Academics/Clubs

BUCS Academic Course Guide

The BUCS Academic Course Guide provides you with an overview of the programs, courses, and academic resources available at BUCS. It is designed to help you navigate through your academic journey and make informed decisions about your course selection.

👉 Resource: Check out UBC Course Reviews a website for UBC courses made by Hayden Chan, the BUCS Team 2025/26 Chair.

▶️ Resource: Check out this BUCS First Year Courses Tier List video if you want a brutally honest look into the first year courses you’ll take!

🔥 Resource: Check out UBC Grades to get a better sense of UBC averages within classes

🗣️ Lifesaver: Check out UBC Course Scheduler to organize your schedule to work around workday’s difficult UI/UX experience.

Official BUCS Information

For official information about requirements for each year in the BUCS program, please refer to https://mybcom.sauder.ubc.ca/bucs


CPSC 110 Challenge Exam
Using Transfer & Advanced Credits

Transfer credits are highly recommended for BUCS students who want to explore more electives or jump ahead to second-year courses. These credits can come from AP, IB, or other post-secondary institutions.

Advanced Credit Recommendations
Use credits from AP or IB exams to waive certain first-year courses, freeing up space for electives or second-year classes.
Main courses eligible for advanced credit:ECON 101,ECON 102,Math 100,Math 101.

CourseAP Credit RequirementIB Credit RequirementNotes
ECON 101AP Microeconomics exam score of 4 or 5Not eligibleIB Economics does NOT grant credit — students must take both ECON 101 & ECON 102.
ECON 102AP Macroeconomics exam score of 4 or 5Not eligible
MATH 100AP Calculus AB exam score of 4 or 5IB Math HL exam score of 6 or 7
MATH 101AP Calculus BC exam score of 4 or 5IB Math HL exam score of 6 or 7
Benefits of Advanced Credits


Course Load Overview
In the first year of BUCS, students typically take 10 courses split evenly across two terms. Most students follow this schedule:

Term 1

Term 2


Planning Your Course Load
  • If you want to reduce your second-year computer science workload, consider taking CPSC 121 in Term 1 andCPSC 210 in Term 2.
  • To stay on pace with BCom students, consider enrolling inCOMM 190 andCOMM 191.
  • For an extra challenge,COMM 202 can be taken alongside a full course load in Term 2.

Standard BUCS First-Year Courses and Credits
Course CodeCourse NameCredits
COMM 101Business Fundamentals3
COMM 105Values, Ethics, and Community3
COMM 192Management and Organizational Behaviour3
COMM 196Business Communications I3
CPSC 110Computation, Programs, and Programming4
CPSC 121Models of Computation4
ECON 101Principles of Microeconomics3
ECON 102Principles of Macroeconomics3
MATH 100Differential Calculus with Applications3
MATH 101Integral Calculus with Applications3


If one follows the BUCS program requirements without any advance credit or summer courses, there are 11 courses to take throughout the year. Many senior BUCS students heavily advise AGAINST takingCPSC 213 andCPSC 213 in the same term, due to the workload and intensity of the courses. In order to mitigate this, we suggest taking summer courses.

☀️ Take Summer Classes:
For students willing to enrol in summer courses, the most popular options areCOMM 190,COMM 293,COMM 294,COMM 295, andCPSC 210.
BUCS students only have to take 2 accounting courses throughout their entire degree, so many students choose to complete them early. Taking CPSC 210 over the summer opens up the possibility to split CPSC 213 and CPSC 221 into separate terms.

🖥️ TAKE CPSC 221 ASAP
CPSC 221 is essential for those pursuing technical roles. It’s highly recommended for internship prep and technical interviews, especially with platforms like LeetCode. Taking it early helps you withCPSC 213 as well.

🖥️ For CPSC 340, take MATH and STATS
For students seeking to open up their options with regards to computer science electives, they can also choose to take any permutation ofMATH 200,MATH 221,andSTAT 251. This allows students to take a wider variety of CPSC electives in their 3rd and 4th years, although this is not required.

The main advantage to taking these math and stats courses is so you can takeCPSC 340 - a popular Machine Learning course. If you are interested in machine learning, definitely look to take this course.

Standard Courses
Course CodeCourse NameCredits
COMM 202Career Fundamentals1
COMM 205Introduction to Management Information Systems3
COMM 190Introduction to Quantitative Decision Making3
COMM 191Application of Statistics in Business3
COMM 293Financial Accounting3
COMM 294Managerial Accounting3
COMM 295Managerial Economics3
COMM 298Introduction to Finance3
CPSC 210Software Construction4
CPSC 213 Introduction to Computer Systems4
CPSC 221Basic Algorithms and Data Structures4


In the 3rd year of BUCS, students have access to more flexibility and options compared to their 1st and 2nd years.

OPTIONS
Students can choose to take eitherCOMM 204 (Logistics and Operations Management) orCOMM 393 (Commercial Law) in their 3rd year. Whichever course is not taken in Year 3 must be taken in Year 4.

💼 COMM 204 (Logistics and Operations Management) is operations and logistics focused. It is math-heavy, individual-based, and great for consulting.

💼 COMM 393 (Commercial Law) provides legal foundations helpful for future entrepreneurs and business professionals.

Course CodeCourse NameCredits
All of:
COMM 203Introduction to Finance3
COMM 296Introduction to Marketing3
COMM 396Business Communications II3
COMM 438 Management of Information Systems3
CPSC 304Introduction to Relational Databases3
CPSC 310Introduction to Software Engineering4
CPSC 320Intermediate Algorithm Design and Analysis3
One of:
COMM 204Logistics and Operations Management3
COMM 393Commercial Law3
One of:
CPSC 313Computer Hardware and Operating Systems3
CPSC 317Internet Computing3
CPSC 319Software Engineering Project4
CPSC 322Introduction to Artificial Intelligence3
CPSC 330Applied Machine Learning3
CPSC 340Machine Learning and Data Mining3
CPSC 344Human Computer Interaction3


4th year BUCS students are granted a great deal of flexibility with regards to their course selection. There are only 3 required courses, and the remaining courses are up to the student’s discretion. However, students must enroll in at least one of the capstone courses.

Course CodeCourse NameCredits
All of:
COMM 335 Information Systems Technology and Development3
COMM 394Environment, Society, and Government3
COMM 436Information Systems Analysis and Design3
COMM 400 Capstone Experience1
COMM 491Strategic Management3
One of:
COMM 204Logistics and Operations Management3
COMM 393Commercial Law3
One of the following COMM courses::
COMM 336Introduction to Digital Business3
COMM 338Management of Cybersecurity3
COMM 435SCIO Strategies3
COMM 439Business Telecommunications3
COMM 456Information Technology Risks, Protection and Audit3
COMM 400 level (BTM)Business Technology Management course (400-level) excluding COMM 437 3
One of CPSC 300 level or higher3
Two of CPSC 400 level or higher6
Elective - COMM or non-COMM elective at any level3
Credits
Zain Azhar
Kevin Dhir
Adin Kwok
Jenny Pan
Lucca Siaudzionis
Angela Dai
Ansel Hartanto
Harrison Lee
Kunal Ranger
Arata Ueno
Efe Demir
Jon Kim
Musa Mohannad
Simon Roberts
William Zhang
Daniel Tong
Hayden Chan
Rachel Wang
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