Majors and Minors

Source: https://admissions.upenn.edu/academics/exploring-academics/majors-minors Parent: https://admissions.upenn.edu/academics/exploring-academics

At Penn, we believe that students benefit from seeing the world through a variety of perspectives and charting a course that matches their unique academic and career goals.

You’ll choose an undergraduate school during the application process, and once in that program, with plenty of help from faculty and peers along the way, you’ll pursue a combination of requirements, elective courses and eventually a major or concentration that allows you to integrate courses, ideas, and research across Penn’s undergraduate and graduate schools.

Choosing A Major

We encourage students to begin with what interests them and see where it takes them. You’ll be exposed to so many new ideas and options once at Penn that we’ve stopped asking applicants to indicate an intended major during the application process for most programs. The one exception is Penn Engineering because students declare their majors at the end of the first year, so understanding your intended major is still helpful to the admissions committee.

[## School of Engineering

Students in Penn Engineering must declare a major by the end of their first year and are asked to indicate a major on their application.

Learn More](https://ugrad.seas.upenn.edu/student-handbook/programs-options/majors/)

[## College of Arts and Sciences

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences will not select a major until the end of their sophomore year, allowing additional time for exploration across disciplines.

Learn More](https://www.college.upenn.edu/majors)

[## School of Nursing

Penn Nursing students do not select from traditional majors, but have the opportunity to take coursework that allows for exposure to different areas of expertise en route to earning the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Learn More](https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/academics/)

[## The Wharton School

Instead of majors, Wharton students choose one or two concentrations, typically comprised of four courses, as they pursue the Bachelor of Science in Economics.

Learn More](https://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/concentrations/)