Hi all! I’m from the LA area and was recently admitted to both UCLA and Berkeley. I wish to become an investment banker or work in private equity after college so it is my understand that a major in Finance, economics, or some form of engineering/ computer science would be beneficial. With this in mind, I have read that Berkeley ranks among the top 3 in buisness related fields while UCLA is following behind at around 15-20. I’m not sure if this really makes a difference after i receive my degree(s) as they are both amazing schools. Other than academics however, I am more drawn to UCLA because of the “easier” less cutthroat environment, and close proximity to my family and the big city. Also a factor to keep in mind is that I was admitted to Berkeley in the college of sciences and not Haas, maybe I would have to transfer to Haas in order to receive a business related degree. Between the two, I am distinguishing between the social life at UCLA but held back by the “apparent” greater business/engineering education I could receive at Berkeley. I hope you all can give me advice and help me make this decision!!
UCB Business undergrad is often considered the best in the nation.
But you don’t have to major in Finance, Economics or E/CS; there are other majors such as the various mathematics offerings that both offer, Applied Math, Statistics, etc., that would be good preparatory for the fields you seek.
One of the the things you probably should do is join one of the business clubs that will be prevalent at both universities. Perhaps @ucbalumnus can forward a club to you at UCB, but the overseeing club at UCLA is the Undergraduate Business Society:
https://www.uclaubsbruins.com/
If you do these things, including getting various internships to determine what business sector is best suited for you, then major becomes less important, which is important at UCLA.
All the best.
Hey! I definitely do agree that it is annoying to have to apply into Haas as a whole separate application, but Berkeley hands down is one of the best in business education. The abundance of business clubs and organizations makes it so that you can be extremely successful in your career even if you don’t get into Haas. Also, the connections are everywhere. It’s really down to the individual to go get it.
Also, I attend Berkeley now, studying CS and Data Science, and I can say that Berkeley is not as cutthroat as it is portrayed to be. Promise!! (’: CS is even known to be one of the most competitive majors, and no one has ever hesitated to ask for help or help me if I ask them. I think everyone, given the choice, should come to Cal, and it makes me sad that we get such a bad rep. But Cal is a really unique, work hard play hard place, so the stereotype probably comes from the fact that everyone is just super ambitious. The value that you get from the education and connections here is undeniably worth it. You won’t regret it!
That’s my personal (maybe slightly biased) take, hope it helped!
L&S CS requires a 3.3 GPA in three CS courses to enter… but these courses are not graded on a curve, so cutthroat behavior is useless.
Things may be different in situations where there is a competitive process with no pre-set GPA threshold, and the prerequisite courses are graded on a curve, such as pre-business and pre-med.
UCLA has excellent business and engineering education, but its rankings haven’t caught up with the standards to each . . . yet. Engineering which includes CS, has really high standards: at the median, there’s a 4.0/4.6+/1,500+ for uwgpa/wgpa/SAT (probably ~1,530 for those who enroll). But since you didn’t declare, you’ll have to find CS-type education at the University outside of E, which the University has: the Program in Computing courses; informatics related to specific fields, including in Biology, Humanities, linguistics, and in my afore mentioned Math.
At UCLA, the Bus-Econ (I’m not a fan of calling it Bizecon) involves a pretty strong quantitative background involving econ which is through L&S and management courses taken under the aegis of Anderson School of Management (ASM). So ASM offers courses to undergrads but not a BS (or BA) degree. But it’s actually Econ that offers more things in Entrepreneurship, Banking, etc. The accounting minor is through Anderson along with a small quantity of finance, etc.
Slowly, UCLA Is turning up its business and E/CS offerings, but the courses and rigor are there.
I would go to Berkeley, not necessarily because of the higher-ranked business program, but because moving away will help you develop a trait of independence that is very important in many careers, especially investment banking.