Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Statistics Undergraduate Advisor: Dr. Bruce Dunham (b.dunham@stat.ubc.ca, ESB 3118) is the current undergraduate advisor in the Statistics department.  Dr. Dunham will have two office hours each week in the Winter terms for dealing with undergraduate enquiries, and one hour per week during the Summer session. Please check Dr. Dunham's home page for times for the current office hours.
  

   

• STAT305/306: In the current academic year, Stat 305 and 306 will only be offered in Term Two. These  courses are generally not offered in the Summer.
  

   

• Faculty of Science Promotion Requirements. "Promotion requirements" refer to the criteria students must meet to move to the next year-level in programs. The following promotion requirements will be used to determine promotions for the STAT Majors program (not including combined majors/honours programs, but the 60% average criterion listed below applies to all second-year students): 1. Promotion to Year 3. i) Students must achieve an average of at least 60% on their first attempts in their best 3 of the 5 "named" courses in Year 2. (For STAT major students, these five "named" courses in Year 2 are: MATH200, MATH220, MATH221, STAT200, and STAT/MATH302). Students who do not meet this 60% average criterion will normally be removed from our programs. ii) Students must pass STAT200 (or equivalent) to be promoted to Year 3 level in our programs. 2. Promotion to Year 4. Students must pass STAT 305 and 306 (or equivalents) to be promoted to Year 4 level in our programs.

   

   

• What to do if a course is full? If you are trying to register for a course when all sections are full, you should keep monitoring the situation online to see if any spaces becomes available. Please keep trying to register in the course online. We are unable to predict when or if room will open up, but please note that often some students do drop out, especially during the first few weeks of classes so spaces may become available at any time. Please also note that we are not able to provide a waiting list service.

   

• Thematic Concentration: B.Sc Statistics major students need to satisfy the thematic concentration requirement. You may take 9 upper-level (300 or above) credits in a theme area of your choice, with at least some of these courses having clear statistical or probabilistic content. If you choose these theme courses yourself, your choice of courses must be approved by the Undergraduate Advisor. Please see here for details and examples. Please think early about your theme choice, as the upper-level courses in the theme area will likely have lower-level (100 and/or 200) prerequisites. Students taking more than one program should note regulations regarding the double counting of credits.

   

• Program requirements: Please see UBC Calendar Statistics Major/Combined Majors/Honours Program requirements. We offer major/honours in Statistics and combined majors/honours with Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics. You need to follow these program requirements in order to graduate.

   

• Many students consider a career in the Actuarial industry. We currently do not offer a program in Actuarial Science. However, some Statistics courses may be useful for actuarial exams. These courses include STAT 200, STAT 302, STAT 305, STAT 306, STAT 404, STAT 447J and STAT 443 (previously STAT 447K). Other related courses are COMM 379, MATH 303, CPSC 302, CPSC 303, and some economics and finance courses such as Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Corporate Finance. Some UBC courses are accredited by the SOA as counting towards their "VEE" requirements. For more details  visit www.beanactuary.com and consult the Society of Actuaries (SOA) .

   

• Combined Programs: If you are interested in one of our combined programs such as combined major/honour in Computer science and Statistics or combined major/honour in Statistics and Economics, please get approval from the other departments (e.g., Computer science department or Economics department) first. Once you receive acceptance from these departments, then you may talk to the Statistics department. Please see here for details and examples about our combined programs.

   

• Transfer credits: If you want to transfer credits for a Statistics course taken at post-secondary institution, please see the Statistics undergraduate advisor. Students wishing to obtain credit at UBC for a course taken at another institution should provide appropriate information about that course, including an official course outline and some sample assessment, such as an examination paper. Please note that it is not always possible to align a course at UBC with a course at another academic institution. 

   

• Graduation requirements: To get a BSc degree in Statistics, you need to meet both our program requirements and the Faculty of Science Requirements. Here is an informal quick checklist.
  

   

• CPSC courses requirements: The first year CPSC course requirements for all Statistics major/honours and combined majors/honours programs (including combined ECON/STAT programs) are: CPSC 111/211 or CPSC 111/MATH 210. For all our programs from 2010, CPSC 111 may be replaced by CPSC 110 and CPSC 211 may be replaced by CPSC 210.

   

• Minor in Statistics? Here are some general rules. The requirement is eighteen upper-level credits in Statistics, which may include MATH 302. Please see the Statistics undergraduate advisor for course selection.

   

• Co-op program: Click here for information about co-op programs.

   

• Stat 200, 203: Students wanting to transfer from Faculty of Science (FOS) to Pharmacy can take either Stat 203 or Stat 200 (no written approval is required). However, Stat 203 is not for credit in FOS. As transfer to Pharmacy cannot be guaranteed, it may be wisest to take Stat 200.

   

• Second degree students: Please talk to an advisor in the Faculty of Science regarding which first year courses or electives can be waived. For questions about Statistics courses or the Statistics program requirements, please talk to Statistics undergraduate advisor.

   

• Major in Statistics with Minor in Commerce? Here are some general rules.

   

• Interested in Biostatistics?     More information here.