Robert G.
Yelp
Am I qualified to write a review for the University of British Columbia, or UBC? Yes I am.
You see, I lived in the Seattle area for almost 4 years and, once a month, I would go to Vancouver BC to be someplace more "European" (signs in kilometers and meters and words like harboUr, grEy, and centRE), which was easily done because the distance from Seattle to Vancouver was about the same as that between my native Los Angeles and San Diego. That means I've been to Vancity at least 45 times from Seattle and, with trips from other places I've lived, that number is even higher.
So, then, what qualifies me to write this review?
1. I have slept at UBC. Did you know that, during the summers when school is not in regular session, you can stay in Vancity, albeit not in the center, "on the cheap?" UBC Conferences and Accommodation is the wing of this institution that rents rooms and organizes conferences. They vary from basic dorm rooms, which are probably depressing, to accommodations that approximate suites. At about the midpoint is a residence like Gage Towers. Tall concrete structures of the Jetsonian era, they have about 6 rooms on each floor that open onto a central core area with a bathroom and a kitchenette / salon. Breakfast is included. Parking is not. Still, you could only do this every now and then because it feels like one is going back in time.
2. I have been on their campus at least a dozen times.
3. I have gone to their bookstore to purchase UBC t-shirts, which I either have or have used until they were threadbare and only suitable for waxing my car.
UBC is the "big cheese" of universities in Western Canada and is getting more important all the time. I tend to think of it as part of the Big Three: McGill (Montreal), University of Toronto (UT), and University of British Columbia (UBC). Canadians who don't go to one of the three above schools can get defensive and extol the virtues of the university they've attended or send their kids to, such as Dalhousie (Halifax), Carleton (Ottawa), or U of C (Calgary). Locally, the other big school is Simon Fraser University (SFU). I would say that, in true flagship form, UBC is more "ivory tower" while SFU is more applied. I know someone who went to SFU to study forensics. It's sort of like the relationship between UC Berkeley and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, if you will.
Having gone to UW-Seattle, the two schools are compared just as are the two cities themselves. UW is truly an urban campus, with urban city neighborhoods encroaching on its boundaries. UW feels more compact. UW is at the same level as Lake Washington. Instead, UBC is at the edge of the city where tony neighborhoods with large mansions end. UBC's layout feels more spacious and rectilinear. UBC is propped up on a promontory. In terms of academics, they excel in the same fields, more or less.
UBC is a city on the edge of a city, out at the very western end of the larger land mass of Vancouver. Buses, such as the 99 and the 4, will take you to UBC from the city center or from Kitsilano. UBC is also constantly growing, with cranes and construction barricades always in evidence. In terms of its rankings, UBC is top drawer in the sciences, business, engineering, law, architecture, and the liberal arts. Not only that, many of its facilities are top notch.
I don't think that getting into UBC is easy. A Hispanic immigrant to Vancouver was ecstatic when telling me that her daughter had been admitted to UBC, indicating it was a feat to be proud of. Regardless, of the Big Three, I am most fond of McGill in Montreal, dubbed "the Harvard of Canada," even though it's actually a public school and getting into McGill is far more feasible than getting into Harvard. Mirroring Vancouver, UBC is diverse and cosmopolitan. However, I think that the diversity is somewhat clustered and reflects the demographics of the area - Anglo-Canadians, Asian(-Canadians) primarily of Chinese and Indian stock, and a few others, such as some Hispanics, a growing group in Canada, various international students, and Americans who decided to venture up to Vancouver to be educated at this fine university.
If ever in Vancouver, Canada, do take the opportunity to visit this important and beautiful university, even if just for its views, its grounds, and its museums, such as the Museum of Anthropology. If Canadian, and pricey Vancouver beckons, consider UBC for school ... or sending your children there if they are amenable to it.
Lastly, the experience is enigmatic in a way. As you walk around the University of British Columbia and if you could blot out anything around it, you might think you were in a Finnish forest, with newer Bauhaus inspired buildings, with many Asian folks walking around, with the wafting scent of high afternoon tea from the nearby mansions hearkening to the province's British roots, and with the unmistakable feeling that you are at the northern end of what is coined Ecotopia.
