transfer to berkeley Econ vs haas

Hello everyone!!

I need your help... I am a California Community College student trying to transfer to UCB. My goal is to become an investment banker at any point in my life and I don't know what major to transfer to. Haas would be the dream, but I know many 4.0 get rejected and the acceptance rate is about 6%... Econ is still a prestigious program but I don't know if many grads go into BB/MM/Boutiques. The only school I really want to go to is Berkeley so tbh I don't know if I should take the risk...

here are my stats:

3.94 GPA
Internship at a large engineering company (focused on finance)
Started an Investment club on campus
part of Berkeley tap and UCLA
Honors Program

I also have family connections to BB and MM banks but I have no idea how useful they can be.

Also do y'all know what IBs think of Berkeley Econ?

Thanks !

19 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Can you not apply to Haas and transfer to Econ if you don’t make it? Loads of bankers don’t have econ or business related degrees. I know several who studied psych.

Think more long term about what interests you. If you want to study econ study econ. If you want to study business then study business. Do what you like and you’ll enjoy it more.

If you do want to do Haas, I think it’s worth mentioning that GPA isn’t the only consideration. They will look as essays, experiences, and other factors. Your GPA is good enough imo. It’s the other stuff that will have to set you apart.

But seriously do what you want to do and you’ll figure it out as you go.

 

wow thanks for your response, it’s really helpful!!

and no, unfortunately I will not be able to try haas and if it doesn’t work out resort to econ. I am a community college student so it’s either try for haas and have a large chance of rejection or apply to econ and most likely get accepted!

i guess it’s a matter of risk vs reward but I’m not sure if the possibility of attending haas is worth risking berkeley.

I

!!

 

i also heard econ students are viewed as “haas rejects” both by employers and other students, so maybe that could harm BB and MM interest in econ major’s... nevertheless, maybe if i network hard i can get an offer hahahha

thanks for your help

 

Berkeley is a target school on the west coast. Whether you have a Business Degree or an Econ degree won’t change much from the employer’s perspective. Haas is great because of the on campus events it hosts, but from an application standpoint, it isn’t much more of a pulling factor than the Berkeley brand name itself. I know over 50 non-haas Berkeley majors (predominantly econ) who do IB at BBs or EBs.

if you think you have a better shot at Cal through Econ, go econ.

 

wow thank you so much !!! that gave me so much confidence in Econ :)

the only thing I’m worried about is being seen as a “haas reject” by employers and also not having the same opportunities haas kids have. But if you know over 50 ppl working in IB then my hope is restored!!!

once again, thank you for taking time to answer this :)

 
"Analyst 1 in IB - Ind"

Cal alum here. Did economics and ended up being just fine, along with many of my classmates.

congrats on the offer!!! and i’m so glad to hear that :)

did you find it a little more difficult to join IB as an econ student?

also, how hard is econ in comparison to haas?

thank you so much !! (now im leaning more toward econ)

 

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