ntraft

Hey there. Chiming in with my own introduction. I'm starting an MSc in Computer Science this Fall, hoping to transition into a PhD. I'm absolutely over the moon that I got into UBC, my top choice, and with an RA on top of that. I'll be coming from Boston. I was #21 on the waiting list for a studio at Ponderosa Commons, the new residence that's opening this fall, so I've already been offered housing. Really glad that's out of the way. If you're okay with living in a half-finished dorm (we share some of Marine Drive's facilities until 2015), then you might be able to get a lower number on that waiting list. I thought you had to have special qualifications to live at Green and St. John's? One is specifically for interdisciplinary students and the other is for Asian students, or something like that. I've been out in the working world for 6 years now and have learned to thoroughly detest commuting, so I will never live in downtown Vancouver as long as I'm at UBC. I've heard it's a minimum of 45 minutes, probably more like an hour door-to-door. I'd be more likely to consider an affordable apartment near the 99 B-line. I'm curious about orientation too. Maybe you should email someone from Admissions and ask them. I'll still attend, but I'm annoyed that orientation is the 29th and I'm not allowed to move into the residence until Sept. 1st. I'll have to grab an AirBnB for the first week I'm there.

I'm about 99% sure that quote refers to the General GRE scores, not the Subject GREs. Judging from various posts on this forum, I think 84th percentile is actually considered very good. I reported my own score of 74th percentile even though it was optional.

Since the Subject Test is strictly optional and many schools don't even recommend it, I would leave it out. It would have been nice to help you transition into a slightly different field, but you certainly don't need it to bolster your grades, imo. Given that you have a very good GPA and research experience, I would leave it to the reviewers to decide whether you are smart enough and dedicated enough to make the transition. And I'm assuming you make the case for this in your statement of purpose. Having a very clear focus of why you want that particular degree and what you want to research will probably help more.