<p>Is Econ major on of the easier majors at Berkeley?
i have a friend who's going to be a econ major, and he doesn't have any reading or essays...or maybe that's because he's still taking lower div classes.
anyway, how is econ major?</p>
<p>Uh, does he do well? (I somehow don't think it's easy to get As without reading the textbook or doing the problem sets.) By lower div, you mean Econ 1 right?
You're supposed to read the textbooks by the way.</p>
<p>Any major is easy to get a C or even B in, but not necessarily an A. </p>
<p>This is also a crap reason to want a major: it's kind of amusing. </p>
<p>If your friend is majoring in Econ and he's only taking lower divs, he couldn't have finished the intermediate requirements, which means he's technically not in the major yet. It's capped and you have to apply for it...so he's not really majoring in Econ now, is he?</p>
<p>Difficulty level, I'd say it's in the middle. It's more difficult than liberal arts and most social sciences, but not as competitive as science majors. It does require mathematics, usually up to calculus, but some people take math up to linear algebra (math 54). Also the classes are harder than business, but business curves are worse. Some upper divs like econometrics and game theory suck. So you figure it out.</p>
<p>Delicatess, by "liberal arts" you mean generally, right? For instance, I would imagine that the English would be at least as difficult here because the department is so intense. Philosophy here has got to be at least the same level of difficulty as the Economics, as well. But did you mean generally?</p>
<p>Actually English is my other major (I'm a double), and it's hard, yeah, but doesn't require as much studying, if any at all. The difficulty is a different type. The essays are tough to get straight As on.</p>
<p>I thought philosophy was a social science, not a liberal art? (My mistake...but yes philosophy is probably one of the most difficult social sciences, at least I thought it was a social science.)</p>
<p>Anyway, everyone gets defensive about their own majors, but I just think it's ridiculous that someone would choose a major because it's supposedly easy, especially when getting an A would not be easy.</p>
<p>Pick the right professors.</p>
<p>Econometrics can be hell when taught by a bad professor. Some other classes can be hell as well because econometrics is not that necessarily a rigorous mathematical dsicipline.</p>
<p>Just pick fair professors and avoid any and all visiting ones.</p>
<p>Actually, the liberal arts are:</p>
<p>Grammar
Rhetoric
Logic
Arithmetic
Geometry<br>
Music<br>
Astronomy</p>
<p>yeah, he's not in the major yet, but he's going to apply. he's taking econ 1 right now, and he doesn't read the book...he says he took both AP econ tests and scored 5s. so i guess it's all review for him</p>
<p>my sister goes to berkeley, and her roommate is an econ major, she's going to india every summer and barely studies, my sister says shes always out partying and stuff (i mean she's smart, but still), apparently she has a 4.0 and she's studying for her LSATs now...my sister on the other hand is MCB (molecular/cell bio) and is struggling to get the grades since competition is so fierce for her major</p>
<p>i think a lot depends on the school, ive heard econ is super-cutthroat @ univ of chicago for example, but @ berkeley i doubt its AS tough</p>
<p>I thought Rhetoric was in the humanities?</p>
<p>Rhetoric is. That's a traditional deffinition of the liberal arts (I think that there are others). Today, it's not quite the same. </p>
<p>prbaz21, different people can do different things. Some people have to study for hours only to barely pass, and others can simply not study ever (or not seem to study ever) and ace their classes. Berkeley econ is not easy, and it can be tougher if you want to take harder classes (amazing graduate classes are available if you're willing, for instance). It's really hard to talk about how tough something is when we have no experience it, or accounts of people who have. Why do it?</p>
<p>^^I was about to say the same thing along those lines.</p>
<p>what do you mean by "why do it"
do you mean why do the major? or why comment on the major? if you're asking why i commented, it's because well, i always feel other people's experiences are worth listening to, even if you get 100 contradicting views, just so you know what you're getting into.</p>
<p>Prabz, well I know a mechanical engineer who never takes notes, never reads the books and gets a 3.8 GPA (and he's a third year). Does that mean mechanical engineering is easy? No.</p>
<p>And then he tells me all lower division Physics classes-esp the 7 series- are extremely easy...does that mean those classes are jokes in general? Probably not.</p>
<p>bottom line there are 3 factors:
1) your intelligence level
2) your major, which DOES matter in terms of workload
3) which classes you take to fulfill the requirements for the major</p>
<p>i happen to know that this girl i was talking about didnt take the hardest classes, she didnt have much math focus to her econ degree at all...but nonetheless, shell still be graduating w/ a degree, so in terms of the original poster's question, "Is Econ major one of the easier majors at Berkeley" i gave my opinion, and backed it up w/ AN example of why i think so</p>
<p>shes actually finishing up her 3rd year, same as her roommate</p>
<p>No offense and this is slightly irrelevant, but it deals with the lack of math in econ you mentioned, but the arrogance that permeates from scientists and engineers--including my own father--is sometimes irritating. I digress since I've diverged from the point of this thread, but you'll see that most scientists and engineers would disrespect the more "artsy" Economics majors and basically anything that they're not studying themselves. Truth be told, all people are arrogant to a certain degree, but just because a scientist or engineer studies his/her subject, does not make him/her more intelligent or necessarily better, especially the one that majors in his/her subject, does poorly, yet still persists in arrogance....</p>
<p>no one was being arrogant, esp not me or my sister, in fact, i dont even plan on being a science major for a matter of fact...what people want to do w/ their education is totally up to them, and no one ever said otherwise...but the fact is, upper level math is hard, for almost everyone, science major or not.</p>
<p>It is, and I never denied that, but it's also true that a lot of scientists are condescending( even those that do poorly). Berkeley students are not exceptions.</p>
<p>Prabz21, you have some reasonable points, such as that there are factors that influence how difficult a major is. I'm not sure if i agree with how you outline them, though. Say there are two people, one who can do any mathematical/scientific thing you can imagine a college student would be required to do, but who can do nothing in the ways of analytical writing. Now say there is a nother person, who can analytically write about anything, but can do nothing mathematical or scientific. Is one more intelligent than the other? This really relates to how you define "intelligence," a question of psychology. But anyway. sure, majors effects workload, sure, and classes one takes outside of your major definitely effect how difficult your classes are, too.</p>
<p>There are many schools where if you're admitted, you probably aren't going to flunk out. You are probably going to graduate with a degree. In what, it depends, but if you put in minimal effort, you got your prestigious degree. Perhaps to some extent Berkeley is like that in parts. Whether or not econ falls into that category? No, probably not. Also, how familiar are you with the majors at Berkeley? Is it fair to say it is one of the easiest majors if you're familiar with very few of them? I do think your views have benefitted the discussion, and the views you've heard are worthwhile. I'm not discounting that. But to say it's one of the easier majors when you're not familiar with that many isn't fair.</p>