Prospective Majors

Incoming Transfer Students

Congratulations on your Admission to UC Berkeley!

As a transfer student interested in the Economics Major, there are some important guidelines you should be aware of before you decide which school to attend and which classes to register for. Most importantly is that you are not officially admitted to the economics major yet; you must apply to the major during your first semester on the Berkeley campus. This means completing the prerequisite courses and enrolling in any remaining ones immediately.

What are the prerequisites for the Economics Major?

There are five prerequisite courses for the Economics Major. All five classes (or their equivalent) must be completed prior to acceptance to the major and all must be taken for a letter grade. You should check your community college courses on assist.org to ensure that they will fulfill these requirements.

At least one math or stat prerequisite course must be taken at UC Berkeley. For transfer students, this is typically the statistics course. The prerequisite intermediate theory course must be taken at UC Berkeley.

If you do not already have completed a year of calculus and the introduction to economics courses, you must take these courses prior to starting at Berkeley, otherwise you risk not being admitted to the Economics Major.

What do I need to do in my first semester at Berkeley?

All new transfer students are required to apply to the Economics Major their first semester. This means that you must complete or be enrolled in all of the prerequisites during your first term, and fill out the application form before the end of the fourth week of class. The application deadline for Spring Semester is February 12, 2010 at 4pm. For most transfer students, this means enrolling in Statistics 20, 21, 25, or an upper division statistics course, as well as enrolling in Economics 100A, 101A or 100B. You will fill the remainder of your schedule with courses to fulfill graduation requirements, start progress on a minor, or courses for a backup major.

When you come to campus for Student Orientation in October, you will get an opportunity to meet with advisors from the Economics Department to hear more about the graduation requirements and opportunities available to economics majors. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact us at ugrad@econ.berkeley.edu.