EXCHANGE REPORT
DAVIS, RYAN
BSc in Quantitative Finance
Fall 2019
2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Table of Content
Content Page
Part I : Monthly Activity Log 2-5
Part II : General Exchange Information 6-13
Part III : Items to Bring 14
Part IV : Useful Links and Contacts 15
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Part I : Monthly Activity Log
September 2019
A week after spending my summer in Hong Kong, I started my exchange experience by flying straight to Vancouver. My friend and I had decided to arrive a day before the official check-in date in order to get a bit rest before getting started.
The first week of my journey was an eye-opening one, as it was my very first time to go to North America. During that time, I chose to settle my university courses, bought some cooking utensils, made a bank account, registered for a local phone number, and strolled around UBC to familiarize myself with the campus environment.
In the time of that first week, UBC had also arranged a school orientation for all incoming exchange students where you could get to know people around the world.
On the second week of add-drop period, a group of HKUST Indonesian student across North America and I had decided to visit United States for 10 days. We completed this trip by going across west coast, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas as our main destination. I would like to say that aforementioned period would be best for travelling as the school workload was still light and you may be able to travel without having excessive burden of school projects.
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles Pier 39, San Francisco Vegas Strip, Las Vegas
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
October 2019
October was indeed a hectic period for me, as I was having 5 tests as well as ongoing projects and homework that had to be done simultaneously. As I didn’t have a lot of time to travel during this month, I decided to just travel around Vancouver during my free-time and did a short yet a compact trip to Seattle on a weekend.
I would like to describe the fact that the workload of assignments and homework on the mathematics courses that I took was heavier than that of HKUST. I had to do some continuous online and written-based homework that had to be submitted directly in class, with a weekly time frame. However, I personally felt that the workload of the tasks was still manageable, and it helped a lot in terms of understanding the course.
As I spent most of my time in Vancouver during this month, I would like to describe Vancouver as a great place to live in, with it being less crowded than Hong Kong while at the same time, Vancouver offers a promising convenience to its residents through a lot of aspects. Besides, during October, Vancouver got colder with an average of 11-12 degree Celsius for the whole month. Moreover, I disliked the fact that Vancouver started to rain frequently as it made commuting less comfortable. At last, I had also found out that the sky tended to look gloomy with minimum sunlight exposure all the time. Spending some time with friends would be very beneficial to keep yourself happy and motivated during such a busy month.
Pike Place Market, Seattle Space Needle, Seattle UBC Campus
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
November 2019
I spent my first 2 weeks of November by dealing with school projects and exams as I still had 3 tests on that period. The reason that I had to deal with a lot of test was the fact that most of my courses had at least 2 exams during the whole semester. Upon completing all of the course- work, I gathered some HKUST friends from different places such as Toronto, Boston, and Atlanta to have a trip together to United States.
At that moment, we went to explore the east-coast, where we visited Boston, New York, and Washington DC. To end the trip well, I had also decided to spend 3 days by visiting the financial centre of Canada, Toronto. I did really enjoy my time during that period, as I had just completed all the burden that school had given to me. During that trip, we spent most of our time by trying different local delicacies while at the same time, we visited the most sought-after landmarks that the city offers.
However, it was very sad that I had to go back to Vancouver a day before Thanksgiving as I had to face my first final exam that began on the very first day of the exam period. Although I only had a few days to prepare for the first exam, I had planned it earlier before the trip to make sure that I had enough time to study within my own capability and pace. In this sense, I might suggest waiting until the final-exam schedule to be released before making a travel decision as it would be costly to cancel your trip upon having it being booked.
Harvard University, Boston Times Square, New York Washington Monument, DC
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
December 2019
Final exam period had finally arrived! It started early from December 2nd until December 19th. My personal schedule on the final exam was not that tight, and hence, I had a very adequate amount of time to prepare. In UBC, there was no such thing as a study break. For example, as classes ended on Friday, November 29th , the first final exam took place on Monday, December 2nd.
I would describe my last month to be a mixed feeling between joy and sadness. I was excited to enjoy Vancouver to the fullest while at the same time, I did realize that this remarkable journey was going to an end.
To top my journey off, my friends and I went to Vancouver Christmas Market where I could at least enjoy a taste of the festive season, Christmas, as I had my flight ticket back to my country before that joyful moment.
As I hadn’t gone home for almost a year, I had decided to fly back earlier to my country as I missed home so much, especially to gather with my family and friends, as well as to eat the very delicious and well-known local delicacy, the Indonesian food.
McArthur Outlet, Vancouver Gastown, Vancouver Downtown, Vancouver
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Part II : General Exchange Information
1. Visa Procedure
As an Indonesian, I had to apply for a temporary residence visa. Instead of applying for a student visa, I did apply for a normal visitor visa, but if I had to recall, I remembered giving out information regarding universities information in the application. If it happens that you are in Hong Kong, I would advise you to visit the Canadian website for more details and visit VFS Global where they provide services for the visa application. The process was very convenient as everything could be done online and only took about 2 weeks. Visa requirements are listed completely in the website but it goes beyond the extend of:
• Your flight ticket departing to Canada • Travel itinerary • Digital photo of 35mm x 45mm • Invitation letter stating the purpose and length of visit and also specifying who will be responsible of all the expenses • A legible copy of your travel documents (e.g. passport) • Letter of acceptance • Travel History (including previous passports and visas, entry and exit stamps, expired or valid visas, study and work permits) • Recent education transcript from HKUST • Proof of means of financial support will be responsible of all the expenses
2. Orientation Activities
An orientation would be conducted during the first week of school term. UBC would divide students into smaller groups where students were expected to get to know each other. Aside of making friends, they would guide you to travel around UBC to make yourself familiar with the campus surroundings. There were also plethora of universities club and society to choose which included an exchange students club that held activities for incoming exchange students.
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
3. International Services and Activities
If you have any concern regarding your exchange program, please contact UBC Go Global Office at [email protected] if it happens that you are being outside Canada. You might also want to stop by their office at Life Building if you have arrived at UBC. Courses registration and waitlist are also managed by Go Global, especially with the fact that we are an exchange student.
You might also want to join “UBC Exchange Student Club” if you wish to join their trips and activities to meet other exchange students.
4. Accommodations
The accommodation registration arrived months before your exchange program. Make sure that you don’t miss the application if you wish to stay on campus. My first choice was Ponderosa Commons, but eventually received Walter Gage Residence. Walter Gage is pretty good in a lot of aspects despite the fact that it is one of the oldest residents in UBC. Walter Gage fee is comparatively cheaper than that of other residents and it has a strategic location near Irving K Barber Library, main bus station, and not that far from the business school. Options for off- campus housing might be either more expensive or cheaper depending from the location and the amount of period you will be staying.
5. Course Registration
UBC Go Global will send e-mail regarding the course registration a long way before your exchange program. You will be asked to fill out 10 subjects that you might want to take while at the same time, you might want to emphasize the courses that you really want to take. Please check HKUST’s credit transfer website whether the mapping of courses that you wish to take is still there as it also has expiry date. In my case, there was one course that had not been taken before by any HKUST student, but I did manage to consult with the course coordinator in our home university whether it might be able to be transferred. For courses that are not in the mapping, you have to submit GR22 form to HKUST ARR and wait for the approval.
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Add-drop period is also an important time where you can change your mind regarding the courses you want to take during the first 2 weeks of school. Unlike in HKUST, we would have to e-mail UBC Go Global on the change that we would like to make as it might have a clash with the pre-requisite and others. Go Global would be more than helpful in this case.
6. Teaching and Assessment Method
Teaching environment in UBC was vibrant with a lot of participation and interactive discussion being conducted. UBC students were more active in voicing out their opinions and you might also want to hear about that as they might raise good questions about the course content. I personally felt that the intensity of exam was not as hard to that of HKUST, as it would be pretty straightforward. However, some courses required extensive thinking beyond the lecture slides. You might want to attend the classes and listen to it attentively as Professor might emphasize on important content that might be tested during exam.
Some classes require you to participate via iClicker (it’s like iPRS) where you actually buy the device in UBC library with options ranging from used and new products. UBC Second Hand Facebook Page would be useful to get a good deal of this device.
7. Sports and Recreation Facilities
There are a wide variety of sports activities that you might want to join. Fees are required for most of the activities, and you could check the schedules through UBC Recreation. UBC offers a complete sport facility with membership fee while swimming pool is free. Each student housing might offer you different facilities, for example, a table-tennis and pool in Walter Gage.
8. Courses Taken at UBC • COMM 370 – Corporate Finance (FINA 3303 – Intermediate Corporate Finance)
Corporate Finance is a compulsory course for most Sauder Business School students and for this reason, there are many classes available and courses are being standardized across all lecture sessions. The course focuses on capital budgeting, capital structure choices, and valuation. My
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT lecturer was Prof. Isha Agarwal, and she was pretty straightforward in delivering the course. I would think that the workload for this course was low, where there was no assignment at all. This course focuses its grading through midterm and final exam only. A little remark for this course is the fact that it requires you to have a double pass, in the sense that you have to achieve a minimum 50% in final exam and a 50% minimum requirement for all exam in order to pass the course. Hence, no matter how great the mid-term score that you might get, you still have to work for the final exam.
• COMM 377 – International Financial Markets and Institutions (FINA 4403 – International Finance)
This finance course will trigger your curiosity on how foreign currency works with a lot of aspects contributing to it. Aside of learning about the contributing factor, students are expected to understand on how to gain profit in several circumstances where it includes the learning of using financial derivatives instruments like forward and options to hedge your position. My lecturer was Prof. Ali Lazrak, and his teaching style focused on providing examples and exercises so that students might understand better. The course workload was medium but manageable, with a total of 5 quizzes and 1 main group presentation throughout the semester.
• MATH 217 – Multivariable and Vector Calculus [Honours] (MATH 2011 – Introduction to Multivariable Calculus)
This mathematics course focuses on differentiation, integration, and vector calculus which include the divergence theorem, Green’s and Stokes’ theorem at the end of the course. First of all, you have to acknowledge that this course is intended for students in Honours Physics and Engineering Physics. For a full-time UBC students, they have to achieve a 68% or higher score in some mathematics and physics pre-requisites, making this course full of bright students in their own field. My lecturer was Prof. Stephen Gustafson, and I would think that he was teaching effectively with emphasize on the most important part of the course. I found out that the pace of his lecture was fast, as it turned out that MATH 217 are a combination of MATH 200 and MATH 317 in a single course. The workload of this course was high, where students are expected to face
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
4 tests (non-cumulative) instead of a single midterm, weekly WebWork, as well as weekly written assignments, and a comprehensive final exam. You might want to consider carefully whether you should take this course in UBC or HKUST as I think that the workload in HKUST is much lighter. However, in overall, it’s an interesting course.
• MATH 221 – Matrix Algebra (MATH 2111 – Matrix Algebra and Applications)
Matrix Algebra is a common subject that has to be taken by both students either in UBC or HKUST. The course focused on systems of linear equations, operations on matrices, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and diagonalization of symmetric matrices. My lecturer was Prof. Daniel Coombs, and he was a fun guy who might joke around during lecture. The pace of the course was moderate, and it deeply emphasized on exams. There was 2 midterm and 1 final exam at the end. Aside of exams, there was weekly WebWork as well as a bi-weekly MATLAB assignments that had to be submitted accordingly. The content of this course might seem easy, but the exams were focusing in testing your knowledge inside out, so you might want to understand the content comprehensively.
9. Finance and Banking
I found out that a debit card in Canada would be very beneficial. You may use your debit card in almost all merchants, just by tapping your card to the EDC machine to complete your transaction. Aside of that, debit card can be used in doing an online transactions in most websites. On the other hand, the feature that it has “Interac” is very essential in the case that you want to transfer your money to friends in the moment of paying for dinner, and etc. I personally opened a bank account in ScotiaBank where it has a branch right in the heart of UBC, unlike some other banks branches that could be found in Wesbrook Village. There was no opening and closing fee for students, and the procedures to enroll for one were very simple. As I didn’t have a student visa, I was not able to create a credit card.
I would personally recommend 8,000 – 10,000 CAD for this exchange program, but you would need more than that if you are planning to travel.
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
10. Health and Safety
I would say that Vancouver is generally a pretty safe city. However, there might be some spots in downtown that may seem creepy at night. I personally lost my essentials which include my bag, laptops, jacket, books, earphone, and etc in Irving K Barber library when I ran for restroom. Make sure that you don’t leave your belonging behind even for a short while as I personally heard that there are thieves around campus who might take advantage of you when you are off-guarded.
There are some things that you may want to remember for precautions :
• iMED Card It is important that you keep your iMED card (and your UBC Student ID) with you at all times so that you (or someone on your behalf) can access it terms of emergency. iMED is basically your health insurance in Vancouver.
• Safewalk UBC offers Safewalk that will accompany or give you a ride to your destination around campus especially while it is very late. You can contact Safewalk at (604)822-5355 in case you need their assistance.
11. Food
UBC offers a wide variety of food options for their students. In most of the building, you may find a coffee shop, restaurants, or a food stall which offer different style of foods. In most of the UBC residents, you may find kitchen that will allow you to conveniently cook your own meal to save your budget. Groceries in Canada is cheaper to that of in Hong Kong, and cooking will save you a lot of money. There is also a huge supermarket in Wesbrook Village called Save-on-Foods while a mini version of supermarket could be found at The Nest. In the case that you don’t have time to cook, you can easily grab foods around campus, and there are also 24-hour food restaurants that will cater you during midnight.
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
In general, foods in Vancouver are very delicious. You may find a very decent place of Asian food easily despite the fact that you are very far away from Asia. There are also a lot of great western restaurants in downtown where you could taste delicious local delicacies such as poutine.
Most foods in UBC will cost you $8 to $15, while a cheaper option like pizza may cost you less than $3 for one decent slice. On the other hand, foods in city are more expensive where you could obtain one from $12-$30.
12. Transportation
As an exchange student, I remembered paying a transportation fee for a U-Pass, a pre-paid bundle that will allow you to travel as much as you want by public transport in Vancouver. In order to utilize U-Pass, you have to earn a compass card (a physical card) that can be bought from UBC book store for 6 CAD. With the U-Pass bundle that you have paid, you just need to activate it each month by entering your compass card number in https://upassbc.translink.ca/ website. Overall, my experience towards transportation in Vancouver would be that it was a very convenient one.
13. Climate
Vancouver is famous with its slang as “Raincouver” as it rains most of the time. I found out that the weather during fall semester was pretty good, and the coldest moment would only reach 0 degree Celsius during December. The sky was gloomy all the time, with minimum sunlight exposure that one could get. On November, you will experience daylight time saving while at the same time, the Sun would be down at around 4 PM. Vancouver may be very windy during fall season and I would advise you to bring your umbrella at all time.
14. Communication
English is for sure the primary language to be used in Vancouver. All teachings are delivered in English. With a lot of Asians emigrated to this city, you may conveniently speak with them in Cantonese or Chinese (Mandarin) especially when ordering foods in an Asian restaurant.
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
In terms of data plan, I personally used Fido. Cost was around $50-$60 depending on the data plan that you choose. There are also cheaper options like public mobile but I’m not that sure about the signal coverage. Overall, Fido is a great option, although in general, data plan in Canada costs more than that of Hong Kong.
15. Cautionary Measures
Make sure that you have prepared the essentials needed during exchange before leaving your country. I would also advise you to take a look about the necessary information needed for your exchange program in UBC’s website as they provide a lot of tips and tricks that might solve your question. Tracing back to what had happened to me, I would also want to emphasize on not leaving any belongings behind even for 1 minute. I would consider the safest place to store your belonging to be your own room.
16. Other Notes
Tipping culture is one common thing in North America. You might want to be aware about this. The amount of tips given will be tentative, depending on each individual and service received. The range of tips might go from 10% to 18%
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Part III – Items to Bring
• Umbrella • Money • Adapters (Type A Plug) • UBC Acceptance Letter • Waterproof/Down Jacket • Beddings • Router (Essential for Fairview Crescent) • Personal IDs • Passport & Canadian Visa • US Visa (optional) • Laptop • Chargers • Medicine • Lotion • Winter Outfit • Double check whether your electronic appliances may comply with Canada’s standard voltage of 110V-120V
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2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT
Part IV : Useful Links and Contacts
Go Global [email protected] iMed Website http://www.david-cummings.com/imed/
UBC Exchange Student Club Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/ubcexchange/?ref=br_rs eTA https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/eta.html
UBC TransLink Pass (Compass Card Renewal) https://upassbc.translink.ca/
Student Service Portal https://ssc.adm.ubc.ca/sscportal/
UBC Student Services - General https://students.ubc.ca/ubclife
UBC courses https://courses.students.ubc.ca/cs/courseschedule?pname=subjarea&tname=subj-all- departments
UBC Campus Wide Login (CWL) https://cas.id.ubc.ca/ubc-cas/login
Moving in Guide – What Should I Pack? https://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/moving-in/what-should-i-pack/
UBC Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) – [+1 (604) - 224 – 1322]
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