remaining upper-level credits may be in other Faculties, though students should be aware that the maximum total credits (including lower and upper-level courses) from Faculties outside of Science and Arts that can count toward their degree is 24.
Normally no more than 6 credits numbered 500 and higher may be used to fulfill the B.Sc. requirements. Prior written permission of the instructor, the student's specialization advisor, the Dean of Science, and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is required. To be eligible, a student pursuing a first degree must have successfully completed at least 75% of the required upper-level credits for their specialization and have an overall average of at least 76% in their completed third- and fourth-year courses. To be eligible, a student pursuing a second degree (B.Sc. or B.C.S.) must have successfully completed at least 15 required upper-level science credits in the second degree as well as 24 additional upper-level credits (in either the second or the first degree) deemed by the Faculty to be broadly relevant to the graduate course being requested. An overall average of at least 76% is required in those 39 credits. See the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
All upper-level credits are expected to be obtained in courses taken at UBC Vancouver (or an official Go Global exchange or as part of a joint degree). Students who took upper-level courses at a recognized institution prior to transferring to the UBC Vancouver B.Sc. degree need permission in order to apply any of those credits to the degree. See Transfer Credit.
Double Counting
Students enrolled in two specializations, e.g., double major, major+minor in science, or honours+minor in science, are allowed to double-count a limited number of upper-level credits. No more than 6 upper-level credits that count toward the specialization requirements for the first major or honours may be double-counted to fulfill requirements for the second major or the minor. There is no maximum number of lower-level credits that can be double-counted since many lower-level courses serve as pre-requisites for multiple specializations. Students should be aware that by double-counting they could substantially weaken the intellectual content of one of their specializations.