Associate of Science Degree
Admission Requirements
- Grade 12 graduation or equivalent
- Knowledge of English demonstrated by one of the following:
- English 12 with a minimum 'C+' grade or equivalent, or
- English Language Proficiency at a minimum English 12 'C+' level
- Knowlege of mathematics demonstrated by one of the following:
- Math 12 Precalculus with a minimum 'B' grade or equivalent, or
- Math Precalculus Test (MPT) with a minimum 72%
- One of the following:
- Biology 12 with a minimum 'C+' grade, or
- Chemistry 12 with a minimum 'C+' grade, or
- Physics 12 with a minimum 'C+' grade, or
- Equivalent
Notes:
- Students are required to have successfully completed prerequisite courses leading to courses in the Associate degree (for example: prerequisite course Chemistry 12 or equivalent needs to be successfully completed in order to take CHEM 1121 Chemistry 1; a minimum of a 'B' grade in English 12 or equivalent is required to take ENGL 1100 English 1). See the requirements for each course.
- Specific post-secondary level courses may be used to substitute for secondary school courses at the discretion of the appropriate departments.
Program Requirements
Students do not have to declare their intention of completing the Associate of Science credential before beginning to take courses. Courses are open to any student who meets the general and specific requirements for the course.
However, students will need to meet the admission requirements to the program before courses can be used to complete the Associate of Science degree.
No course can be used to meet more than one of the specific requirements (for example, MATH 1120 as both a Math requirement and a First Year Science requirement).
The Associate of Science degree requires the successful completion of a minimum 60 credits that have assigned or unassigned credit at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, or the University of Northern British Columbia.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 60 university-transferable credits at the 1st and 2nd-year level. These must include a minimum of 18 credits in Science at the second-year level taken in two or more subject areas (See Specific Requirements C2).
Students can accumulate credits at more than one institution and have them count as transfer credits towards the Associate of Science degree at VCC as long as they meet the general and specific requirements of the credential. Students will be required to complete at least 50% of their course work from VCC.
For further details about how a course is defined (e.g. arts/science/other, first-year/second-year, lab science/non-lab science etc.) please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca/learn-more-about/associate-degrees/
Students must complete:
A. 6 credits in first-year English
B. 6 credits in Mathematics which shall include at least 3 credits in Calculus (6 credits in Calculus is recommended)
C. 36 credits in Science which shall include:
C1. A minimum of 3 credits in a laboratory Science
C2. A minimum of 18 credits in second-year Science taken in at least two different subject areas (including additional Mathematics credits)
D. 6 credits in Arts other than English (excluding Mathematics and Laboratory-based Science courses)
E. 6 credits of first or second-year transferable courses in Arts, Science or other areas.
Total Program Credits: 60.0 credits (minimum)
Computer Science Pathway
In order to be eligible for transfer into third year computer science at UBC, SFU, and other institutions, it is recommended that students complete the following courses as part of their Associate of Science degree.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| English (6 credits) | 6 | |
| English 1 | ||
| English 2 | ||
| Calculus (6 credits) | 6 | |
| Calculus 1 | ||
| Calculus 2 | ||
| Lab science (3 credits) | 3 | |
| Physics 1 | ||
or PHYS 1110 Introduction to Astronomy | ||
or CHEM 1121 Chemistry 1 | ||
or BIOL 1100 Biology 1 | ||
or BIOL 1120 Human Anatomy & Physiology 1 | ||
| First-year science (12 credits) | 12 | |
| Intro to Comp Programming 1 | ||
| Intro to Comp Programming 2 | ||
| Discrete Mathematics 1 | ||
| Applied Linear Algebra | ||
| Second-year science (minimum 18 credits from at least 2 subject areas) | 18 | |
| Data Structures & Programming | ||
| Intro to Software Engineering | ||
| Intro to Computer Architecture | ||
| Probab & Stats for Scie & Eng | ||
| Calculus 3 | ||
| Discrete Mathematics 2 | ||
| Ordinary Differential Equation | ||
| Electives (15 credits) | 15 | |
Arts other than English (6 credits) | ||
Science (3 credits) | ||
Arts or science (6 credits) | ||
| Total Credits | 60 | |
Evaluation of Student Learning
Evaluation of the student is determined by the instructors and may include a combination of assignments, tests, projects, theory, exams and/or practical exams. A minimum overall GPA of 2.0 (C average) is required, with a minimum passing grade (D or better) in each course counting towards the Associate of Science.
Upon successful completion of the program, the student will receive an Associate of Science degree.
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
Students may request formal recognition of prior learning attained through informal education, work, or other life experience, including Indigenous ways of knowing. Credits may be granted to students who are able to sufficiently demonstrate the learning outcomes of specific courses.
Consult the course outlines for the availability of PLAR. Examples of courses that accept PLAR include the following:
- MATH 1100 Calculus 1
- MATH 1200 Calculus 2
- MATH 1111 Introduction to Statistics
Students may complete up to nine program credits through PLAR. Tuition and fees may still apply to PLAR candidates.
Methods of PLAR vary by course, and may include exams, portfolios, interviews, and other evaluations. To request PLAR, contact the appropriate department directly.
See Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition policy for more information.
Transcript of Achievement
The evaluation of learning outcomes for each student is prepared by the instructor and reported to the Student Records Department at the completion of semesters.
The transcript typically shows a letter grade for each course. The grade point equivalent for a course is obtained from letter grades as follows:
Grading Standard
| Grade | Percentage | Description | Grade Point Equivalency |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 90-100 | 4.33 | |
| A | 85-89 | 4.00 | |
| A- | 80-84 | 3.67 | |
| B+ | 76-79 | 3.33 | |
| B | 72-75 | 3.00 | |
| B- | 68-71 | 2.67 | |
| C+ | 64-67 | 2.33 | |
| C | 60-63 | 2.00 | |
| C- | 55-59 | 1.67 | |
| D | 50-54 | Minimum Pass | 1.00 |
| F | 0-49 | Failing Grade | 0.00 |
| S | 70 or greater | Satisfactory – student has met and mastered a clearly defined body of skills and performances to required standards | N/A |
| U | Unsatisfactory – student has not met and mastered a clearly defined body of skills and performances to required standards | N/A | |
| I | Incomplete | N/A | |
| IP | Course in Progress | N/A | |
| W | Withdrawal | N/A | |
| Course Standings | |||
| R | Audit. No Credit. | N/A | |
| EX | Exempt. Credit granted. | N/A | |
| TC | Transfer Credit | N/A |
Grade Point Average (GPA)
1. The course grade points shall be calculated as the product of the course credit value and the grade value.
2. The GPA shall be calculated by dividing the total number of achieved course grade points by the total number of assigned course credit values. This cumulative GPA shall be determined and stated on the Transcript at the end of each Program level or semester.
3. Grades shall be assigned to repeated courses in the same manner as courses taken only once. For the purpose of GPA calculation of grades for repeated courses, they will be included in the calculation of the cumulative GPA.