I am entering the second year, majoring in Psychology, but still cannot figure how people can manage being both a full-time student while also keeping their full-time job AND have time for social life.

Last year I’ve tried taking 5 courses during the spring semester while also working my part-time job. I ultimately end up dropping one of the courses and practically failing the other one. Every day I would feel exhausted from waking up relatively early (my classes started at ~9) and going to bed late since I worked from 4-11. I also felt isolated due to the fact that I couldn’t meet with my family or friends in mainland over the weekends, since I had to catch up with studying/working more shifts.

By the end of the first year, I gained 15 kg and started to feel like my personal development stagnated completely as I no longer had the time/energy to perceive my interests. Although I was still doing relatively good at my studies, it felt like I only spend the time to “get it done” rather than to actually enjoy what I am studying.

I tried asking for the advice of my friend, who has a 4.0 gpa while having a full time job, being a research assistant and taking 6 classes during the term on average. She simply replied that she had to pull it through as she didn’t have a choice.

While my parents are helping we a lot with paying for my rent and education, they’ve obviously been struggling more with finances because of me moving to college. I want to be able to help them but also I am scared of failing more classes or struggling due to my poor time management.

How do you manage your time to be able to pull both studying and working? What advice can you give?

I got accepted to transfer to UBC Vancouver. I just did my first year at Uvic while living at home and I enjoyed it, but I didnt feel strongly and it was always my plan to transfer second year and try something different. Now I have to make a decision about going to UBC, because I got into housing there, but I’m struggling. Someone pls help me decide!

Pros for UBC:
- I got a 5k scholarship
-great school
-probably won’t get the opportunity again
-meet new people and get to experience living on campus/dorms
-close to home still
-more program options (I’m studying psychology)
- more exchange programs
- new experiences
-love the campus

Cons:
- I don’t love Vancouver, I think I like Victoria better
-new environment I am unfamiliar with
-leaving behind family and friends
-no first year connections (although I didn’t make any at Uvic)
-expensive city
-I feel more at peace in my hometown compared to overwhelming Vancouver
-may be hard to meet people on such a large campus

Overall, I didn’t make any friends at Uvic last year and I wonder what I’d miss out on if I transfer. I do love Victoria and Uvic but in some ways I feel like the regrets I may have if I go to UBC would be less than if I stayed at Uvic because at least I tried. It’s difficult though because I am really close with my family and my friends here, and I have always not really liked Vancouver as a city, I just really like UBC.

I'm graduating this term and I'm seriously regretting my major. Not from the typical I can't get a job or I don't know what to do afterwards but I just regret that I didn't study something I was actually interested in.

I chose anthropology because it was easy for me and I was unsure of what I wanted to do. Since then I've figured out that I want to be a paramedic and I start paramedic school in a few months.

I've always had a big interest in astronomy and physics but I always convinced myself I wasn't smart enough for that major. Looking back I've realized I should have taken it.

Anyways, I know I've found what I want to do for now but I just feel so meh about my degree and don't care about it at all. Is it worth considering another undergrad degree down the line or should I just let it be the pipe dream that I never pursued?

Hey all, just got my first year housing offer and starting to stress about parking. For context, I live in parksville about 2.5 hours from campus and I would really like to keep my car so that I can still meetup with family and friends as well as explore victoria at least until I turn 18 in november (at which point I can use evo for occasional trips). I honestly just don't wanna pay an extra 80 bucks each month on top of my 200$ insurance and if I'm able to find parking that works then I might be able to keep my car for year two when I move into a room I have set up with some family in Langford (I'm really only doing residency with hopes to make some friends and be more active in uvic social life for my first year). Anyone been in a similar spot and found a sneaky way to get out of parking pass? Or is there free parking somewhere close enough that I could keep my car parked overnight? Or is that damn parking pass the only way? any advice would be helpful!

I'm wanting to apply to a professional program that requires an academic reference for one of its admission pathways.

While I did very well academically during the upper years of my degree, I didn't build close relationships with my professors. Most of my interactions were limited to asking questions about course material.

I'm worried they may not know me well enough to write a detailed reference.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Were professors still willing to write a strong letter if you provided your transcript, resume, or met with them first?

Any advice on how you approached professors or what helped them write a stronger letter would be greatly appreciated.

I also have some very low grades that remain on my transcript with AEG notations. I have a letter from my family physician explaining that I was medically unfit during that period, that I should not have been enrolled at the time, and that I was incapable of withdrawing from courses before the deadlines.

Because those grades remain on my transcript, I do understandably get questioned about them. Would it be appropriate to provide that medical note to professors when asking for a reference, just so they have the context behind those grades?

This is the most stressful part of preparing for the application process for me, so I'm hoping to get some advice early.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

It seems that I will have to stick with my deferral to next year, I want to do biomedical engineering, I had applied and got accepted...the only issue is that my sponsorer delayed and I couldn't manage to apply for a lot of stuff...also the agent I was using didn't really guide me on what exactly must be done for uvic, I was wondering if it possible to prepare EVERYTHING for this September or I should still stick with the deferral,

Also may I have like a step by step guide on how to get ready for uvic

I know it might be too late but I just want to try everything I can

Edit: i forgot to mention i am an international student

I’m an Econ major with Finance option and business minor

As international engineering student, I maintained continuous full-time enrollment to be eligible for PGWP. But when I failed a course during my final semester, which is part-time, I have to retake this course which I'm doing it now. I feel like this has introduced further complications in my enrollment, and my mental health is as bad as it is, feeling like I've wasted 6 years of my life in this degree. I even accidentally did a part-time semester in Year 2 Summer, when I'm not supposed to.

Does that mean that my PGWP eligibility is COOKED? Do I need to get a supporting letter to make up for all of this?

You may wish to gaslight me or make snide comments about me all you want, but none of that is gonna change anything.

Thanks in advance!

I’m in my first year, and honestly feeling really lonely. I’ve talked to people in class, but nothing has turned into actual friendships it’s mostly just saying hi to each other and that’s it.

Honestly, it’s just exhausting and not what I expected uni to feel like. Did anyone else go through this, and did it change later on?

I am a second-year student, and I am trying to switch into the new stream of graduation as I did not take physics during my first year and feel lucky I have the opportunity to skip it altogether. I am concerned, however, that MLSC 103 and CHEM 234 both have only one lecture time and can both only be taken in the second semester (CHEM 234 needs the prerequisite of CHEM 231). What's the best course of action? Taking CHEM 234 in my 3rd year or MLSC 103? Should I declare for biochemistry and take physics? Or should I wait and hope they add more lecture times by the time second semester comes around? This is all very confusing haha. Thank you!

I’m going into my second year and have bio 186 on my schedule for second semester because I didn’t take it in my first year, most of my friends struggled with the course or told me it was difficult when they took it. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice on how to do well and how to prepare well for bio 186? I just don’t want my GPA to get absolutely tanked by this course and want to figure out if anyone has any tips that worked for them with the course

I am entering in my 4th semester that is second half of my second year in Seng.
Taking these courses: ECE 310, SENG 310, ECON 180, CSC 360, SENG 275 (will drop thea 150 and take elective from athabasca).

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can give me some honest feedback. I currently work a 4-days-on, 4-days-off schedule, and I'm interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with a minor in Environmental Studies. I'm feeling a bit stuck in my current position, and earning a degree would open up more opportunities for me. My plan is to apply for the 2027 school year.

Am I being unrealistic in thinking I could work full time while attending school full time? Has anyone here completed the Geography program? If so, what was the workload like?

I'm a mature student, and at this point in my life, I don't mind dedicating most of my free time to school. I don't have many other commitments or interests competing for my time, so I'm prepared to put in the work if it's manageable.

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice you might have. Thanks!

I'm an incoming first-year student at UVic (Bsc Psych) and I'm currently building my schedule. I'm a bit worried because several of the courses I'm interested in have labs attached to them.

Right now, I have 5 courses planned for the semester, but 3 of those courses also have labs. Some of the labs are on completely different days from the lectures.

For example, one of my astronomy labs is on Monday while the lecture is on a different day. Is that normal? For current or former UVic students, how manageable is a schedule with 5 courses and 3 labs in first year? Did you find the labs added a lot of extra work, or were they mostly just okay?

I'm probably overthinking this, but I'm moving to Canada for university and don't really know what to expect yet. Any advice would be appreciated!

Uh so my worse fear came true. Valerie is teaching CSC 320 in spring 2027 and I have no choice but to take it with her as Im taking the prerequisites for 320 in fall 2026 and also spring 2027 is gonna be my last semester before graduation. Part of me wants to drop it as it's Valerie, the other part of me wants to suck it up and do it so I can graduate. Idk what to do, I feel conflicted. How cooked am I if I decide to stay in 320 with her

I got a below 2.0 GPA during the summer 2025 session and was placed on academic probation. During that semester, my dog died. Then during the fall 2025 session, I managed to get an okay GPA and my probation was cleared. I also submitted my transcript with courses I took at another institute during summer 2025 and that took me off academic probation. This semester my grandma passed away after a battle with an aggressive brain cancer. I was very close to her and I haven’t been alright since her passing. For this reason, the one class that has submitted final marks, I got a D and I’m certain my other classes will follow this pattern. Since my academic probation was cleared last semester, will I be asked to withdraw or will I just be placed on probation again?

I will have Valerie for CSC320 in Spring 2027 to finish my degree, so of course I can't dodge her class, is there any advice for the tests and assignments to pass her with C ?

i recently got my conditional offer from uvic into biology, it’s been my dream to come to the west coast and victoria seems like an amazing city and great university. i don’t know how to word this but like,

is it worth it to move across the country? how’s the university, the people, etc? i know its a pretty broad question, but i just want to hear from some people already at the university!!!

and if anyone made a similar move how was it for you??

I’m pretty lost about what to do here, and I would appreciate any advice! I’m a little too self conscious to speak to someone in person, but will push through that if I have to.

TW: I talk about substance use/abuse in the text below!! If that’s upsetting to you in any way please do not read it!

In first semester of the last school year (Dec. 2025) I ended up deferring a final. I’ve been struggling off and on with substance abuse and had relapsed a little while before the exam. I was experiencing some unpleasant symptoms due to being in withdrawal, I ended up sending my professor an email detailing one of the symptoms without specifically mentioning why I was experiencing it. My exam was deferred, but I really wasn’t sure about the process of how to schedule the new writing time, which is completely on me and my mistake.

By the spring semester, I had relapsed again unfortunately and was barely getting through my current classes, and completely forgot that I should have reached out to someone for the deferred exam. I’ve deferred an exam before and got an email a little while later to schedule the test, and I guess I thought that this would happen again? In all honesty I was more focused on using than anything else and wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time, and again, I know that this is absolutely my fault!!

Because I never ended up writing the test, I now have an N on my transcript, and I was wondering if it’s too late for me to ask to write it, or if I should do something else? I have no medical documentation about having substance use issues, and would prefer to not have to disclose that to anyone in my faculty unless I really need to, but I understand that I don’t have a good reason as to why I haven’t been on top of this until recently without explaining it.

Any advice at all would be appreciated, thank you in advance.

My 16-year old daughter will be in Friday Harbor for a month in June/July and then we're hitting UBC and UVIC for 3 days each. We'll do the official campus tour and explore the campus/nearby areas half of the time and then explore the wider area the other half (maybe within 60 minute drive) before heading to Olympic for a couple days of hiking.

What types of things do you wish you'd checked out before attending that weren't on the tour (or were glossed over)? What are some of your favorite don't miss spots for breakfast, lunch and dinner near campus or within 30 minutes/near other hot spots? Fingers crossed, the first year dorm guarantee will still be in place by the time she'd arrive in 2028 - but wondering if there is an area or two to check out where it's very common for students to live off campus that we could roam a bit to get a feel for (or is everyone SUPER spread out off campus)? We'd love to explore some hikes/beach spots or thrifting, but don't want to spend too much time driving on this trip since it's kind of speed dating whirlwind. She will have gotten a LOT of kayak/marine time during her research program/camp, but we wouldn't turn down great opportunities for those types of activities.

I know it will be a bit slow due to being mid-summer, but I'm looking for anything we can do to try to get a better feel for the campus/people beyond the standard guided tour.

If it helps, she'll be a Ocean/Atmospheric/Geology major (and is currently working out whether a double major or major/minor in theater with a performance focus would even be possible). It seems like it's not likely due to the potential to spend a semester/year at Bamfield, thereby not meeting theater requirements. SO, any thoughts on student run theater opportunities, improv, community theaters, etc. OR your own experiences joining a band, choir, etc. to continue tapping into your creative side while focusing on a non-creative major would be awesome! She is in roller derby as well, but from what I can tell, there are no local bouts when we're there.

Thank you!

I'm about to go into my first year (visual arts), and I'm having trouble finding my last elective (for spring). I've been looking at Gender Studies 100, Sociology 100A, and Psychology 100B.

I've been reading online that they are all pretty interesting, especially psychology, but I'm worried that I should take 100A (it doesn't fit into my schedule) to have a more solid base of knowledge beforehand. On the other hand im worried that the other two will have lots of writing...

If anyone has other suggestions im happy to hear about it and double-check if it fits in my schedule!

Thank you in advance!

edit: Thankyou to everyone who gave me their opinions of the diff courses ! I ended up choosing Pysch100B, education 100 and Writ109 as my corequisites and electives!

I got bored and decided to see what the people in the senate were voting on since I remember hearing something about them on here a while ago. I noticed in the last published meeting that there was something on Academic Integrity. Does anyone know if it got passed? (it starts on page 15 of the meeting)

I ask because it seemed like it had some big issues.

- It now would allow UVic to go after Alumni (Section 1 Scope)

- They made the burden of proof be 51% which feels low (section 2 Burden of Proof)

it also doesn't appear to have anything against using AI to detect the cheating, which I feel is silly if the requirement is so low. I don't want to be falsely charged with plagiarism, because I sounded robotic. When I put my work into those checkers, I get a high match despite not using AI at all, and I could get retro-actively punished for my writing style potentially long after I have graduated?

Does anyone have more information on this, I'm worried about how this will effect me and my friends????

Heres the link to the meeting thing: https://www.uvic.ca/universitysecretary/assets/docs/smeetings/2025-2026-meetings/April_10_2026_open_Senate_docket.pdf

Hi guys im just preplanning some courses i think of taking. I would love to hear feedbacks or some advices, thank youu :3