UCB Econ or UCSB Econ&Accounting?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Hello, serious question. I just got accepted into Cal under Economics. To be very honest, I’m surprised myself… it was more of a yolo and I actually got in! However, my intended major is somewhere along the lines of accounting or another business field. I’m not sure how easy/hard it is to switch into HAAS, so I’ll be stuck with L&S at UCB.

Now, I’ve just recently toured UCSB and I love it. Location is nice, and their accounting major is prominent. I’ve just talked to some potential roomies on the school app too in the event that I do go to UCSB, and I enjoyed how laid-back yet academically-driven the school is (outside of the party stereotype). I feel like this would be a more comfortable fit for me.

I haven’t toured UCB yet (I plan on doing that soon though!) but would like to hear feedback on the Economics major (intense? math-heavy?), as well as the campus vibe. Ultimately, I may go to a graduate school - while UCB is prestigious, I believe GPA is incredibly important for grad school, and I’m worried about the competitive nature at Berkeley. Not to say that UCSB isn’t competitive (that weeder Econ10A class though - yikes), but it’ll be less intense than UCB? I feel like I’ll be a bigger fish in a small pond at UCSB rather than UCB.

By the end of the day, both schools are great. I just can’t decide.

Thoughts? :(( :-/

2

Bro, go wherever you will feel most comfortable. It is not worth it to go to Cal if you feel like you will have a low GPA. A high GPA from UCSB will > Low GPA from Cal. Go wherever you feel you will succeed the most. Congrats on getting in on Cal.

Hope you can decide and remember even though Cal would be more competitive than UCSB, it might motivate you more to do better and you might end up surprising yourself.

3

@BlackPlasma Guess I’m a brochacha cause I’m actually a girl lol! I see you also got into UCSB under Econ and Accounting :)>- congrats!

Most people would choose UCB in a heartbeat because of its rank and all… but SB really is nice, and I think I’m leaning towards it more. Thanks for the words of advice :slight_smile:

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@PassTheSushi
“Brochacha” HAHAHAH.

Esta Muchacha me hase rreir XD

5

Btw forgot to mention. Econ10a is no longer curved so it’s not much of a weeder class as it use to be, though don’t let that fool you that it will be easy obviously lol

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UCSB - if you know for sure you want to go into public accounting and get your CPA
UCB - if you don’t know what you want to do yet. You still get into public accounting from here and have some other options (consulting, ibanking, and grad school for econ)

7

@iTransfer1 That’s basically what I’ve boiled it down to haha, I’m not sure how I’ll fare with the multivariable calc required for the upper divs for Econ at Cal (especially since I feel meh about math and econ as a whole. it’s do-able but not a passion). I feel like UCSB is a better fit because I know for sure I’d like to get into accounting, and they have the support that I need from smaller class sizes to clubs to peer tutors (and I believe their econ stops at business calc? Not sure). UCB seems like it’s a sink or swim environment. But at the same time, I’m sure UCB probably has more opportunities. Overall, I’m not sure if I want to be a big fish in small pond or a small fish in a big pond.

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And another thing was the issue of getting into the major itself. UCSB seems very lenient and offer multiple chances. I believe UCB bars you entrance to the Economics major if you don’t meet the gpa criteria the first semester. It feels like I don’t have a backup plan in case I don’t get in :\

9

I’m a current Econ student at Cal.

First of all, you cannot switch to Haas. It’s impossible. It’s also very difficult to take upper division UGBA classes until your last semester (or two) due to how restricted the enrollment for those classes are so don’t expect to be able to take any accounting courses here.

With regard to the curriculum: Econ here is more math-based compared to the curriculum at the other UCs.

Even further than that, we break the major down to (essentially) two different tracks. There first one is a general track (consisting of Econ 100A/B, Econ 140, and Stats 20) which is similar to UCSBs program without the accounting emphasis. The second one is a math-intensive track (consisting of Econ 101A/B, Econ 141, and Stats 134) which approaches the curriculum from more of an applied math perspective and is closer to UCLA’s Econ/Math joint major rather than a traditional Econ major. The former is less intense, but the latter is significantly better for grad school.

Like you mentioned, IMHO, the biggest concern with Econ at Cal is it’s capped and impacted status. There are strict declaration and GPA requirements in place and more than a third of all Econ pre-admits are weeded out after the first semester. In that sense, the pressure to just get into the major can be overwhelming. Also while there are similar majors for those weeded out such as Political Economy and Environmental Economics & Policy, but none of ones available to you here really fit with your intended goal.

As far as the campus vibe, it’s sort of a competitive “chill”. We kind of accept that everyone is constantly trying to one-up each other but at the same time it’s like we learned to live with it and take the time to enjoy ourselves as well. In a nutshell, it’s like…you’ll get beat up and bruised but not broken and you’ll be okay with it.

To me the biggest pro for Cal Econ is the quality of the professors. I’m the type of person that does better with a better lecturer, so one of my biggest concerns coming into Cal was the wide usage of Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) instead of professors for discussion sections. While my fears did prove very true and I definitely had my fair share of bad GSIs, the quality of the Econ faculty here more than made up for it. Listening to lectures from the likes of Robert Reich, Martha Olney, and David Card definitely live up to the hype.

My suggestion? Definitely visit Cal. If you don’t get wow-ed during the visit then, based on your goals, it sounds like UCSB is the safer bet.

(Keep in mind though that your major does not equal your future occupation nor your long term career.)

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If you are looking for accounting, I can chime in that UCSB and CSUN are the recommended schools at least by my teacher. :slight_smile: But don’t rule out Cal!

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@PassTheSushi Econ doesn’t require multivariable calculus. Math 1A and 1B only. If you want to take more, then its really up to the individual.

https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/current/major-requirements

Microeconomics will require some partial derivatives but that’s about it… But you can learn how to do it within seconds… and especially without ever taking a multivariable calculus class too.

People who haven’t done an economics major yet, don’t know that the hardest classes are econometrics. Which is more statistics, than it is calculus. So I wouldn’t sweat on the calculus, I would be more worried about stats. Also, econometrics is required for economics at any school, so there is no avoiding it no matter where you go.

The only thing I would be worried about with UCB is not getting in the econ major, which is dependent on how you do on the first few classes.

Also, I found this too, which I didn’t know UCB had went I went to school.

http://accounting.haas.berkeley.edu/accounting-berkeley/bcpa.html

Apparently, UCB offers a summer program at HAAS, where you can take all the accounting classes you need for the CPA in the summer regardless of what major you are. So no worries about getting your accounting classes.

Regardless of where you go though, I recommend you prepare well before you transfer. That means prepare your resume and prepare how you plan to network (know all the clubs to join before you transfer and when you get there start utilizing the career center right away). Getting an internship junior year is crucial, and applications start the fall that you transfer… So there really is no time to be lazy. Trust me, Meet the Firms will be the fall quarter/semester that you transfer, if you are not prepared, then you can stay good bye to that summer internship. You will be scrambling for whatever you can get the next quarter/semester and will have to compete with everyone the next fall for full-time position who already had nice internships the summer before.

12

@PassTheSushi

Another thing I want to touch on is are you sure you want to do public accounting? Public accounting is the only field where you work long hours and get low pay… Investment banking and consulting offer both have long hours but the pay is a lot more nice. Along with the low pay, you also have to take 150 units, 10 units of ethics, and pass 4 really hard ass exams. Which the other two fields, don’t really have to do.

The nice thing about public accounting tho is that is easily transferable into corporate finance/accounting and internal audit positions in the private sector, you can work in any industry afterwards, and you even have the opportunity to open your own CPA firm if you want to. Getting to the field is also achievable by any average hard working person.

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@SDGoldenBear What happens to the people that can’t get to econ from pre-econ??

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They are forced to apply to other majors. Political Economy (Poli-Econ) and Enviromental Economics & Policy (EEP) are usually the alternates for those aiming for the general track and either Applied Math or Statistics for those who desire more quantitative skills.

15

https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective says that, for UCB economics, “Transfer students must have a minimum 3.0 in the prerequisite transfer courses, and a minimum 2.7 grade point average in prerequisite courses taken at Berkeley.” Also see https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective/transfer-students .

Note: B = 3.0, B- = 2.7.

Transfer students to UCB for economics typically have to take the following in their first semester after transfer:

  • One of Economics 100A, 100B, 101A, 101B. The 100-series is the less-math version, while the 101-series is the more-math version. The A courses are intermediate microeconomics, while the B courses are intermediate macroeconomics. All require calculus; 101A requires multivariable calculus.
  • A statistics course with a calculus prerequisite, such as Statistics 20, 21, 131A, 134, or *both* C8 *and* 88.
  • Other courses to make a full time schedule and fulfill prerequisites for another major if not admitted to economics.
16

Thank you for the extra insight you guys :slight_smile:

@ucbalumnus What do I do if I’d like to declare for Poltical Economy my first semester, rather than Econ? Should I contact the advisor now, or ask during orientation? I talked with one of the representatives today on campus and he said I should wait until orientation, but I’m not sure if that’s what I should really be doing.