UCLA Econ VS UC Berkeley Econ

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

I was recently just admitted to UCLA today in a very late June as a CC transfer after I had already SIR’d and submitted documents to Berkeley. I applied to Berkeley for Economics and plan to switch to Statistics/Economics as I have most of the prereq requirements done before I attend. I was admitted to UCLA for Biz Econ. This is a personal conundrum of mine because I had waited a long time for UCLA since high school for Biz Econ as it was my first choice but doubt my choice as individuals say UCB is the much better school. I really enjoy Economics/Stats personally after taking AP Stats/Micro/Macro in high school! Some help would be appreciated as I know nothing about the Economics Program at both schools, the campus themselves and employment opportunities. I’m not familiar with either school as I do not live near either but have visited both campuses more in favor of UCLA’s campus. I have taken both quarter and semester classes so it doesn’t make much difference between the two schools coursework.I also was offered about the same financial aid for both schools. This has been a very daunting issue for me as I did not think I would have to consider both schools as this point in time. I really enjoy UCLA’s atmosphere, but fear I will make a bad decision if I choose UCLA over UCB. Some personal questions that I have are:
-Is UCB really regarded as a harder school than UCLA?
-Would Economics be a good major to continue pursuing? My goal is not graduate school and I only ask this due to doubts that some individuals say that HAAS and Biz/Econ are better than Economics/Pre-Econ and pursuing Business will be a better option than Econ.
-UCB has more opportunities since it has more established network opportunities than UCLA, is this true?

  • Which one has the better Economics program, employment opportunities, academics?
    Anything you like/dislike about both schools would be refreshing to hear, too! Thank you!
2

What kind of job do you envision for yourself after you graduate with your degree?

3

Congrats!
their reputations are comparable so, i wouldn’t worry about which is ‘better’. I would tend to stick with UCB because you’ve already made arrangements to attend. Getting housing and classes at LA will be a firedrill in an already busy summer.

4

UCB is higher-ranked, it’s at the very top depending on which ranking you are looking at. But UCLA is way up there too, so both schools are good.

At this point, I wouldn’t consider switching IMO. You’ll probably get leftover housing and as mentioned above you might be scrambling for a bunch of other things.

5

If you are interested in a more math-heavy treatment of economics (as suggested by wanting to major in statistics as well), you can attend UCB and choose the Economics 101A, 101B, 141 courses instead of the 100A, 100B, 140 courses. UCB also has additional math-heavy economics electives like C103, 104, 138, 139.
http://guide.berkeley.edu/courses/econ/

UCLA does not have a more-math version of intermediate economics and econometrics, but does have some additional math-heavy economics electives like 140, 141. It also has a math economics major that adds more math courses.
https://www.registrar.ucla.edu/Academics/Course-Descriptions/Course-Details?SA=ECON&funsel=3