<p>I was talking to a person who went to Cal a few years ago. She said that she got 92% in Chem but got a C. She discouraged pre-med kids to come to Cal since it is very difficult to maintain a good GPA in science classes. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Wat 10char. . .</p>
<p>Yup, old news. Don’t come if you intend on doing pre-med. Same applies for Pre-Haas majors, since if you don’t get in, you may be stuck with the relatively useless Econ major.</p>
<p>Don’t come to Cal unless you are an engineering major.</p>
<p>And how exactly is an econ degree useless? I guess if you’re an IB drone and your whole world revolves around the prestige of your employer I could see your argument, but if you are somewhat mature and have proffesional goals that are derived from a passion and not insecurity there is plenty that can be achieved from an econ, poly sci, anthro degree. If you are pursuing one those degrees in hopes that a job will fall into your lap without any planning then you can say those degrees are worthless.</p>
<p>Being an econ major is great, but with the presence of a business school, it automatically becomes second-rate for top business/finance jobs.</p>
<p>I’ve taken a lot of chemistry classes and I’ve never heard of anything like that. In fact, I’ve hardly ever seen a 92% result in anything less than an A. </p>
<p>Classes are not easy here at all, but if you know the material, you are handsomely rewarded with extremely high grades. The people who do poorly are the people who just don’t know their stuff. If other schools are easier, it is not because Berkeley is hard, it is because those schools are easy. So if you want to get into med school by easing your way through a joke degree at a joke school, feel free to do so. But if you are a serious student, you can succeed as a premed here.</p>
<p>First of all saying something is relatively worthless is not the same as saying it’s second rate and secondly the argument can be made that there are a lot of recruiters that would prefer an applied math major to a business major for business careers. In fact there have been several studies that show this. So does that make business second rate? Good luck trying to get into a econ graduate program with a business degree. My point is that if you want to work in banking the business is the major for you, but there are plenty of other careers where a business degree is not preferred over an econ degree such as when applying for an actuary position. Even if an econ major were applying for a banking position, having real analysis, number theory, econometrics, and upper division stats look just as impressive as Haas on your r</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s not that hard to get into Haas if you’re semi-literate. </p>
<p>In fact, most Haas kids are not even impressive (I would say a good minority of them struggled through basic calculus). If you’re looking for people to rote memorize something, I guess we’re pretty impressive. But then again, what are computers for?</p>
<p>
False.</p>
<p>I can say this with confidence because I am a die hard Haaski doubling in math.</p>
<p>They are two completely different skill sets. </p>
<p>The math department tries to create graduates with high mental flexibility and a logical thought process. Haas tries to create graduates who know how to lead, work effectively in teams, and are socially resourceful. </p>
<p>I’m not saying those are mutually exclusive, but if you read the mission statement of each department and look at the graduates that come out of those majors, you’ll see for yourself that they embody very different priorities.</p>
<p>I agree with you that a business major would die in an analysis class.
I disagree with you that a math major would succeed in any business class.</p>
<p>The grading at Haas is very reflective of its priorities. If you have a small network, you will suffer since the curves will effectively make it as though the whole class is ganging up on you, as everyone has their own “leg up” on one another. Plus, on the whole, math people are soft. It’s kind of painful to watch them walk into interviews versus those raised and primed to confidently schmooze. Again, this is a generalization, but speaking about the average math student vs the average Haas student, I feel it’s a spot on observation. Feel free to disagree. Haters gna hate.</p>
<p>This is a bit off topic, but is Analysis/Number Theory required for an Econ major, or are those just optional courses that would nevertheless be useful?</p>
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<p>This is probably true. Fortunately for many STEM majors, they often don’t have to compete against too many business majors.</p>
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<p>The economics department [recommends</a> Math 1A, 1B, 53, 54, 104, and 110, and Statistics 134](<a href=“http://live.econ.berkeley.edu/grad/admissions/preparation]recommends”>http://live.econ.berkeley.edu/grad/admissions/preparation) for economics majors intending to go to graduate school in economics. Of course, such a student would choose Economics 101A, 101B, and 141 over 100A, 100B, and 140.</p>
<p>A graduate student in economics has more recommendations: <a href=“https://sites.google.com/site/markborgschulte/berkeleyclassesirecommend[/url]”>https://sites.google.com/site/markborgschulte/berkeleyclassesirecommend</a></p>
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the majority of econ majors taking these courses would like to pursue their graduate economics degree</p>
<p>Getting slightly closer to the OT, I’ve heard that UGBA classes have harsh curves: for example, one of my friends got 80% of the questions right on a test and it was curved to a D. Is this normal, or is the grade curved at the end of the class anyway?</p>
<p>Here is the Haas grading policy:
[Grading</a> Policy and FAQ’s, Undergraduate Program, Berkeley-Haas](<a href=“http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/grading_policy.html]Grading”>http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/grading_policy.html)</p>
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<p>that’s a bit dramatic. the only class that happens in is ugba 10… </p>
<p>the link ucbalumnus provided for the haas curve tell you about all you need to know.
it’s been implemented many different ways by many different professors to hit the mean gpa: heavy on the A’s and C’s; tighter, even dispersion around B/B+'s; some blend, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with what was stated above. The point I was trying to make is that not everyone wants to work on Wall Street and for someone to say that any major is inferior because it does not fit their career goals just shows how narrow minded they are.</p>
<p>Economics majors can still become Ibankers and consultants.</p>
<p>Wow new trolls on this site I see.</p>
<p>The Econ department at Berkeley is ridiculously amazing, I’m so glad I double majored in it. All the best professors I had in my 4 years were in my Econ electives. The only people who don’t realize how well respected the major is are pre-business freshmen. Rumor probably started by some wannabe investment banker who got rejected from Haas.</p>