ACADEMIC
OPPORTUNITIES
Penn provides a wide variety
of academic options to complement the courses of study outlined above.
Freshman Seminar Program
The Freshman Seminar Program
offers small classes designed to bring freshmen from all Schools of
the University into close contact with scholars and teachers representing
a broad range of disciplines. Each year, nearly one hundred seminars
are offered, assuring that a seminar is available to every freshman
who wants to take one. Enrollment is limited to twenty in each seminar,
so students can develop close intellectual relationships with the faculty
member and with other students in the class. The program sponsors offerings
in such traditional disciplines as English and history, as well as
in such interdisciplinary fields as health and archeology. Freshmen
receive a booklet describing all of the seminars before registration.
Preceptorials
Preceptorials are short, small,
non-credit seminars generated by students and led by some of the University’s
most distinguished faculty. The program is designed to foster student-faculty
interaction and learning for its own sake; to that end, there are no
grades or tests. Most Preceptorials meet three times over the course
of the semester, for 90 minutes per session, but some may last one
full day. There are no more than fifteen students in a Preceptorial,
and they are open to undergraduate students of any year or School.
There is no fee to participate, and all expenses, including food and
travel, are covered. Topics have ranged from an intensive study
of the groundbreaking Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education
to learning how to sail.
Accelerating Study
Advanced Placement and Transfer
Credit
The Office of Advanced Placement
reviews records for all college-level study completed before matriculation
at the University of Pennsylvania. Students who wish to receive credit
for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations
should request that the Educational Testing Service or International
Baccalaureate Organization forward their official score reports directly
to the Office of Advanced Placement. Credit is awarded for high achievement
based on recommendations from the appropriate academic departments.
International students who have
completed “13th year” secondary school programs abroad
should also contact this office concerning advanced placement and possible
credit for accelerated studies.
Students
who have undertaken coursework at an accredited college or university
prior to matriculating at Penn may transfer credit for those academically-based
courses that are similar in focus to the Penn curriculum. Credit is
awarded on the basis of official transcripts and course syllabi. All
requests for credit evaluation must be completed within one year after
the student matriculates. Further information on transfer of credits
is available online at www.college.upenn.edu/courses/ap.html.
