Undergraduate Advising

The Economics Department advising office provides advising services Monday through Friday. 

In-person advising: Make an in-person advising appointment via Navigate Slug Success. Arrive on time with student ID. In-person drop-in advising is not available.

Virtual advising: Speak with an advisor virtually by using the advising calendar to make an appointment or find a time to drop in. Virtual advising is also available through email and phone. 

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Meet the advising team

Undergraduate advisors provide academic advising, including determining acceptance of transfer courses, satisfaction of major requirements, and determining honors in the major. For virtual advising, email econ_ugrad_coor@ucsc.edu. 

Field study coordinator is responsible for field study orientations and applications, program information, and enrollment in ECON 193/193F. Advising is by appointment only. Email econintern@ucsc.edu.

Program directors connect students with independent research and senior thesis opportunities, provide graduate school preparation advice, and match courses with personal and career interests. Carlos Dobkin is the program director for the economics, global economics, and business management economics programs, and Kevin Jones is the program director for the accounting path. 

Peer advisors are current students who are trained to assist other students with individualized course plans, general questions about majors and courses, major declaration assistance, and study abroad department approval forms. For virtual advising, email econpeer@ucsc.edu or use the Google Calendar to schedule a virtual drop-in. 

Meet your peer advisors

Name / Major

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Declaring an Economics major

You must attend a major declaration advising session to declare. If you cannot attend a workshop, you must meet with a peer advisor first before obtaining signatures from an advisor. Provide your unofficial transcript with major qualification courses completed. Not providing grades can delay approval by up to 48 hours.

Declaration session dates and times

First-years may declare as soon as they are eligible, or any time before the end of their sophomore year. Junior transfers may declare any time before the end of their second quarter of enrollment.

Declaration appeal process

Students who do not meet the major qualification requirements may appeal admission into the major by submitting a letter to the Economics Department no later than the first quarter of their junior year. Email unofficial transcripts and the appeal letter to econ_ugrad_coor@ucsc.edu. We recommend meeting with an economics advisor to learn more about the appeal process. An economics minor is also an option for students who cannot declare an ECON major.

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Declaring an economics minor

Students interested in declaring the Economics minor must first declare a single major before petitioning for the minor. An updated academic planning form must be on file with the required minor courses. A minor is not a requirement to graduate. A completed minor is posted to a student’s transcript, but not to their diploma. Students need to add the minor before applying to graduate.

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Sample academic plans and checklists

Please note that, while all economics, business management economics, and environmental studies/economics majors have the flexibility to take our full series of accounting elective courses in preparation for the CPA exam, only students in the Business Management Economics B.A. with Accounting Concentration program will have an accounting focus designated on their transcripts. 

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Course substitutions and transfer credits

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Senior thesis and independent study

A senior thesis is not required for graduation, but is highly recommended for students interested in applying to Ph.D. programs in economics. To enroll in ECON 195 or ECON 199, a student must first consult with a faculty advisor and fill out the required petition form. The form can then be sent to department advisors at econ_ugrad_coor@ucsc.edu for signature and review, after which the student will receive instructions on how to enroll in ECON 195 or ECON 199. The main difference between the two courses is the length of the required paper. ECON 195 generally requires 50 pages, while ECON 199 requires around 25 pages. The Economics Department keeps a copy of the senior thesis on file for reference.

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Course policies and enrollment

Letter grades and pass/no pass grading policy

All classes included for major qualification determination (ECON 1, ECON 2, and first calculus course) should be taken for a letter grade. Economics allows any other courses among the major requirements to be taken pass/no pass. However, we highly recommend no more than two in the major be taken as P/NP, because graduate schools prefer to see letter grades in most major-related coursework. Additionally, it is not recommended to take ECON 100A, 100B, or 113 as P/NP, and per UC Santa Cruz policy, no more than 25% of all classes can be taken as P/NP. An incomplete grade is not considered passing and will not work as a prerequisite.

Enrolling in classes during first-pass

All students are given two-pass enrollment appointments. Your class level determines how many units you will be able to enroll in during your first pass enrollment. All students will be able to enroll in up to 19 units and waitlist 14 units during their second pass enrollment. Please look at your enrollment appointment in your portal for details. For more information, please visit the Office of the Registrar’s page on enrollment or the enrollment FAQs.

Waitlisting and full courses

If a course is full, make sure you have added yourself to the waitlist during second pass enrollment. Refer to the enrollment FAQs if you have trouble with enrollment. We recommend attending the waitlisted course for the first two weeks of the quarter as the instructor might allow you to enroll if there is attrition.

Calculus series requirement

If you are pursuing the ECON/MATH combined major, then you should take Math 19A, Math 19B, and Math 22 or Math 23A and Math 23B. If you are pursuing a single major in any of our other majors, we recommend you take AM 11A and AM 11B.

Support resources

It is not unusual to find yourself falling behind in a class. It’s important to seek help as soon as possible. Attend all lectures and secondary sections. Visit the professor’s and teaching assistant’s (TA) office hours. View all academic support resources, and find tutoring through Learning Support Services and TutorHub. If you need counseling, contact Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) and Slug Support.

Graduation and outward transfer information

Graduation checks

All majors within the Economics Department can do a graduation check. Please log into your MyUCSC student portal, click on the degree progress report button. If you still have questions after reviewing your courses and the degree progress report, you may see an undergraduate adviser.

Extending your Expected Graduation Term (EGT)

Your college adviser will need to approve your request to stay beyond 12 quarters. You will be required to provide evidence for your request to extend enrollment. You can do this by meeting with an ECON adviser to adjust and sign your academic planning form. Then reach out to your college for approval.

Transferring out of UCSC

If you are planning to transfer to another UC, we recommend reviewing the UC Admissions website and UC to UC transfer. If you are planning to transfer to a CSU and are considered an upper-division student, review CSU’s website about upper-division transfer students. Our office cannot determine whether or not courses at UCSC will satisfy major and/or other graduation requirements at another institution.

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Post-graduation opportunities