Finance class in general

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hey CC friends,</p>

<p>I'm a CS major looking for a solid introduction to finance and whatnot. For the last two days I have sit in Econ 136, E 120, UGBA 103, and UGBA 196 w/ Selinger, but all of them are just syllabus intro and don't really tell me the difference between the class, aside from the workload (range from 2-4 units). If any of you have taken any of those 4 classes, can you offer an insight? </p>

<p>FWIW, UGBA 196 is with Selinger, UGBA 103 is with Livdan (has a somewhat difficult to hear accent), E 120 is with Adler, and Econ 136 is with Hawkins. It seems to me that E120 and Econ 136 somewhat resemble each other, UGBA196 is pretty easy and definitely an easy P, 103 seems like the most legit of them, but a lot of my Haas friends told me to avoid Livdan and shoot for Opp in the Fall. Any thoughts?</p>

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<p>Agree with 103 and Opp.</p>

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<p>^ Do you know if Opp’s gonna teach it this Fall? How was MyFinanceLab? Is it worth the $55? :-s</p>

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<p>Well if you sat in Livdan’s class, you know MyFinanceLab is required to do the homework so I wouldn’t say it’s an option to not pay :P</p>

<p>Looks like all 103 is taught the same – here’s Opp’s syllabus.
<a href=“http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/courses/Syllabi/UGBA103_BA130/2012-spr-103-opp.pdf[/url]”>http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/courses/Syllabi/UGBA103_BA130/2012-spr-103-opp.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I thought Livdan was a pretty good instructor. His exams are completely fair (maybe even a bit simple) if you paid attention and did the assignments honestly. I guess his actual lectures are a bit dry, which is probably where all the complaints come from.</p>

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<p>

Well it’s only 10% of the grade right? I forgot to mention I’m taking the class P/NP…</p>

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Sounds good. Do you remember anything about the curve?</p>

<p>Also, I don’t understand why attendance is 15%. Do you actually need to speak up in class and have the GSI record your name or something, or is it just merely showing up?</p>

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<p>It was a pretty standard Haas curve, as in the instructor has to somehow make the average gpa for the class into a 3.3~. </p>

<p>We didn’t have attendance as a grade metric when I took his class. So, I don’t know what it consists of. I think he put that there because people stopped coming to his class halfway into the semester. Out of a class of 300-400 students, probably only a handful showed up every class. Might be another reason why people did so poorly in his class.</p>

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<p>UGBA 103 participation was solely iClicker-based.</p>

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<p>Livdan’s syllabus says you have to show up to 10 out of 13 GSI sections to get full credit for attendance.</p>

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<p>

O_o.
Do you think it’s possible to teach myself the material using the book, i.e. is the super-expensive Corporate Finance text any good?</p>

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I didn’t catch that, thanks. So I guess just merely show up to get 15% of my final grades then…</p>

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Seems like we don’t have that this semester (which I’m very happy about), but it may change…</p>

<p>Alright, thanks guys, I guess I’ll just go to a few more lectures and choose between UGBA103 or 196 then.</p>

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<p>@goldenbear2014: Looks like you are/were in Livdan’s UGBA 103. Do you know if there will be a discussion tomorrow, i.e. the first week of class?</p>

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<p>Sorry I saw this late. I believe there’s discussion today.</p>

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<p>^ That’s fine D: Thanks. My discussion is not until 2 p.m.</p>

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<p>E 120 is actually taught by Truong.</p>

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<p>If you’re trying to take UGBA 103, I’d take it this semester because you may have to deal with more people trying to get into Opp’s lecture in a future semester, if he even comes back to teach the class again in the first place. In terms of your question about whether any class, versus self-studying, would be more effective, it depends on what your goals are. If you want to eventually try to get into UGBA finance electives, then 103 is the way to go. If you’re trying to get finance interviews, you could probably get away with a combination of online materials (Investopedia, Khan Academy, etc.) and Wall Street Prep guides (Wall Street Oasis, etc.).</p>

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<p>How difficut to get in for UGBA 103 for Non-Haas major? can you do it by telebear phase 2 (not phase 1) as a senior standing?</p>

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<p>@basketballkid: thank you for the advice</p>

<p>@00558737: I registered during the adjustment period and got in… That said, Livdan is teaching this semester and he’s not as popular as Opp, who I heard might teach in the fall, so getting into 103 may be a long shot during phase 2.</p>