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General Information
Prospective Student Information

General Information

Economics is the study of how individuals, organizations, and societies deal with scarcity and the fact thatresources are not sufficient to satisfy everyone's wants. Because scarcity requires choice among alternative uses of resources, economists study both the technology by which resources are turned into the products people want and the preferences through which people choose among alternatives. Further, since society is composed of many individuals and groups, economists study markets, governments, and other institutions through which a society might gain the advantages of cooperation and resolve the conflicts due to competing goals. The economics curriculum develops tools and uses them to analyze a wide range of societal problems, and also to study the role of the government in solving these problems.

Economics is a different discipline from business administration. However, there are substantial overlaps. Both disciplines study the behavior of people and firms within the context of market, legal, and other institutions. In evaluating economic institutions, economists tend to emphasize the viewpoint of the larger society, and business scholars tend to emphasize the viewpoint of firms. A more complete discussion is available in the department Undergraduate Handbook, which contains a comparison between the economics major at UCSD and a business administration major at UC Berkeley.

Prospective Student Information

Undergraduate admissions are handled by the UCSD Office of Admissions and Outreach.

Recommended high school preparation:
Modern economics is mathematical, and calculus is a standard working tool. Students planning on pursuing an Economics or Management Science major are advised to take a demanding prorgam that will prepare them for college calculus.

Many community colleges offer courses equivalent to UCSD lower-division Economics (1 Microeconomics, 3 Macroeconomics, and 4 Financial Accounting) and Math courses (10A-B-C, 20A-B-C, 20F). Check www.assist.org, the official source for California articulation and student transfer information.