The Survival Guide to Econ 10A at UCSB.
Anybody who wants to be an Economics major at UCSB must take the dreaded Economics 10A (Intermediate Microeconomics) course, which is known to be one of the hardest lower-division courses in the department. 10A is not a beast to take lightly. Less than 12% of students in the course will get an A- or higher, and most students (most of whom are transfers, especially during fall quarter) need a B in the course (given to less than 30% of students) in order to satisfy pre-major GPA requirements and get into the major. So, lo and behold, dear Gauchos, your competition is fierce. What then should you do? We have compiled a short list of tips to help you survive 10A.
1) PUT IN THE TIME, and take this class SERIOUSLY. MAKE THIS CLASS A NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. Remember, you will literally be competing with the rest of the people in this course to get one of those coveted A's and B's that the department gives so sparingly. Don't procrastinate and pretend like this is one of those classes that you can wait until the night before the final to crack open a textbook. Everybody else WANTS a good grade and will be gunning against you to do so. This is dog-eats-dog at its lower-division finest.
DO NOT wait until the last minute to study. Attempt the problem sets right when they're posted.
2) Practice the solution sets. Practice, practice, practice! Don't look at the answers before you do them. If you struggle and try out a problem set without looking at the answers, you'll have a much better grasp of the mental process needed to get the correct answer on the midterm/final. Econ 10A problem sets are not straight-forward, and they are not meant to be easy. It's easy to lie to yourself and think they are easy if you look at the answers first. The answers will not be there in front of you during an exam, so DO NOT allow yourself to get used to having the answers available to support you every time you attempt a problem set. Practicing without the answers first is a good habit to establish. You'll be thankful for this come exam time.
3) Get your math together. This might sound simple, but you'd be surprised at how many people do not take this seriously and instead skimp on basic derivative/algebra knowledge. Understand what the math is doing, and realize that sometimes the professor will sometimes throw in information in a problem set that is designed to trick you.
Know how to do partial derivatives and understand chain rule. Be able to read the problems out loud. If you see it just as words and not just symbols, you'll be way better off. Understand what the math is doing. If you don't know what a derivative is (the change with respect to the change of another variable) and what it looks like in different conditions on a graph, then obviously you're screwed. It's not just d's and x's. Know what the graphs actually MEAN, and don't skimp over them.
4) Practice the longer problems so you won't lose points for simple algebra. Math errors are a stupid way to lose points.
5) Understand the DEFINITIONS. Again, you'd be surprised at how many people do not take this seriously and confuse simple definitions with each other, leading to an absolutely terrible grade on the midterm (which, lo and behold, contributes to a terrible final grade). A great example of this is knowing the difference between Diminishing Marginal Utility and Marginal Rate of Substitution.
6) Get together a top-notch study group, and practice, practice, practice! Get old exams if you can. Ask friends if they know anyone with old problems that you can cherry-pick and study from. The more you expose yourself to the types of questions that will be asked on the midterm and final, the much better prepared you will be.
7) Get a tutor (and/or go to CLAS for additional practice if you need to!). If you need a B or higher in this course in order to get into the major, then obviously a tutor is well worth the investment. This is a course where a good tutor can help make or break the difference between a B and a C. Don't forget, other students in this class will be getting tutors as well, so you don't want to lose out on the competition.
Remember, 10A is not a course to be taken lightly. If you have any questions or comments that you want to ask us, please feel free to leave them on the page.
