Registration Guide

Important 2025W Schedule and Registration Information

In May 2024, the University of British Columbia (UBC) transitioned to a new system, Workday. As a UBC student, you’ll use Workday to complete essential tasks like registering for courses, updating your personal information, paying your tuition, and downloading important documents.

Information about Workday Student is available for graduate students here: 

Please note the following important registration dates: 

  • The 2025 Winter Course Schedule will be available for viewing on Workday on May 14, 2025.
  • Course registration for the 2025 Winter session will open for graduate students on June 3, 2025

 

How to Register for Courses

  1. For incoming students: Make arrangements to have your official transcripts submitted before registration opens or you will not be able to register. Instructions on how to submit your official transcripts may be found in the Online Application Portal (ie. where you applied for your graduate program)
  2. Review your course requirements found in the "Graduate Program Requirements" course module
  3. Review the instructions on registering for courses in Workday and other helpful resources here: https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/registration/register-courses
  4. Finalize your 2025 Winter course registration by July 15, 2025 

 

Waitlist Management

If a course is full or closed from registration, Workday will offer the option for the student to register for the waitlist.

For eligible students, Workday will notify them when a space becomes available. The eligible student will have 24 hours from the time of receiving the notification to register in the course before it moves to the next eligible student in the waitlist queue.

SBME Student Services will review all waitlists for BMEG courses and make adjustments if necessary after July 15, 2025.

Students on waitlists for non-BMEG courses may contact the department offering the course directly on how to proceed. 

 

Approved Course List

All courses taken must be approved by the program. A list of approved courses may be found here Links to an external site..

Please note that these courses are not offered every academic year. If the course is not listed in Workday, it may be not be offered for the 2025 Winter Session. Please contact the department offering the course for further clarification. 

If a course is not on the list of approved courses, students may request to have the course approved by submitting the course syllabus and brief rationale to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca). The Graduate Advisor will review and assess the course’s suitability to the student’s program. These requests must be submitted at least one month prior to course start date.

 

BMEG 400/591 (Letter Code) Pilot Courses 

Effective for the 2025 Winter session and onwards, graduate students may register for:

  • A maximum of 12 credits of BMEG 591 pilot courses in the degree program
  • A maximum of 12 credits of BMEG 400 pilot courses in the degree program. However, only 6 credits of BMEG 400 pilot courses will count towards the degree program. See Undergraduate Courses section below.

 

Non-BMEG Courses 

All non-BMEG courses taken must be approved by the program. A list of approved courses may be found here Links to an external site..

If a non-BMEG course is not on the list of approved courses, students may request to have the course approved by submitting the course syllabus and brief rationale to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca). The Graduate Advisor will review and assess the course’s suitability to the student’s program. These requests must be submitted at least one month prior to course start date.

If you have issues with registering for non-BMEG courses, please contact the department offering the course directly.

 

Undergraduate Courses 

A maximum of 6 credits of 300-/400-level undergraduate courses will be counted towards the degree program. Credits completed for 100-/200-level undergraduate courses will not counted towards the degree program. Students wishing to take 100-200-level undergraduate courses may submit a request to officially "audit" the course instead. See Auditing Courses section below. 

 

Auditing Courses 

Students interested in auditing courses should review the course expectations outlined here: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/managing-your-program/audit

All audit forms must be submitted to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca) by the Drop without a W Standing deadline or they will not be approved. 

MEng Students:
Students requesting to audit a course must complete the "Audit" section on the Registration/Change of Registration Form, signed by the course instructor. Once signed by the course instructor, please send the form to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca) so the Graduate Advisor may sign the form and send to the MEng Professional Office for processing. 

MASc/PhD/PhD Rotation students: 
Students requesting to audit a course must complete the "Audit" section on the Registration/Change of Registration Form, signed by the course instructor. Once signed by the course instructor, please send the form to SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca) so the Graduate Advisor may sign the form and send to the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS) for processing. 

 

Issues with Registering for Courses? 

Please refer to the Registration Announcements/Issues module for a list of common registration issues that SBME Student Services are working to resolve. If your registration issue is listed, please check the module regularly to see whether it's been resolved by SBME Student Services.

If your registration issue is not listed on the Registration Announcements/Issues module, please email SBME Student Services (students@sbme.ubc.ca) with your name, student number, graduate program and the issue(s) you are having so one of our advisors may assist you. 

If you prefer to speak in-person to an advisor from our SBME Student Services team, our drop-in advising schedule is listed in our "Connect With An Advisor" module.