ntraft

Yes a lot of people usually get off the waitlist,I would say 2000 and below on the waitlist and you are pretty much guaranteed to get of the wait list (at least this was the case 2 years ago, can not really give you an accurate representation now). However, it is still risky, so you should also consider applying to year round housing (I assume you are on Winter session right now, which has the long wait-lists). Year round is based on first come first serve, and if you apply now, I am sure you will get in (there may be a waitlist, but a lot of people move out between may and August so you should get in to that if you apply now). Plus unlike winter session where you have to reapply yearly, with year-round you do not have to reapply at all, so once you get it, you can keep that place till you graduate. 

I grew up in Vancouver so I thought I'd offer a few tips.

1. Despite what others have said in this forum, public transit in Vancouver is TERRIBLE. I can say this because I've travelled extensively and have lived in various cities in North America and Europe. So if you don't have a car and want to avoid long commutes, try to live near one of the major transit corridors. Also consider cycling if you're going to UBC.

2. For people planning to attend UBC, the West Side of Vancouver is beautiful but expensive, so allocate lots of time for apartment hunting. I wouldn't recommend cycling from Burnaby, but Richmond is perhaps doable if you don't mind a bridge. There are express buses up and down Granville st., so connections from the downtown/West End areas are fairly easy, as are Skytrain connections on the Canada line. Millennium line and Expo line routes will take longer; they seem direct, but once you're on that long bus ride on the 99 you'll wish you lived closer. If you don't like commutes but don't want to pay Point Grey/Kitsilano/Dunbar prices, look in South Vancouver -- Marpole, for instance -- or further east towards Cambie or Quebec st. You can probably go as far east as Main without TOO much discomfort, but further than that and you're looking at a very tiring commute. Richmond is close if you're ok with suburbs.

3. For people heading up to SFU I'd heavily favour the Hastings-Sunrise, Commercial Drive, or Main st. areas. New West, Burnaby, or Coquitlam will wear you down if you enjoy more urban environments, and truthfully aren't much less expensive. Hastings-Sunrise/PNE would probably be my first pick since you can take the 135 express bus straight up the mountain (I'd say about 30 mins from Hastings & Nanaimo). It's an up-and-coming neighbourhood with lots of great eateries (check out the Red Wagon diner, Roma, and Moccia's deli, for starts). There are many nice houses to be found between Hastings and Renfrew or north of Hastings toward the inlet. Many were built between 1910 and 1945 and offer reasonable rents for a partial house. Strathcona is also close to the 135 route and offers a nice community in one of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhoods. However, nice houses/apartments in this area are scarcely on the rental market; people tend to nab them and hold on for a long time. If you really must live in Burnaby, look around Deer Lake.

4. Vancouver really is an outdoorsy city. It's not as culturally interesting as Seattle, Montreal or Toronto and not even in the same league as SF, NY, or Chicago, but the surroundings are incredible. I miss them almost every day.

5. There are no truly dangerous areas in Greater Vancouver. Even in the downtown eastside you're probably more of a threat (esp. in a car) to the addicts than they are to you. Still, don't live there.

The transit system is generally good outside of Vancouver, but people do complain it's not as good as in the city proper. It also depends on which suburbs you'll be working in. e.g. Richmond is fairly close and is served by both rail and bus lines. Commuting to, say, Coquitlam would be more of a pain. In any case, I think grad students also pay for the mandatory transit pass fee, so it makes sense to use transit whenever possible since you get unlimited access.

And yes, I lived on campus for my entire time there. The housing on campus is convenient and you get good bang for the buck. The main problem is there isn't enough of it.

Hi,

I am recently received my CS GRE Subject Test score and I am trying to determine if it is good enough to include in my application, as my major GPA is a bit on the low side. I got around a 700. Is this a decent score, or should I not include it in my application?

Thanks!

If I didn't want to report a recommended test, I would not have reported it. I'm not sure if you "have" to report it though -- almost all applications make you agree to a statement that's something like "I certify that all information provided is true and complete to my knowledge etc.." So if you answer "no" to the "did you take the test?" question, you are technically breaking that statement. However, not all sections on the applications are generally required (e.g. usually financial information questions are optional), so I would argue that since the test is optional, the question about the test is also optional.

I remember looking at some of the applications and realising there were actually very few required questions. So my advice to all application is to reveal only what you think is beneficial/neutral. If you are about to write something that might not look good, first check to make sure it's actually required. Usually, just before submission, you can click on a button to "check for completeness" and it will tell you if any required fields are missing. Obviously, there are some things you cannot hide, and sometimes omitting certain facts might hurt more than revealing a bad score, for example, so use your judgement!

I feel that despite the disclaimer you have to sign, whether or not you took a GRE test and your score is personal and confidential. Even if the school requires the subject score, you can still choose to not reveal/submit it and they will have to decide whether or not they want to still look at your application (probably not).

I had one school that "strongly recommended" the Physics GRE. I scored 44% and 52%. I submitted both scores and got in. Another school did not ask for the Physics GRE at all, so I did not submit it (I answered no to their question about having taken the test). However, my general GRE score did not get sent to them properly and they asked for a scan of the score report I got in the mail. The mail score report is for me only so it contains ALL of my test scores. When I scanned the score report, I blocked out the Subject GRE score section (using Paint lol) and wrote a note stating that I did not wish to report these scores because it was not required. I wasn't asked any questions about it and they accepted me. Technically, since all Subject GREs appear in the same section of the mailed score report, they didn't have to know it was Physics GRE scores instead of e.g. Math GRE scores from the past or something.

However, I think if a school doesn't require a subject GRE score, that means they probably don't really care. For the "strongly recommended" school, I decided that I'd rather show that I took the test and tried my best (since I got two consistent scores) instead of avoiding it at all.