<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, grad school econ is insanely quantitative. My goal is an econ PhD and I’m majoring in applied math to make sure I have the right quantitative background. I hear some physics students go econ/finance as well. It’s not anything like undergrad classes.</p>
<p>If I’m interested in a quant analyst job (perhaps getting an MFE degree), what would be good classes? I know you listed out a bunch of quantitative classes earlier flutter_fly, but I was wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience with specific class recommendations (and reasons, if you have time)</p>
<p>Thanks again to the UCB Econ students answering questions.</p>
<p>Here are a few more:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Are the lower division stat classes hard/time consuming? Which one is the most ideal/relevant. Can the class offered through UCB Extension cover the required stats class? </p></li>
<li><p>Have you been affected by the recent protests on or around the UCB campus (budget cuts)?</p></li>
<li><p>Have you noticed the budget cuts? (cut in Library/facility hours, ability to enroll in classes, etc)?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>hey, thanks a lot for doing this. I am a transfer student. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>How intensive are the curves at UCB. All I hear about is the cut throat competition and curve. Does this apply in the ECON department?</p></li>
<li><p>How math intensive are the pre req econ and stat classes. It is not that I am scared of math it is just that it will be a full year since completing the calculus pre req. </p></li>
<li><p>Is there a certain gpa that students must achieve to be admitted as an econ major? There is no such gpa on the website. I was wondering what grades you need in the pre req courses to enter the econ departmant. </p></li>
<li><p>UCLA or UCB =D</p></li>
</ol>
<p>okay… i guess i will answer these now</p>
<p>Calitrumpet:</p>
<ol>
<li>It depends on if you want an A or if you just want to get average. The tests are definitely hard and you need to have done a lot of practice problems before, but getting an A is not impossible at all. I took Stats 21 and it was pretty relevant.</li>
<li>the protesters are funny/annoying sometimes. I don’t really care.</li>
<li>nope, not affected by any budget cuts in any ways at all. it all seems very very exaggerated.</li>
</ol>
<p>benwade:</p>
<ol>
<li>The prerequisites like Econ1/Stats are graded on a pretty harsh curve. Otherwise, the Econ upper divisions so far don’t seem to be cutthroat at all. If you understand the material, you will do well.</li>
<li>As long as you understand derivatives/integration well (calculations and graphs), you are good.</li>
<li>You’re guaranteed into the major if you have a 3.0. If not, they review more stuff and make you write essays.</li>
<li>UCB, duh. Except nobody calls it that, it’s cal :)</li>
</ol>
<p>Hey Flutterfly,</p>
<p>I got into Cal as an econ major. I am thinking about switching my major to applied mathematics or majoring in econ with a minor in math/stats; personally, I think double majoring is a waste of time (want to graduate in < 2 years, money (I’m poor and got little financial aid), and is too stressful. I would like to do finance/trade/analyze, get a masters in econ, mba/mf, do financial engineering, actuarial studies, teach at community college, or do corporate law. I feel like econ does not have enough math and that math opens up more doors-you also get a SMART grant (up to 4k a year). </p>
<p>Here are my questions:
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>thanks for the help in answering questions!</p>
<p>the two additional questions i have are
1)how many people do you think would approximately drop from econ101A, there’s only 1 seat left in the only open discussion :<br>
2)i took intro to stats at cc for haas which apparently articulates to stats 2 at cal, and the course descriptions say i get no credit for stats 20,21,25 if i already have credit for stats 2, so do you think that would mean i have to take an upper division stats course?</p>
<p>btw, random, but i was planning on double majoring in mcb and econ as you are, though my emphasis would have been on econ with mcb being my side major lol, changed to haas only so i could transfer in 1-yr as opposed to 2 and since business was my 3rd biggest interest, after bio and econ, it was worth going for lol</p>
<p>Judging from posters in the past, it seems that Stats 20 is easier than Stats 21. When I took Stats 20, it seemed roughly identical to the AP Statistics Test Material. I would definitely talk to your adviser or w/e about your stats requirement though; if you have to take an upper division Stats course like Stats 134, that’s considerably harder material (as I found out, since I also majored in Stats).</p>
<p>Overall I feel like the Economics Major overall was not too bad. The hardest class for me was the econometrics course (Econ 141), but it got a lot easier after that. Once you get done with prereqs (like the aforementioned Econ 141), you pretty much study whatever you’d like, and none of it is particularly difficult or stressful. In fact, I think most people could make it through Econ 162 (Chinese Economics) without ever studying if they just went to lecture.</p>
<p>Certainly was a lot easier than all the MCB major stuff :(</p>
<p>Please;( !! </p>
<p>I will be transfering as a junior!! I have no info on MS at Cal.
I am struggling to decide between UCLA communication and Cal Media Studies…</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Lol, let me try to help out Flutterfly, as I am also an Econ major going into my 3rd year.</p>
<p>There seems to be a few questions in regards to stats: I took online stats 21 over the summer, which went pretty well. Though I also know people who failed it because they didn’t do well on the final - it really depends on getting able to do homework together with friends and being able to ask GSIs questions on gmail chat (virtual office hours). I wouldn’t recommend taking a full load of classes during the summer as it can be a lot of information in a short period of time.</p>
<p>In regards to waitlists & technical questions: You should talk to the econ advisor, jenny (and jenni) are very helpful. But if you are not very high up in the waitlist for a very large class, then you should have a good chance of getting in</p>
<p>Clubs/research: You should join some clubs that interest you, there are loads of them at Cal and are a cool way of meeting people. You try URAP for research or could do research with a professor - both are quite dandy</p>
<p>^ I’m thinking online stats 21 this summer and I’m wondering why was the final hard? The course manager that talked to me said that the final, “should be cake for [me].” I’ve also heard from multiple people that the final is easier than the homework. Oh boy, this is starting to scare me.</p>
<p>You won’t know how hard/easy it is until you take the class yourself. I heard UGBA 10 was this “crazy” competitive class and I found it to be quite an easy class.</p>
<p>UGBA and Stats are very different classes. I’d say UGBA was ‘easier’, but I got a better grade in stats a lot more easily.</p>
<p>UGBA has all multiple choice tests and averages are always like 90% or higher. You have to know a lot of really specific details and spend a lot of time memorizing a lot of very simple, boring material. You’re directly fighting other pre-business kids and just trying to get 1 or 2 more multiple choice questions right than the average person.</p>
<p>Stats isn’t like that at all - it’s the actual tests that are hard. If you feel like you understand the concepts and learn how to do the practice problems, you will get a good grade. Curves/other people just don’t matter as much.</p>
<p>Nice to know, thanks Shah Rukh Khan, helloall and flutter. </p>
<p>@lova go make your own thread, hijacker :)</p>
<p>Oh, and I have been corresponding with Jenny. She is really nice. She basically said that the curve is just as bad in the summer as it is during the regular terms for Stats 21. She really recommends students take Stats at Berkeley during Fall. Ibser seems to be the teacher for Fall 2010… is he decent? Does anyone know who is teaching 100A? The teacher isn’t listed >.<</p>
<p>For you Econ majors here, what would you recommend that I do over the summer. Jenny suggested that I take multivariable (I’ve taken Math I/II for engineering majors). I’m already taking my American Cultures requirement. Is multivariable really necessary for the Econ classes? (I am taking the 100 series).</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>BA 10 is very much a business course, because it gives you the skills required to get a competitive business job after graduation. It’s not very difficult, but requires high attention to detail, concise facts, and heavy competition. </p>
<p>Stats on the other hand is a class more akin to applied math/ Ph.D candidates. The concepts are pretty basic, but it requires you to really know the material inside and out in order to do well on tests. You can’t just memorize a specific question type and expect to do well (unless it is z-testing, in which case you don’t learn enough material to actually be able to manipulate the formula in any detail).</p>
<p>My main point was that a hard class for one student could be easy/easier for another. Whether or not BA10 is hard/easy was not the point.</p>
<p>
My impression was the exact opposite. In BA 10, because it is easier, you had to get perfect on everything. It was not about how well other people do, as long as you don’t miss more than one point on every test and paper. In Stats 21, I saw the final and thought, “$#@%. I hope everyone else feels the same about this test and bombs, because there is no way I’m getting more than 75% on this.”</p>
<p>" Oh, and I have been corresponding with Jenny. She is really nice. She basically said that the curve is just as bad in the summer as it is during the regular terms for Stats 21. She really recommends students take Stats at Berkeley during Fall. Ibser seems to be the teacher for Fall 2010… is he decent? Does anyone know who is teaching 100A? The teacher isn’t listed >.<</p>
<p>For you Econ majors here, what would you recommend that I do over the summer. Jenny suggested that I take multivariable (I’ve taken Math I/II for engineering majors). I’m already taking my American Cultures requirement. Is multivariable really necessary for the Econ classes? (I am taking the 100 series)."</p>
<p>I’ve talked with Jenny a few times, and did not find her that nice. She explicitly told me not to take stats in the summer, and was actually quite mad that I told her my friend told me to take it. She said most people who take stats in the summer are not prepared and don’t end up in the program. Let’s just say I took her advice and dropped the class! </p>
<p>As an admitted econ major, I would take the ACR class and American Economic History. I signed up for both of these classes, however I dropped the AEH class for Discrete math because I might go into math. Jenny told me AEH is good. </p>
<p>I took Mult Calc at CC. I think it is useful if you want to do graduate school.</p>
<p>But there’s no curve on the final exam is there? I was under the impression of “what you get, is what you get” since you’re not competing against other students in N21.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, I thought so too? It says so on his syllabus + the course manager told me. Are you talking about Stats N21 or regular Stats 21, AznN3rd?</p>