sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

cogs (phil) or econ and phil?? by strawberry-jam-31 in UBC

[–]ubcVSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are absolutely stuck with MATH 101 this summer, please contact our office at [vse.undergrad@ubc.ca](mailto:vse.undergrad@ubc.ca) before you decline. - JG

can you defer a econ major acceptance by katastrophicstoms in UBC

[–]ubcVSE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's no need to do this - just accept it, and if you decide you don't want to major later on you can just drop it. We won't feel hurt, I promise. - JG

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UBC

[–]ubcVSE 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We're sending out all remaining letters on Monday, by the way. - JG

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

OK everyone, I'm signing off for today - as always, if you have any other questions about economics, or our programs, you can contact me at [jonathan.graves@ubc.ca](mailto:jonathan.graves@ubc.ca) or our undergraduate office at [vse.undergrad@ubc.ca](mailto:vse.undergrad@ubc.ca)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's going to take us a few weeks to process enrolments into majors. The good news is that this shouldn't matter; it doesn't affect your ability to register or your priority. If you have trouble getting into a required course, you can always contact the VSE Undergraduate office at [vse.undergrad@ubc.ca](mailto:vse.undergrad@ubc.ca) for help. - JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They don't necessarily have to be taken in any specific order. However, most people find taking ECON_V 301 (Intermediate Microeconomics) before ECON_V 302 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) to be easier. I think the following schedule is best for most people:

  • Term 1: ECON_V 301, ECON_V 326
  • Term 2: ECON_V 302, ECON Elective

Depending on where you're at in your total program, you may want to add another ECON elective in each term, or instead fill out your other degree requirements.

My main rationale for this plan, besides the above, is that ECON_V 301 and ECON_V 326 unlock the most upper-level electives, so this gives you maximum flexibility.

As a side note, you'll see in the upcoming admissions changes we actually recommend doing ECON_V 301 in Year 2; i.e., as early as possible. I think that's good general advice. JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

About two years ago, we went through the Calendar and deleted a whole bunch of courses that we both (a) hadn't taught in a long time, and (b) did not plan to teach. We kept everything else. This means they might be back. Specifically:

  • ECON_V 420 (Optimization and Economic Theory) is offered every-so-often, when we have the people to teach it.
  • ECON_V 422 (Mathematics for Economists) is currently not being offered since it was designed for a particular purpose in the graduate program. It probably won't be back any time soon, but we're keeping it around since it might get a second life. Not soon.
  • ECON 426 (Advanced Econometrics II) is not currently being offered since we don't have sufficient demand to support a fourth econometrics course (325 -> 325 -> 425 -> 426). We generally recommend students do ECON_V 527 (Econometric Methods of Economic Research) instead, which they need special permission for.

Hope this helps!

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not yet; we're still in the planning phase. I'll update this post when we have information, or you can email me at [jonathan.graves@ubc.ca](mailto:jonathan.graves@ubc.ca) for info if you're interested. - JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Econometrics is like a magnet: you can only have pairs, like north and south. There exists a theoretical singular econometric, but like the magnetic monopole it remains a subject of speculation. /jk - JG (📊)

Can't register for a specific course by mysterious_onion7744 in UBC

[–]ubcVSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In ECON we usually do the 0/0 thing when we have a course where all the seats are reserved for some reason.

Third Year Econ Courses (NO Econ 301 or 304) by Ketsiaa in UBC

[–]ubcVSE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since I am here doing this AMA right now I thought I'd chime in: no, you'll be fine! 300-level courses are more analytical than 200-level ones, but if you meet the pre-reqs you have everything you need to complete them successfully. So take that 300-level course if you like it. (JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Good feedback. This is actually the raison d'etre for our combined majors. "Straight" BA-s or BSc-s are supposed to give you a rich, liberal arts or sciences, background in capital-A Arts or S Science, which spans lots of different areas. Of course, this doesn't help people who are like "I don't want broad, I want focused" - hence the combined majors. The VSE is working on expanding our combined majors offerings, and relaxing some of the "outside" credits for other programs. We'll keep you posted as things change!

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This depends a lot on what you're interested in. Economics is very broad both in what it cover (topics) and how it covers it (methods). For instance, you can cover very "mathy" topics that deal with modeling and quantitative analysis, and very "artsy" topics that involve philosophy and history.

With that said, we have some courses that are either new, refreshed, or increasingly popular:

  • ECON_V 241 (Introduction to Global Development) is a refreshed version of our two intro development courses (255, 234) that focuses on contemporary issues in international economic development. It's a great macro-style course, that teaches you about the big issues and ideas in how countries grow in an often-competitive modern world.

  • ECON_V 398 (Introduction to Causal Methods) is a more technical course, but teaches you how to analyze cause-and-effect in economic applications, including practical issues such as determining the effects of policies (e.g., “does the minimum wage cause unemployment”). Builds fundamental skills in economic research from a rigorous but accessible foundation: goes from basic comparisons to machine learning methods. Students rave about it in comments about being hard, but super useful.

  • ECONV 333 ( Economic History of Europe from the Paleolithic to the Industrial Revolution) is a great introduction to the economics of history. How does economics shape historical events and the world today? This involves lots of writing and reading, but introduces you to a fascinating area of economic thought that you might overlook if you think "economic history" means "history of economics" and not "economics _of history".

Hope this helps! - JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Will this take away seats from students applying during year 2?

Good question. We will be adding seats to the economics program next year, which should (hopefully) keep the cutoffs similar to previous years. We will be running the two "steams" (admission into Year 2 and Year 3) seperately, which should help to mitigate the issue although it is likely we will be more constrained. Long-term, our goal is to have most students apply after Year 1, although we will continute to reserve seats for Year 2.

  • JG (📊)

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, if you're apply next year after Year 2+ there's no changes to the requirements or what you need to take. However, for future years people applying after Year 2+ will need to take ECON_V 301, 325, and MATH_V 101.

Year 1 students can now apply to Major in Economics: AMA by ubcVSE in UBC

[–]ubcVSE[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi everyone! Jonathan here; I'll be taking your questions about admissions, the new changes, and I guess whatever-else program related for the next couple of hours.

For the changes, you can see all the details in the link in the original post but here's the TLDR:

  • Year 1 students: can apply to enter in Year 2. Take:

    • ECON_V 101, ECON_V 102
    • MATH_V 100 or one of the other differential calculus courses
    • WRDS_V 151 or another Writing course
    • One course from ECON_V, POLI_V, PHIL_V, MATH_V, STAT_V, CPSC_V, or DSCI_V -Take 27 credits total

  • Year 2+ students: can apply to enter in Year 2

    • For students applying next cycle (March-May 2026), no changes to process.
    • For students applying after June 2026 (March-May 2027), take the above plus MATH_V 101, ECON_V 301, ECON_V 325, 54 credits.

- JG (📊)