By Ahna Kotila, Undergraduate Adviser
Starting Autumn quarter 2009, admission to the major in Economics will become competitive. These changes are due in part to the increase in the number of students in both the BA and BS majors. We are committed to ensuring that our students can have access to our upper-division courses and are able to graduate in a timely fashion.
The four prerequisites for the Bachelor of Arts degree remain the same: Students must have at least 45 college-level credits to apply, including ECON 200; ECON 201; STAT 311; and MATH 112, 124, 134 or 145 (MATH 124 preferred). As a reminder, Q METH 201 is no longer accepted as a statistics prerequisite if taken after Autumn 2008.
The prerequisite courses for the Bachelor of Science degree also remain the same: Students must have at least 45 college-level credits to apply, including ECON 200; ECON 201; STAT 311, STAT 341, or STAT 390; MATH 124, MATH 125, and MATH 126 (or MATH 134, MATH 135 and MATH 136).
Students taking coursework at the state's community colleges can look up the equivalencies for these courses on their own campuses on the Transfer Equivalency Guide.
To apply for either the BA or BS major, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA for all prior college work of 2.5, and a minimum GPA of 2.5 for coursework taken at UW. In addition, for the BA, the GPA for the four courses must be at least a 2.5 with a minimum of 2.0 in each of the four courses required for entrance. For the BS, the GPA for ECON 200, ECON 201, statistics, and MATH 124 must be at least a 2.5, with a minimum of 2.0 in each of the six courses required for entrance.
The Department also requires a one-page personal statement, typed and double-spaced responding to the following questions: What are your personal/educational goals, and how do you expect those goals to be met through an economics major? What background do you bring to the program? Describe any special circumstances that would contribute to your studies in the field.
The application deadline remains the same: the second Friday of each quarter (Autumn, Winter and Spring). Students are permitted to repeat each of the prerequisite courses once, and we will take into account the better of the two grades. Admission is competitive. Meeting the above criteria does not guarantee admission to the major.
Please make an appointment with an economics adviser for any questions regarding admission to the major prior to transferring to the UW. Applications, additional admissions information, and graduation requirements can be found at our website.
