Pay Your Registration Deposit and Tuition on Time

Your deposit is not optional--students are not allowed access to the registration system until they've paid. Looking ahead to September: Don't forget to pay your tuition by the due date (first week of term), or you'll be placed on financial hold. You don't want to be there!

Register Early and Often

Register as soon as you're eligible! Your access date--the first day you can access the system--is listed in the Student Service Centre. This way you have the best chance of getting the courses you want. You can't access the registration system before your date. Look for any messages or warnings on your Student Service Centre account and deal with them before your registration date.

Register for both terms of winter session. If you don't register for your term 2 courses in the summer they will fill up. Remember, you can always make changes later. For new students, your offer of acceptance does expire. If you do not register by your last date of eligibility, you will lose your place at UBC and you will have to re-apply.

Using Worklists

You can gather the courses you want to register in into a “worklist” on the Student Service Centre and use the worklist to register for them all at once on your registration date. Note that, once you register for courses, you have to use the registration drop/add function to change. Simply deleting a course from your worklist will not de-register you.

Use Wait-Lists and Stay Tuned In

If you have tried in vain to get into a course and you really want or need it, register in a wait-list section, if possible. Registering in a wait-list section does not guarantee you a spot in the course. However, you may get a spot if registered people drop the course or if the department opens up more seats. Remember: people do drop courses and spaces do open up. Be patient, but have a back-up course, just in case.

You do not pay to be on a wait-list but a wait-list contributes to your allowable credit total, which is normally 36 credits for the winter session, 18 per term. That is too many credits for most first-year students to carry successfully but it allows you some flexibility during the registration period. Departments monitor wait-lists so check your registration status frequently. Be prepared to have your timetable re-arranged to accommodate a wait-listed course.


Note: You will not be notified when you are moved from the wait-list into the course, so monitor the list. Rarely (but not never) does talking to the professor on the first day of class help—most don't have the power to add students to a class. If there is no online waitlist, inquire at the office of the department offering the course. You may need to use a 'Registration/Change of Registration' form (Add/Drop Form) available at Enrolment Services and the Science Information Centre.

Guide for New Science Students

Before registering for any courses, make sure you've reviewed the UBC Science guide for new students.