UCLA Econ Department dispells myths about changing majors for transfers

<p>This is probably pretty pretentious of me to create an entirely new thread about this, but I figured it is pretty valuable information.</p>

<p>So I was at my TA's office hours and the Econ undergrad department/counselor was literally 10 feet away from me. I figured I'd just go ask them about the possibility of switching majors INTO THE ECON department since there are a lot of rumors around about it. Also, the undergrad econ counselor is a super fine young Indian woman so it couldn't hurt to ask.</p>

<p>This is a rough paraphrasing of our conversation today at 3:00pm:</p>

<p>Counselor: "What's up"</p>

<p>Me: "I have some friends who are transferring in this fall from community college. They were accepted to different majors, and there's a lot of rumors about how--"</p>

<p>Counselor: "No. You can't switch into the major."</p>

<p>Me: "Not possible? At all? Any way?"</p>

<p>Counselor: "You need to have ALL the pre reqs done for Econ by spring, and have a 3.9 gpa"</p>

<p>Me: "By spring? Like spring after your first year at UCLA?"</p>

<p>Counselor: "No. Spring before you transfer. So you can't take classes or boost gpa during summer or anything like that."</p>

<p>Me: "I see... some people were saying you could possibly talk to the econ department head or something like that."</p>

<p>Counselor: "Me and Julie are the department heads."</p>

<p>Me: "Oh haha. What about math/econ? I heard it's easier cause it's not impacted."</p>

<p>Counselor: "That's with the math department and I don't know anything about it. You have to go ask them."</p>

<p>Me: "Thanks. I'll go clear up the rumors with transfers."</p>

<p>Counselor: "Thanks. Do that. Definitely."</p>

<p>So yeah, there you have it. It turns out we were all wrong. There really is a single way switch majors after you transfer to UCLA into Econ. Although that route seems almost impossible to me unless you had it planned ahead of time. 3.9 gpa with all pre reqs done by spring before transfer. Also, math/econ is a possibility. I never knew the undergrad econ counselor was also head of the department. Learn something new everyday. But there you have it, lets end all the myths now.</p>

<p>your posts have been helpful. do econ majors really have this much time to spend on cc? or are you just giving back</p>

<p>edit: meant to pm!</p>

<p>Haha you spoke to that counselor? She’s terrible… Plotkin is much more helpful</p>

<p>I think that it is very wrong to state that MATH/Econ is an easy backdoor to get into Econ Major.
you must realize that Math/Econ has many more prereqs than Econ Major.
For econ majors, they simply need to do well in IGETC and Econ1Econ2 ( which can be included in IGETC). But for Math Econ, they need to take 4 Upper math classes, and 2 Computer Classes. By this their GPA is bound to get lowered.
This is probably why it is not impacted, as math is not a cup of tea for every one.</p>

<p>math/econ is DEFINITELY an easy backdoor into UCLA relative to other econ majors</p>

<p>what about if I am a pre-economics major and want to change to pre-besiness economics?</p>

<p>This is how my conversation went:</p>

<p>Good afternoon,</p>

<p>I am a transfer student for 2009-2010. I was admitted as a pre-business economics major to UCLA. I am wondering what would happen to me if I do not get accepted to the business economics major? Could I choose just economics major and do I still have to compete for it? What are the requirements to get accepted to the economics major (GPA, upper level pre-requisites, etc.) and what would happen if I do not meet these requirements either? Are there any options for me or I would get rescinded from UCLA?</p>

<p>Thank you for your time and help,
Sincerely,</p>

<p>Maria.</p>

<p>Hi Maria,</p>

<p>If you don’t meet the GPA criteria for Bus. Econ., you can still major in straight Econ. For that major, you need a min. 2.5 GPA in your pre-major courses, with a C or better in each course. Note that although your grades don’t transfer into your UCLA GPA if you are attending a community college, we will factor your comm. coll. grades into your pre-major GPA. So, you shouldn’t have a problem qualifying for the Economics major.</p>

<p>Julie Plotkin</p>

<p>Undergraduate Counselor</p>

<p>UCLA Department of Economics</p>