UCLA Biz Econ
Senior, class of 2025. It's rough out there. Rejected or waitlisted from every uni I applied to except UCLA, 1560 SAT, 4.0 GPA, most rigorous STEM courses, 8 APs, 4 years varsity sports, part time job all through high school, other ECs, volunteering, from the top school in my state. Accepted into UCLA pre-business econ. Based on the previous posts here that UCLA is complete garbage, maybe I should probably just go to my state school vs UCLA and save my parents the money for an OOS school (they are ok with tuition though). My biggest concern is getting internships and an eventual good job (I realize I have to work hard, network, join clubs, etc). I would love to hear from Business Economics majors who would recommend this major at UCLA. Wondering if I should try and completely switch majors at UCLA or go to my state school. Thank you for any advice!!
Hey charlottey, I'm here to break the silence...any of these links help you?:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
Thanks bot - I have read most of these posts. Many compare schools, but I have nothing to compare to since UCLA is my only option for undergraduate at this point in addition to my (very mediocre) state school. Older posts (like the first one) seem to be more positive toward UCLA Biz Econ but the last couple of years I don't think I've seen a positive post and many posts about how bad UCLA is for IB. Just freaking out that it sounds nearly impossible to get internships / recruited out of undergrad unless you're maybe 1/1000 or win the lottery and get into an IB club that accept like 3 people. So I'm still unsure if it's worth going out of state for UCLA, but I really don't want to go to my state school...
One post was just from a couple of days ago that so far has no negative comments comparing it to UWM ( a better school than my state school) so I guess that's good.
Not sure who told you UCLA is a bad school? I'm pretty sure it's the #1 ranked public university in the US and although it isnt a super finance school, anyone who goes there has a great shot at getting into banking if they network and work hard. I have a few friends at UCLA and they loved the campus and the people there, i think keep an open mind and you just might enjoy it!
West coast placements are great
I don’t know who told you it’s a garbage school. If you are American and work kind of hard, you can land a really solid offer in west coast easily.
There is a banking workshop called UBS banking workshop; pretty much 100% banking offers for anyone in the workshop. Only 70ish people applied to be considered. 20ish people got it. Also, everyone can apply, so out of these 70ish people, probably only like 40 are serious. People who are not in the workshop also got solid offer. I personally know couple people got BB/EB in NYC who are not in the workshop.
One family we know in LA said "everyone" they knew who went to UCLA was unemployed or underemployed. But, it was more like reading countless posts like "back to make fun of UCLA the worst top college there is" on this forum and others on Reddit.
As far as school environment goes - I love the west coast, the UCLA campus, the food, the people, I even spent a summer on campus earlier in high school for pre-college prep. I love UCLA! It's just worrisome to read so many posts such as the above about UCLA grads failing to land internships and jobs. At the end of the day, I know I'll love UCLA and I know I will have to hustle and network a lot right away so that I can maximize my opportunities.
Quant - this is great info, I have read about the banking workshop. Looks seriously fantastic, thank you!!
You’re welcome. Yeah I kind of understand why people say they can’t find jobs. A lot of people don’t work hard at all. If you work kind of hard, you are fine.
Regard to the biz Econ major, some majors at UCLA is kind of easy such as biz Econ, which is fine with a lot of finance people who want to spend the time to network. But if you want to learn stuffs, math/Econ and other STEM major is really rigorous. UCLA is a target school for tech. So it’s up to you to find the balance.
People have gone to KKR, GS TMT and Qatalyst.... not sure it’s ‘garbage.’ It’s a top public school
I appreciate this, and all of the positive comments here. I was alarmed at the negative posts on here and Reddit about UCLA and Biz Econ specifically. Just one comment of hundreds on Reddit "I'd say that as far as degrees go 'Biz/Econ' is pretty worthless. Every Biz/Econ major I've asked told me they don't learn anything of use." It seems like the negative comments outweigh the positives, but this is the internet after all. I wonder if Math/Applied Science would be a better major, since UCLA is known for its math program.
Happy to chat via DM if you’d like. I did Bus Econ > BB IB > PE > MBA and thought the major was pretty good prep for the career track
Thank you for the offer, I'll DM you!
I did biz econ at UCLA and thought it was fine. A lot of west coast banks view UCLA as a solid target so you still have good opportunities. And I don't think biz econ as a major itself is too hard so if you're a decent student, so you can maintain a really good GPA even while networking and doing other things, which will also boost your resume a bit. I actually didn't do any of the banking workshops or the main finance clubs but still got into an EB and PE afterward. I'm sure if you're proactive and get into those clubs early, it'll be no problem for you. Happy to DM you if you have any specific questions.
This is so reassuring to hear all of these success stories from biz econ! I attend the hardest school in my state with the most rigorous courseload and have maintained a 4.0 all through HS, played sports, worked, and volunteered a lot. This is great news and makes me a lot more excited about UCLA. I was wondering how I was going to keep up with school and networking/clubs/groups. My takeaway is that if I'm proactive early on that I'll be ok and be employed after graduation. Thanks so much for the feedback.
When did this site become College Confidential lol
Pretty sure there was a pretty good post here a while back about which clubs to join / internships to seek to get the BB offer by senior year
Take this with a grain of salt as I didn't attend UCLA. I work in a top west coast tech IB group and see UCLA grads at a lot of the top groups out here - as mentioned above, GS TMT, Qatalyst and I'll add places like Evercore and Centerview. Maybe you'll have a tougher time than a Stanford or Wharton but solid school with opportunities if you're willing to put in the work and time.
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