Incoming Freshman (Please Help!): Question about classes for pre-Haas

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hi, so I'm signing up for my fall classes tomorrow and I really need help choosing. I know that the pre-reqs for Haas are:</p>

<p>-UGBA 10
-Stats 20/21
-Econ 1
-Math 16A/16B or Math 1A/1B</p>

<p>I'm considering taking UGBA 10 for fall. Or should I wait until the second semester to take it?
Should I also take Econ 1 (is it true that we are getting summer reading for this class?) or should I just choose Math 16A? </p>

<p>Also, does anyone know the difficulty of all the pre-reqs (and rank them?)</p>

<p>I also want to take a breadth class, which one would you recommend?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>I suggest you don’t take Econ 1 this semester because I’m taking it this semester and I have a tendency to dominate the curve.</p>

<p>I kid (maybe…). But, I have heard that Econ 1 is one of the harder Haas pre-reqs and it might be smarter to take something easy in your first semester, like UGBA and/or Math 16.</p>

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<p>How hard is econ 1?
Because I got 5s on both macro and microeconomics, and even though I can pass out of it, I want to take econ 1 so I have a better foundation.
Is that a bad idea? I’d probably need an A or A+ to make it worth it too</p>

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<p>I’d take UGBA 10 second semester. You’re piling on too many pre-reqs your first semester. You might find math and/or stats challenging, since you are trying to get such a high grade.</p>

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<p>lol Grumpster, I think you’ve misunderstood. pinklavender isn’t taking all those prereqs in the same semester… that would be stupid</p>

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<p>yes, there are several options I’m choosing from (I’m skipping Stats right now because I heard that it’s pretty hard):</p>

<p>-UGBA and Econ 1
-UGBA and Math 16A
-Econ 1 only (and leave UGBA until next semester)
-Math 16A only (and leave UGBA until next semester)</p>

<p>I’m not sure whether I should take UGBA with either of those pre-reqs at the same time because I don’t know all their of levels of difficulty. Do the professors change each semester too and would that make the classes harder/easier?</p>

<p>I’m not the strongest in math and I only took Calc AB in high school my sophomore year (I got a 5 but I think I have pretty much forgotten everything). </p>

<p>I took AP Macroeconomics this year and I don’t know how I did on the AP exam yet…but maybe I should take Econ 1 since this subject is still fresh in my mind? The rumored summer reading assignment is kind of keeping me from it though if it’s true :/</p>

<p>Thanks for replying guys!
Hopefully, I can get even more insight?</p>

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<p>oh yeah, I also forgot about R&C. Should I take that first or second semester?</p>

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<p>I VERY strongly recommend doing Math 16A/16B next semester as needed. It’s better to finish off Math as soon as possible as you really do get rusty after a semester or so away from it. I made this mistake, but luckily my other pre-reqs were strong enough. It is easy enough to do well in the Math 16 series, but MAKE SURE you keep up to date with the class and don’t fall behind.</p>

<p>Another mistake I made was to take Econ 1 in the first semester. The way the grading works is really strange, and if you’re stuck in a discussion with extremely smart people you could get screwed since quite a few second years take Econ 1 as well. Econ 1 requires more ‘independent’ work than other pre-reqs, and so you might not be used to it in your first semester. I doubt you will get too much summer reading though, and even if you do it won’t be serious. A lot of people add the class once they get to Berkeley anyway :S</p>

<p>UGBA 10 is actually alright to take in your first semester, in my opinion. It is the only pre-req that is not academically difficult AT ALL. It is true that the curve is hard, BUT the material isn’t. Waiting an extra semester will not make you ‘more’ ready to handle the class, since you already know that it is competitive. Just work hard.</p>

<p>I recommend avoiding Stats 21 in your first semester, since it is academically difficult AND competitive. I did it in the Spring of my second year, since the grade wouldn’t affect my Haas admission. This worked well for me, but if you feel you are a Stats whiz then feel free.</p>

<p>It is hard for me to rank the classes, since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. However, personally I would rank them as follows from the most difficult to the least (including BOTH curve and material difficulty):</p>

<p>1) Stats 21
2) Econ 1
3) Math 16B
4) UGBA 10
5) Math 16A</p>

<p>Note: I did not include R&C on this list, although both ARE used to calculate your pre-req GPA. R&C should be a piece of cake, if you look up the right classes to take. Take the ethnic type classes rather than Linguistics, Comp lit, etc.</p>

<p>I hope this has helped.</p>

9

<p>Wow, thank you so much ManBearPig! That was very informative and really helped me a lot! :D</p>