The UBC Okanagan campus is located just outside Kelowna – a medium sized town in the Okanagan, which is one of the fastest-growing areas in Canada. The town is on the shores of Okanagan Lake, and offers an amazing range of outdoor activities year round.
The university is a 20-minute bus ride outside the town, and sits on a hillside with a truly impressive view of the Nicola Valley. The buildings are all very new – quite similar to the nicest buildings at UBC Vancouver. The campus is small, and houses an undergraduate population of roughly 9,000. The university offers very strong Arts and Science, Management, Engineering, Nursing, and Critical and Creative Studies programs. Its classes are smaller, and the university has many ways to offer support to students who need some extra help.
On the day of our tour, we saw the three first year residences, which are all recent; one of them has a rooftop patio overlooking the valley! All first year rooms are singles with shared bathrooms, and each floor also has a common room and study room. We also toured the athletic facilities, which host team sports such as basketball and soccer, and learned about the many exercise and yoga classes offered. Perhaps most importantly, the university is an hour away from both Silver Star and Big White ski resorts, and students can ride charter buses to ski on Friday nights and weekends.
Students who wish to apply to UBC-O do so via the same application as UBC; admissions procedures are the same, but admissions averages are lower for UBC-O. The university has grown tremendously in recent years, and construction equipment across the campus marks sites of future development – a new library is set for completion this fall, while a new main building and cafeteria are planned for the year after. This growth shows how popular the campus has become for students looking for a quality education in a smaller, more outdoorsy setting.
