<p>What is the Economics and accounting program like at UCSB? What is the job outlook?Experiences, etc..</p>
<p>Well, I’m in the old (no new admits) Business Economics major, which is somewhat similar, so I’ll try to give you some insight into Economics & Accounting.</p>
<p>Here’s the major sheet: <a href=“http://my.sa.ucsb.edu/Catalog/Current/Documents/Undergrad%20Major%20Sheets/Econ&Accounting-BA-2010.pdf[/url]”>http://my.sa.ucsb.edu/Catalog/Current/Documents/Undergrad%20Major%20Sheets/Econ&Accounting-BA-2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>I know those course numbers don’t mean a whole lot to you right now, so I’ll summarize the pre-major courses - basically the classes that determine whether you’ll even be able to graduate with a degree in that major. You have to get a 2.85 in Principles of Micro- and Macroeconomics, Introduction to Financial Accounting (two quarters), Intermediate Microeconomics, Statistics for Business Applications, and Calculus for the Life Sciences (two quarters - I call this series “dummy math,” having taken it myself). I know it’s getting more challenging to get in the major, as I’ve heard about ridiculous curves in Principles of Microeconomics and Intro to Financial Accounting that require that well less than 10% of students get an A in the course (something like 6%, but I haven’t taken the courses myself in a while).</p>
<p>I’d say that the Econ & Accounting students have a lot of support in terms of having access to organizations that connect them to job opportunities.</p>
<p>[University</a> of California, Santa Barbara - Accounting Association<a href=“This%20is%20a%20student-run%20club,%20and%20they%20promote%20a%20lot%20of%20interaction%20with%20Big%204%20firms.”>/url</a>
[url=<a href=“http://ucsbecon.com/]UCSB”>http://ucsbecon.com/]UCSB</a> Economics Career Connection<a href=“This%20is%20from%20the%20UCSB%20Econ%20department.”>/url</a></p>
<p>I don’t think we offer enough courses for people to take the CPA exam right after getting that degree - I think you’d have to take more than the required courses for the major, and then some. I don’t take many upper-division accounting courses, so I could be wrong.</p>
<p>CPA requirements: [url=<a href=“http://www.becker.com/accounting/cpaexamreview/california/index.cfm]California”>http://www.becker.com/accounting/cpaexamreview/california/index.cfm]California</a> - Becker CPA Exam Review](<a href=“http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~aawww/aaonline/]University”>http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~aawww/aaonline/)</p>
<p>As far as the job outlook, I’m sure it’s a hell of a lot better than most majors outside of the School of Engineering.</p>
<p>just a small warning though, the job outlook is pretty good, but you have to like accounting otherwise u won’t be so happy :P. i spent a year trying to convince myself that i liked accounting just because they got good career connections (joining the acct association, going thru the interview process thinking up answers that i thought sounded good to the “why accounting?” questions, taking acct classes that i thought were easy but never got good grades in them). i ended up dropping the accounting emphasis at the beginning of my senior year (ie. a few weeks ago) after realizing that it wasn’t my thing. but if you are interested in the accounting subject itself then it’s great : )!</p>
<p>From my personal experience, I don’t find that the “Economics and Accounting” major has expanded my career possibilities. If you are set and going to do accounting, then it’s great because UCSB really is an “accountant factory”. I find that it’s more about the connections you make during you’re undergrad experience, so make sure you get involved in business clubs/orgs there is Finance Connection, Latino Business Association, Student Entrepreneurs Association, and the Investment Club/Association. These orgs will expose you to internships and important members in the business community that will be more valuable than any “Economics and Accounting” major!!!</p>