Hello. I’m a California resident attending a private high school in the San Diego area, and I’m planning to apply to all the UCs. I’m interested in majoring in economics or a related field (like business economics), but I’m also open to strategic alternatives such as math-econ or international studies if that would improve my chances of admission. My unweighted GPA is 3.7 and weighted GPA is 4.1. By the end of high school, I will have taken 7 AP classes (scored 4s and 5s on all exams) and 5 honors classes. I also took both macroeconomics and microeconomics at a local community college over the summer and earned a 4.0 in both. For extracurriculars, I’ve been involved in GeneLab for High School Students for two years, attended the UCLA Sci|Art summer program, participated in the Blue Ocean Competition with a startup idea, and have been running a finance/economics blog for over two years. Through that, I’ve written three research papers, with one being published. I’ve also had internship opportunities with real companies and received a letter of recommendation from a professional I worked with. In addition, I volunteer at a veterans hospital and participate in school clubs such as Global Issues Network and Physics Club. Since I want to make the most out of my stats, I’d really appreciate advice on which majors I should choose across the UC schools to maximize my chances of admission. Also can someone chance me? Thank you
If your actual desired major is more competitive for frosh admission, then it will be more difficult to change into later if you enroll in a different major or undeclared.
What is your actual desired major?
- Economics
- Economics with more math and statistics
- Business
For better chancing at UCs, recalculate your GPAs with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
Talk to your private hs counseling team.
Fortunately, Merced especially and Riverside have high admit rates. I’ll let others chance you but if kids meet the UC requirements, typically Merced will be relatively easy, especially with your stats.
Yes, pick the major you want. Don’t game the system. It can backfire. Major over school. There are lots of fine colleges out there - not just UCs.
Welcome to College Confidential and congratulations on being an overall competitive applicant. @ucbalumnus has linked the UC GPA calculator which calculates out the 3 UC GPA’s. Once you have your 3 GPA’s calculated, please repost.
Regarding major choice, I agree with @tsbna44 that you should select the major you are most interested in studying and also an alternate major since most campuses will consider your alternate major in the admissions process.
Not all campuses admit by major especially for Economics/Econ-related majors.
For UC Berkeley, Economics is in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major. You are admitted Undeclared and then need to take the required courses to declare your major. Exceptions are the High demand majors (Economics not currently on that list). Alternate majors are usually considered during the waitlist process.
UCLA’s and UCSB’s College of Letters and Sciences does not consider major choice for Freshman admissions. Economics/Business Economics are impacted so if admitted, you are placed into a pre-major and must meet course and GPA requirements before declaring the full major. UCLA does not consider alternate majors. UCSB will consider alternate majors.
UCSD admits into the University first and then into the major. They will also consider alternate majors during the admission process.
UCD, UCI, UCR and UCM admit by major and will consider alternate majors if listed. UCD occasionally considers alternate majors but the rest will always consider alternate majors if you do not meet the primary major threshold.
UCSC admits into a “proposed major” where you are required to take specific major course requirements before declaring. UCSC does consider alternate majors.
To maximize your chances of getting into UC:
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make sure you’ve followed the undergraduate admissions requirements posted on the UC general website.
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Make sure you’ve been working with your English teachers on your PIQ‘s.
Follow the directions and specific instructions when you apply. Do not send additional journals and research that they don’t have room for.
Don’t try and game the system. It’ll backfire. Pick a major or, if not, go in “undeclared”.
There are no guarantees that you will get in to the specific UC that you seek.
There are no guarantees that you will get into the major that you want.
You shoot your shot. Submit your application and wait and see.