is UCSB worth the risk? How's econ 10A?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Hello,

I am considering going to UCSB and I want to do Econ/Accounting there? However, the thing that’s stopping me from going is that Econ 10A class in which I need a B or better to declare. I do know a large amount about that class but I just want to connect with previous transfer students who were in the same position as I was and ask whether the class is really worth it or not.

I’ll give you a little background of myself; So I actually got into a lot of UC schools but I am currently deciding between UCD and UCI (and leaning against UCSB at the moment). I have visited both UC Davis and UCSB and I have yet to visit UCI (but I have done research & I plan to visit soon). UCD is great, I can tell you that and I really like it. But tbh, I would prefer UCSB over it had it not been for this 10A class. However, UCSB isn’t exactly perfect either(even w/out the 10A class) but I would still take it over Davis. But idk, for some reason, I really want to go to UCSB (for the wrong reasons maybe) just cause I really like the campus vibe, experiences, environment, and campus. And that’s why this school stands out to me. However, as I said I also like Davis and I know I would have a great time there as well.

But if I know (or am positive) I can get econ/acct, I’d rather just go to UCSB tbh. So I am in fact I am going to visit UCSB again and If I really really want to go still and If I’m confedent about that 10A class, i’ll ultimately just go.

So here’s what I know about 10A. You need a 72% to get a B and the grading crieteria is composed of 2 MT (25% each) and a Final (50%). And if you don’t pass your first time you are allowed to retake the final twice. I also know that the math is very simple (just basic derrivatives, optimization, and algebra) but I know the application part is the hard part and students who succeed in math usually do well in this class. I also know that this is a very hard class and I also know 50% of transfers get in… In addition, I heard a lot of students saying it was tough but it was doable at the same time.

Here’s a thing that I like about the class and why I don’t think it’s that bad. You only need a 72% in the class to get in and you get to take the final twice. How hard can that honestly be?

But I also heard, that 50% of students don’t get in and that’s really saying something tbh. Cause look at it this way, these guys are (or were) all in the same shoes I am in. They all want to get in and they are going to be motivated to pass. So I am sure students work hard and stll don’t get their desired outcome.

Here’s some more background about myself now. Genrally, I always like to do my work early, I always take advantage of my teachers office hours and my tutoring center, I always participate in class, and I work very hard in all of my classes. And my hard work has paid off in CC. ( I had A’s in most of my classes). But I must let you know, I did not preform well In my calculus classes and I did work very hard in those classes and I felt like I knew a lot. I just wasn’t able to do well.

Lastly, Of course I do have backup plans in case I don’t get in. But I am not happy with those and I honestly don’t want that happening. Sure, it’s not the end of the world If I don’t get in. However, why miss the chance to go to a great UC and do my desired major.

Back up plan #1. Switch majors at UCSB. Yes, I could do financial Math & stats but I still am not guaranteed that and it could delay my graduation. Also, when i’m done with undergrad, I do need a Biz job. It could be hard finding Biz related jobs/internships as a math major

Back up plan #2: I could go back to CC and pray to go to a UC. However, I will say that is such a waste of a year. I don’t want to do that either

Back up plan #3: I could transfer in the Winter/or spring quarter to a CSU, private, or out of state. But see I don’t want to do that either. I was privalaged to go to get into great schools like UCD and UCI. I don’t want to pass that opportunity rn. Also not to mention, my graduation can/most likely will be delayed if that happens as well. I also think it’s harder transferring to a university as a UC student as a Jr. especially.

What do you guys think? Please give me feedback and please be as honest as you can. It would be nice if transfer students who have took this route, gave me input.

2

@Rshah123 Hi! Are you specifically looking to be an accountant or just pursue a career in “business” (finance, operations, sales, marketing, project management., etc)? Unless you’re specifically wanting to be an accountant, having an Econ/Accounting degree vs Financial Math is very unlikely to matter from an employers perspective. Best of luck to you!

3

@BayAreaRecruiter

Yeah sorry, I did not specify in the post. But tbh, I’m not really sure what I want to do later on as a career. I could do accounting. But I like UCSB’s E/A program cause I think that’s nice for grad school. And both economics and accounting are good to know for Biz. Also, accounting is probably one of my strengths so I could earn a much higher GPA there. Lastly, I know there are a lot of jobs in acct and big 4 heavily recruits from UCSB. But on the other side, I find accounting to be boring.

The thing about Financial math is that I’m not even guaranteed the major. I still need a pre-major gpa of 2.5 so there is a risk there. Another thing, I haven’t done a lot of their pre-reqs so It could take me longer to graduate. And I struggle at math. Lastly, I’m pretty set on econ. My goal is to get an MBA and I want to do a business oriented econ major in my undergraduate.

4

@Rshah123 if you find accounting to be boring, definitely don’t major in it. And if you tend to struggle in Math classes, then rule out math as your major also. There are so many different types of positions in business, hopefully you can leverage your strengths and interests and find the right career path fit for you. I remember how daunting that seemed! Econ is not the only path to positions in business-- and your college major really only matters for your first position out of college (and even then it tends not to be that important unless you’re working specifically as an engineer, accountant, etc). My husband has an MBA from a Top 20 program and majored in Psychology. Wishing you the best of luck!

5

Heres the thing, everyone can pass 10a. They no longer have a curve where only the top ~30% of students can get a B or higher in 10a. People don’t pass because they don’t put in the work, sure everyone says they are studying really hard and trying their best, but they also spend half their time talking about how unfair 10a is instead of actually studying for it. People also don’t pass because they are bad test takers.

My 10a Journey: I got the book way early, and studied for the entire first midterm before our first day of class. I don’t recommend this method, I was so prepared for the test that I had finished the 40min test in 25mins. But the nervousness made me go back and change my correct free response answer and I lost 6 points. So I had the preparation, but I wasn’t a good test taker.

For the second midterm, I didn’t read the book at all, I knew the slides by heart and went to group tutoring every morning, along with lecture, and supplemental classes. Ended up getting a 100% on the second midterm and a good enough grade on the final to get an A- in the class.

The hardest part of 10a is the pressure. I thought the material was incredibly interesting and almost fun but the crushing pressure of having to get a certain grade completely ruins the course. But for me it was worth it because I wanted the recruiting opportunities at UCSB since they are incredible (which is another factor of 10a, having to go to recruiting events/interviews, while trying to study).

Honestly, you should figure out your career goals as soon as you can. If you don’t like accounting then this accounting major will bore you to death and the econ doesn’t get any easier once you are in the major.

TL;DR: You can get in the major if you actually put in the work, most people just don’t do the work they say they are doing. Figure out whether you can handle ~2 years of accounting courses, because if that sounds too boring, you will not be motivated and will not do well and should consider UCD.

6

@49erToRaiderToDK

Thanks for the response!

  • Well, if that's case then I think I have a pretty high chance to succeed in the class since I never slack off and I always try my best regardless of class. However, I did work pretty hard in my calculus classes at CC and I was still never really able to do well. Is Econ 10A like that? The thing is that like a lot of people tell you if you work hard you're guaranteed to do well. And I kind of have to disagree with that saying. Like I know you need to work hard to do well and that's necessary. But even then, that still doesn't guarantee that you'll do well but it does increase your chances of doing well. Not to sound like a downer, but that's just my belief. I probably work as hard as a 4.0 student and I still don't have a gpa like or around that. I'm not the best test taker either, but I mean I guess i'm okay.

-About Accounting, it’s not like I hate it but I’m not that interested in it either. I have taken introductory accounting classes and they were just formulas and numbers. However, I wasn’t like I was bored to death by it. And in the UCSB econ/acct major there are like I believe 7 acct classes I need to take which won’t be too bad for me. And I scored high in my intro acct classes too. Another thing that I like about UCSB is that the big 4 recruit heavily there and I did a thing with PwC and I liked the company so i mean idk, I might want to work there. And even If I transfer to Davis, I would like to do like 2 accounting classes there. It’s good to know.

-I won’t know what I want to do as a career until maybe next year. Not now for sure. And that’s also another thing I don’t like about UCSB. There are no big cities or big firms nearby, so while I’m at school I’m not sure if I can do stuff like internships, attend conferences, or do job shadows. I really need to figure that out soon.

  • So see that's what I think the problem is. Education wise, I can't go wrong with either UCD, UCSB, or UCI. They all have their pros and cons. And the reason why I want to go to UCSB is because I like the whole vibe and campus. Like i'm not targeting any academic reason that stands out. If I were really into accounting or something,I think I would for sure take it over UCI & UCD, but I'm not. And first and foremost education is my #1 priority though. So in other words, the problem is like I'm taking this risk just to get that "social experience' that UCSB has. Would you say it's worth it in all honesty based on what I have said here?
7

@Rshah123

10a is like this, you can memorize everything, do every single problem, every practice test (there are years worth of old midterms and finals made available to you), and you can still not pass the class. Why? Because the tests see how well you know the material and can apply your knowledge to a situation you hadn’t seen before. I have no idea how Hartman (the main lecturer for 10a) is able to construct different questions every quarter, but he does. If you decide to come to UCSB I would definitely recommend the strategy of when you’re studying, always ask questions, be able to prove things to yourself, this may sound a bit arbitrary but it’ll come in handy in the fall!

If you’re thinking about working for PwC one day, then UCSB is your place. They are one of the most active big 4s on our campus (right next to EY), that by no means guarantees you a job but it definitely increases your chances. Upper div accounting here is tough, doable but tougher than any of the lower div classes I have taken at other 4 years and community colleges. Accounting is definitely one of the more applicable fields of study on campus and its good if you want to go into general business, but know that you will be surrounded by people who have internships with Big 4s, mid-tiers, and local firms, its a rarity to find someone who hasn’t committed their post-college life to a public accounting firm and getting ready for the CPA exam.

UCs are all very well connected, yah it would be easier in UCI or UCLA to find an internship during the school year, but for UCSB accounting students, we are heavily recruited fall quarter, we get offers in december, then we relax until summer when our internship starts (I’ll be in LA myself, tons of recruiting for LA and bay area offices). I’m not sure how internships and recruiting works for other majors but we do have big career fairs ever quarter (for accounting its called Meet The Firms, approx. 600 students and 300 professionals were there in Fall) so there are plenty of options.

I can’t say whether or not its worth it, UCSB is a highly regarded school, our economics/accting program is unique, well respected, and heavily recruited from, but its hard to get into. If you want to go into accounting, UCSB is your best bet. If you want to go into general business/econ, you can do that anywhere. You’ll have to work your ass off to be able to do that at UCSB. But if you love this campus like I do, the work will be fun, you’ll meet some amazing people who will be with you throughout your entire major, and you’ll dread having to graduate.

Visit all the schools as many times as you can, this is a big decision and in the end you should pick the school that makes you feel like you belong, everything else will work out in the end.

8

Congrats! You have several great options available to you. As long as you are confident you can manage to perform academically with all the distractions - UCSB is probably where you should go. If you got into all of those schools, your GPA and ACT/SAT suggest you can handle Econ 10A. The university wants you to pass all your classes and graduate on-time so, there are study-groups, tutors and other resources available if you need help.

Go Gouchos!

Good luck.

9 
   Okay I just transferred to UCSB last fall with Econ & Accounting and I can answer any questions you have. Let me start off by saying if you put in the work you will understand the material period. IT IS PASSABLE. The material is manageable if you go to CLAS, what it comes down to is the tests. The econ department writes them to fool test takers, they make them ridiculously convoluted. Learn the material sure, anyone can do that but what gets everyone is the tests. You must learn to critically think about every topic he covers, even then sometimes he throws curveballs on the test. It is also important to explain answers, I lost 5 points because I didn't show enough work on the first midterm (got the right answer though on the hard question) and ended up missing the B by 3 points when the class ended, I am now studying for the retake. Great right? You are basically at his mercy on the tests you can only prepare so much. But let me backtrack a bit, a 72% on 3 exams sounds easy. But when Each test is  25 points each (about 9 questions) missing even 2 multiple choice questions knocks you down to a 76%. Don't let me discourage you, I am only trying to warn you that you must be a good test taker. 
   So about your plans, if I could go back a quarter and redo it I would do the following fool-proof plan: come to UCSB, try my absolute best to pass Econ 10A and work tons on my critical thinking skills for the test. And since it is the fall quarter APPLY TO OTHER COLLEGES I WAS CONSIDERING, APPLY TO THE FOLLOWING FALL QUARTER AS IF YOU PLAN TO LEAVE UCSB. Of course this is only as a precautionary back-up plan. Best case scenario: you get in the Econ major, ignore acceptance letters from the apps you did. Worst Case Scenario: you get PSTAT109 out of the way, take electives you would have had to take anyway out of the way while at ucsb for the year while you wait to transfer to the schools that accepted you.