Should I be as scared of Berkeley economics as I am?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hi everyone. I'm an OOS admit to the College of Letters & Science and plan to major in economics and go onto law school. However, I've heard that econ at Berkeley is extremely tough, and scheduling classes becomes hectic since it's a capped major. Also, I've heard that the classes themselves are cutthroat and extremely large, and I'm afraid that I'll jeopardize my GPA for law school if I take such an intense major. </p>

<p>Since I'm not from California and I don't know anyone personally at UC Berkeley, all I have to go off are rumors and stereotypes. Are than any econ majors here who can clarify some of my concerns? </p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

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<p>It is not that hard stop worrying! if you go to class and review before tests, you will get at least a B. If you study harder/put time into understanding everything, you will probably get an A.</p>

<p>And the capped major thing makes no difference really… you’re in if you have a 3.0. No essay/resume required.</p>

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<p>I hope so! I actually thought about changing majors just because I don’t want to risk having a low GPA. I heard Law school is all about the numbers :/</p>

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<p>be very afraid. I’m there to destroy the curve. remember that.</p>

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<p>Or just lurk here, find out which sections Firapira has enrolled in, and pick the others.</p>

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<p>overachiever here, enrolled 26 units pure econ WITH petition, just try and hide.</p>

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<p>haha is he actually serious? relaxxx mang.</p>

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<p>i’m also a ta for two econ major requirement classes and I definitely planning to strongly “suggest” some tough problems on the finals ballbusting. I’ve also dug up copies of old tests out there and have advised to completely revamp them come next semester.</p>

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<p>haha. i know alot of overachievers as well. my besty tripled major in berkeley and got her degree in 4 years…</p>

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<p>I’m not an Econ major but I thought the econ classes I took were fairly straightforward and interesting. Econ 101A was a particular joy (Prof. DellaVigna), but make sure you’ve got your math skills down pat.</p>

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<p>Is economics mostly mathematics or conceptual stuff? I get credit for AP Econ macro and micro, but I’m not sure if I want to use them to get out of classes since I don’t actually remember anything I learned my junior year heh</p>

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<p>you should use that to get out of econ 1</p>

<p>you’ll have to take a macroecon and microecon course after that, either 100a/b or 101a/b. most people take the 100s but the 101s are more math based/analytical and necessary if you want to go to grad school for econ.</p>

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<p>ChasingStarlight,</p>

<p>Econ @ Cal is extremely quantitative.</p>

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<p>Huh. I would think they got into the intense mathematics at graduate level. Are you an econ student there now? What do you think about your experience?</p>

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<p>At the graduate level, it starts remotely looking like maths that I call “real” :D</p>

<p>Until then, probably it is more quantitative than at some places, but it’s probably just using basic calculus comfortably and stuff like that. Not even most Berkeley engineers get basic maths that well, and I’m sure most economics majors don’t either. The economics graduate students can be pretty crazy about the measure theory and other analytic data necessary to talk about distributions.</p>

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<p>Would you suggest relearning my calculus stuff during the summer or will the basically teach us most of it during class?</p>

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<p>Note that I’m not an economics major, though I know a few. </p>

<p>My bias would be to say that even if they remind you of things in class, it’s best to go in with a fairly nice, cohesive background.</p>

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<p>I studied Econ few years back along with all the premed reqs. Compared to o-chem or physics Econ was a piece of cake. The 101 series is a little harder, but was optional when I was there. Relax, Econ major is a breeze if u were bright enough to get in to cal.</p>

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<p>Oops. Posted under my son’s name. Did not know he was signed in.</p>