Advising FAQs

When applying to Kinesiology, a student’s personal profile is considered alongside their academic average. Both portions of the application are considered when evaluated by UBC Admissions. For this reason, it is impossible to determine a specific ‘cut-off’ average, and therefore KIN does not have a stated minimum GPA.

Helpful links: Personal Profile | Admission Requirements | Post-Secondary Transfers
Have more questions about the application or admissions process specifically? Reach out to UBC Admissions.

UBC Admissions is responsible for assessing IB/AP/A-level credits, but students can find a guide on the UBC Website. Transfer credits come in mid-summer. We recommend that you register in those courses as if you haven’t received credit, as it is easier to drop a course should you not need it any more, rather than trying to register for a course late. Once you see your transfer credits from IB/A-levels on your SSC, you can then drop the equivalent course from your registered course list. Should you choose to take the equivalent courses at UBC, your IB/AP credit will be overridden, as you cannot receive credit twice for the same course.

You can check to see if your IB/AP/A-level credits have been posted on your SSC under Grades & Records > Transfer Credits.

For more info, please see: IB | AP | A-levels

Transfer credit is done through UBC Admissions. In order to transfer as an equivalent course, the course content must overlap by 80%. In anticipation of transferring, students can use the BC Transfer Guide website to give them an idea as to what credits they might receive at UBC.

Current students can view their transfer credits on their SSC, under 'Grades & Records' > 'Transfer Credits'.

Students must meet the same requirements shown on the UBC Admissions website, and will similarly be evaluated on their personal profile and academic average. Note that how your academic average will be calculated is outlined on the UBC Admissions' University or college student requirements page.

Students who are already at UBC in a different program should refer to the Change of Degree Program page on the UBC Calendar when looking to apply to transfer.

As a second degree student, we recognize that you have already completed a full degree in another area. As such, when completing a BKIN, these credits will apply towards the 60 elective credits normally required by students completing their first degree. This means that in most cases, a second degree student will at a minimum need to complete 60 credits of KIN courses, including first- and second-year core required courses and 30 credits of upper-level KIN.

Questions regarding the application or admissions process can be directed to UBC Admissions.

On your official Bachelor's degree parchment, there is no stream specialization noted. It will state "Bachelor of Kinesiology - University of British Columbia". Stream specialization and, if applicable, your Minor, will show on your official transcript.

Application to any grad program can be achieved through any stream, as long as you meet necessary prerequisites for that program.

A stream is selected at the time of registration for second-year courses, and will be done through a student’s SSC account.
Once in the ‘Course Schedule’ area of the SSC, find ‘Browse’ in the top left-hand corner. Choose ‘Specialization’ from the drop down menu. Find ‘BKIN’ in the options, choose a desired stream, and then click ‘Add Spec.’ This cannot be done until a student’s individual registration time opens.

Students looking to switch streams after this point should get in touch with the KIN Advising Office.

Degree Navigator is not compatible with the KIN degree. Please contact the KIN Undergraduate Advising Office and request a Program/Grad Check to ensure that you are on the right track or ready to graduate. You can also easily submit a request online by filling out a Program Check Form.

We recommend that students be aware that the time around registration and the start of terms can have a high volume of inquiries, so it is best to request a Program Check well in advance of your registration date and time to ensure that you have a clear idea of your remaining credit requirements.

Program Check: A program check can be requested by a current student who is looking to have an update on which credits they have completed, and what types of credits need to be completed in order to meet their degree requirements. Students get in touch with the KIN Undergraduate Advising Office to provide their contact information, and will be emailed a scanned PDF copy of their updated program planning sheet for reference. It is recommended that this be done at least once a year.
Graduation Check: A graduation check can be requested by students looking to graduate in the current academic year. It is a program check done specifically to ensure that a student meets all requirements for graduation. A graduation check should only be requested once a timetable for the final year has been chosen.
Program Checks and Graduation Check can be requested online or in person at the Undergraduate Advising Office.

The Credit Exclusion List can be found on the Academic Calendar, and lists courses in which there is sufficient overlap that credit may be obtained for only one selection. Students will not be granted credit for taking a course that is listed on the Credit Exclusion List along with a course that they have already taken. For example, students who have credit for KIN 190/KIN 191 will not be granted credit for BIOL 153 or BIOL 155.

All students must have one of ENGL 112 or WRDS 150 completed by the end of their second year. Further promotion will not be granted without successful completion of this requirement.

*Applicable to KIN students who started with KIN 2018W or earlier following the KINH stream
The Kinesiology and Health Science stream requires that students take at least 12 credits of upper-level Science. These credits can be filled with any 300-400 level course offered for credit by the Faculty of Science. These courses are mainly offered by the departments of Physics, Math, Biology or Chemistry, but there are some exceptions.
Science Psychology: Any course offered by the department of Psychology that ends in the numbers 60 or higher qualifies as a Science course.
Students can browse courses offered by Earth and Ocean Sciences, Astronomy, CAPS, etc. to find courses that are offered for credit within the Faculty of Science.
If you are still unsure whether or not a course would qualify after closely looking at the course description and the information above, please contact the KIN Undergraduate Advising Office.

In order to complete a KIN degree, all students must complete 18 credits of electives, of which 12 must be at the 300/400 level. When choosing your electives, be aware that elective requirements vary by stream (refer to our Stream Requirements page). Beyond this, electives should be chosen based on your interests and/or career goals. Additionally, if you are looking to apply to graduate/professional school, be aware of their prerequisite courses.

KIN students have the opportunity to acquire a minor from four different areas: Arts, Science, Commerce, or Nutritional Science. Applications for all minors are available from the KIN Advising Office located in Room 202 of War Memorial Gymnasium, or online (see: Arts | Science | Commerce | Nutritional Sciences). Specific requirements are outlined on the application forms.
Commerce and Nutritional Science Minor applications are due mid-May, and are ideally completed by students entering into their third year of KIN. *Contact advising if you are a student considering applying for these Minors at a different point in time.
Science and Arts Minor applications can be handed in at any point after entering third year, and before application for graduation.

All students pursuing their BKIN must obtain at least 120 credits, 60 of which must be completed at UBC. How these credits are divided varies depending on which stream a student has chosen. The requirements for each stream are detailed under the Stream Requirements page.
All additional degree requirements can be found on the Degree Requirements page.

A Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology at UBC can be completed in 4 years if a student takes 5 courses per term, over 4 consecutive winter sessions. If a student chooses to take more courses per term, or additional courses in the summer, they may be able to complete their degree in less time. If a student chooses to take fewer courses per year, they will extend their degree.

Once accepted into the program, Kinesiology students can proceed at their own pace. That being said, there are certain considerations students should be aware of when deciding their course load:
Duration of degree: Kinesiology is a four year degree, but could be extended if you take less than 5 courses per term. You must complete at least 120 appropriate credits to apply for graduation.
Year Promotion: Students must complete all their core Kin courses before they are eligible for promotion to the next year of academic standing. This will affect registration date, and the courses you will be eligible to take.
Housing: A student must be registered in a minimum of 18 credits for the academic year to be eligible for housing, 9 credits per term.
Scholarships: To be eligible for scholarships offered by the School of Kinesiology, students have to have been enrolled in a minimum of 27 credits during the previous year of academic study.
Student loans: If on student loans, students should inquire with their Enrolment Services Advisor (ESA) as to how many credits they need to be enrolled in to be eligible for funding.
Study Visa: Contact the International House for any questions regarding your Study Visa and its specific requirements.

A student planning to take time off should consult the KIN Undergraduate Advising Office to determine the best plan of action for their specific case. In general, a student may take one year off without any problem. If leaving for longer than one year, the student will have to contact advising to re-establish their eligibility as a UBC student, and receive a registration date and time. Returning students are typically not required to complete the admission process again.

International students looking to take time off from school should consult with the KIN Undergraduate Advising Office, as well as an International Student Advisor, to clarify how this may affect their current status and/or future permit applications.

Seats in all KIN courses are initially restricted to BKIN degree students when registration opens for the Summer and Winter sessions. Students from outside the BKIN program should waitlist for any course they hope to secure a seat in. BKIN students should also waitlist in the event that their preferred course becomes full. As seats become available, students are moved manually from the waitlist into the course by the Kinesiology Undergraduate Advising Office on a priority basis. In some cases, higher priority may be accorded to students in a certain year or specialization. Students are prioritized in the order of their timestamps, that is, according to the date and time that they went on the waitlist. In all cases, students must have the proper prerequisites for the course. Course instructors in the School of Kinesiology are not involved in the registration process. Please DO NOT contact instructors to assist with registration. After the first add/drop deadline, no further students will be admitted into KIN courses. Before then, our staff will move as many people from the waitlists into courses, as possible, sometimes on a daily basis in the days leading up to the add/drop deadline. PLEASE NOTE: If the waiting list is full, please check to see if seats open up as we will not be forcing students onto the waiting list. Keep in mind that our staff usually do not work at night; consequently, when it comes to the day of the add/drop deadline, the waitlists will be processed and purged earlier in the day (and not shortly before midnight).

If you are trying to switch your lab section for a course, you can:

(a) find someone in another lab who is willing to switch with you and both go to the KIN Advising Office to request for the switch to be made; or

(b) discuss your lab switch with the instructor for the course. Your switch must be approved by the instructor.

Students cannot be enrolled at two post-secondary institutions at the same time. Therefore, students have the option of taking courses from other institutions during the summer session when they are not registered in courses at UBC. Note that degree required courses cannot be taken at another institution. If planning on taking courses at another institution and transfer the credit to UBC, a student must fill out the ‘Request for Letter of Permission’ form and hand it in at the Kinesiology Undergraduate Advising Office. This form is available from the office, or can be found online here: Request for Letter of Permission

Students looking to register for distance education courses are required to contact the KIN Advising Office and request to have distance ed. credits opened. You can give us a call at 604.822.4512 or send us an e-mail at kin.advising@ubc.ca - please be sure to include your full name and student number. A student must be in good academic standing when requesting distance ed. credits. We generally do not open distance ed. credits for new to program students in their first academic year in KIN.

Credits that are specifically required for the student’s program, including all core KIN courses and 48 credits at the 300/400 level, must be taken with a percentage grade and cannot be taken with a Credit/D/Fail (Cr/D/F) standing. For advising purposes, Credit/D/Fail must be discussed and approved in writing by KIN Advising before selecting this option for a course. Students should make sure to check with the KIN Advising Office in their appointment about whether or not a course can be taken as Cr/D/F towards their program, and thoroughly read through the policies on the UBC Academic Calendar. A course selected as Cr/D/F standing cannot be changed to percentage grading after the deadline provided on the course description page.

Please refer to the Tuition Refunds page on the Student Services page. If you have further questions, please contact Enrolment Services.

Please refer to the Academic Calendar for more information on 'W' standing policies.

Students can apply for either May or November graduation. Further information on application deadlines and how to apply can be found on the Student Services > Apply to graduate page.

Students should receive an e-mail reminding them to take their grad photos in the final Winter session before their graduation ceremony. Updated information is released yearly. Bookings are done through the photography company, not the KIN Advising Office.

Please refer to the Graduation at UBC website for more information.

The KIN Mentorship Program pairs current students with alumni mentors to ease to the transition from university into real world professional settings. Mentors help students develop their networking skills and career exploration. For more information please see the Mentorship Program page.

Past KIN students have gone on to pursue a number of career paths, and you can even read about some of their stories on our Alumni Stories page. For a list of some of the careers that KIN students often go into, please refer to the Career Paths page.

We would also highly recommend attending the annual KIN Career Fair, where students can further explore educational and career prospects, featuring a wide variety of professionals from private and non-profit organizations, graduate programs, research, and more. Accompany workshops and panel discussions are also often available around this time. For more information, please see the KIN Career Fair page.

If considering exchange, be sure to book an appointment with Deborah Gromer at our KIN Undergraduate Advising Office. Deborah is the Associate Academic Advisor, and point of contact for Go Global within Kinesiology. Deborah can be contacted by email at deborah.gromer@ubc.ca, or you can request for an appointment by contacting the Advising Office at 604.822.4512 or filling out an Advising Request Form. Information detailing the various exchange opportunities can be found on the UBC Study Abroad website.

There are a number of scholarships, awards, and prizes offered by the School of Kinesiology. These are awarded to students demonstrating outstanding academic achievement, great leadership and extracurricular involvement. Applications for most scholarships are due at the end of May, with the Awards Ceremony held in November. For a complete list, please see Scholarships in BKIN and Awards & Prizes in BKIN.
Information about UBC wide scholarships, awards, bursaries, and loans, please visit: UBC Scholarships & Awards

The UBC Vancouver campus has a whole network of resources available to new and continuing students. Here are some good links for students to check out if they are looking to explore beyond the classroom:

• • • Kinesiology Transition Program
    • Kinesiology Undergraduate Society
    • AMS Clubs
    • UBC Rec
    • Collegia
    • Centre for Community Engaged Learning

The Student Leadership page on our website is a great resource that highlights the different leadership opportunities within our KIN community and the UBC campus at large.

Job and volunteer opportunities are often posted on the board outside of the KIN Advising Office in War Memorial Gym. You can also find opportunities posted on the KIN website on the Student KINvolvement > 'Job & Volunteer Opportunities' page.

Work Learn positions are job placements for current UBC students. These positions offer students valuable work experience that is limited to 10 hours per week, at a competitive wage. They are normally posted on the Careers Online website a few weeks prior to the start of the academic term. Information on the Work Learn Program can be found on their website.

Unlike Co-op placements, Work Learn positions are completed during the academic term, alongside a student’s course load. These positions are not for credit.

KIN Advising Office: It is a good idea to regularly check in with KIN Advising to clarify the requirements for your degree, course planning, and any time that you have concerns about registration or your academics throughout the year. You can find our office hours and contact information on our advising request form page.

KIN Peer Academic Coaching (KPAC): KPAC hosts drop-in academic coaching sessions in Irving K Barber and facilitates academic skills workshops throughout term 1 and 2. For more information, see the KPAC page.

AMS Tutoring: The Alma Mater Society offers free tutoring for first- and second-year courses including, but not limited to, math, chemistry, physics and economics. Tutoring takes place on the 2^nd floor of the AMS Nest, however, tutoring also occurs in Totem, Vanier, and Orchard Commons. The AMS group tutoring sessions are also offered in Hennings. In addition to the group tutoring sessions, the AMS offers appointment tutoring at a specific set rate, where a student can receive one-on-one help. There are a greater variety of courses for appointment tutoring, so if you are in need of a tutor for a specific course, please reach out to the coordinator to see if there are any available tutors. For more information, please visit AMS Tutoring.

UBC Learning Commons: Based out of the Chapman Learning Commons in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, the Learning Commons provides access to advanced technologies, collaborative work areas, workshop space and learning support. They are located on the level 3 Help Desk in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and assist library-users with the technology in the space, loan out a wide range of equipment and help students connect with key learning resources and services on campus. For more information please visit UBC Learning Commons.

Talk to an Enrolment Services (ES) Advisor for help with figuring out budgeting, finances, and tuition fees.

If you have an ongoing medical condition or disability that impacts your access to campus activities, or if you have previously received academic or other disability-related accommodations at a previous educational institution, you may want to reach out to the Centre for Accesibility to see what assistance you may have access to.

Kinesiology Advising does not advise for these graduate programs. Students should look on the following websites to find the most updated information regarding pre-requisites.

• PT
• Med
• OT