An electronic worksheet and planning document are available through PATH@Penn.   It is a worksheet for keeping track of courses and requirements, and provides a convenient way to plan your academic program.  The entering year determines the specific  requirements (worksheet) to satisfy the BSE or BAS degree for each major.

Students who entered Penn prior to Fall 2020 will not be allowed to switch into the "Entered Fall 2020 or later" worksheet. There will be no exceptions.

The specific course requirements for the BSE and BAS majors are outlined on the electronic worksheets mentioned above. A dual-major or dual-degree candidate must satisfy the degree requirements for both programs.

Note that the SEAS Writing Requirement has been established for all SEAS students beginning with the Class of 2001.

In designing a curriculum, the student builds out a worksheet of planned courses (available on Path@Penn) in consultation with their advisor. The completed worksheet shows the courses which have been elected and indicate how the required and elective courses will be taken semester by semester. In this process, the student should keep in mind that each course unit requires a total effort of eight to twelve hours per week for class, laboratory, research and study. The first planning worksheet is prepared during the first semester of the freshman year and modified as interests change throughout the student's career.

Beginning with the Class of 2017 (those entering in Fall 2013), Penn Engineering students must fulfill the Engineering Ethics requirement. The Ethics Requirement will not necessitate the completion of any additional course units in the existing BAS or the BSE degrees, as the requirement may be double-counted from the student's SS/H/TBS course requirements. This requirement may be taken P/F so long as it fulfills SS/H/TBS/Free Elective.

The Engineering Ethics requirement can be satisfied by taking EAS 2030 Engineering Ethics - an approved social science course. Students are strongly encouraged to take the Ethics Requirement course during the sophomore year.

Notes:

1. BE and ASBS students should refer to their curricula for a list of approved courses.
2. CMPE majors should refer to their curriculum for a list of approved courses.
3. VIPER students may use VIPR 1200/1210 to satisfy the Engineering Ethics Requirement in any major.
   • Starting Spring 2019 and later VIPER students who drop to single degree may fulfill the ethics requirement with VIPR 1200/1210.  VIPR 1200/1210 cannot be used in the social science and humanities category.
4. CIS 4230/5230 Ethical Algorithm Design can fulfill the engineering ethics requirement for ASCS, BE, CMPE, CSCI, DMD and NETS students only.

An integral part of an undergraduate engineering education involves exposure to the study of the broader contexts within which technology and engineering practice operates. The Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) requirements engage engineering undergraduates in course work that will provide this broad exposure. This includes an extensive array of study areas offered by Penn's outstanding liberal arts community of scholars, and provides the student with structured opportunities to understand such topics as: Human behavior; civil society; geopolitical phenomena; the creative, artistic, linguistic, philosophical, and symbolic cultural endeavors throughout human history; social, economic, and political conflict; and challenges surrounding global health, poverty, and the inner city.

In the SSH category, a student should choose courses of personal interest which will provide in-depth study (2 or more courses) of at least one subject and which will include several subjects so that reasonably broad insight is achieved in the social and behavioral sciences and in the humanities. Because of the importance of good communication skills to success in all endeavors, each student should seek to enhance these skills by the choice of SSH courses.

For the purposes of planning your Social Science and Humanities courses (SSH), a humanities course or social science course is one within the broad areas of the humanities (including foreign languages) or the social sciences. This definition encompasses such fields of study as (in the humanities) history, English, philosophy, foreign languages, classics, history of art, and (in the social sciences) sociology, psychology, economics, and political science. Your SSH course work must provide both breadth and depth and not be limited to a selection of unrelated introductory courses. Unacceptable for SSH credit are courses that are not about either humanities or social science; for example, courses in the business discipline, military science, any course that is primarily a study of mathematics or a physical science or any course designed primarily to impart skills --- such as written or oral communication or computer usage.

The writing courses (WRIT) are categorized as humanities, social science, or free elective based on the department in which the course in offered.

Students interested in the relationships between technology, business and society may choose to substitute up to two of social science and humanities courses with approved courses from the Technology in Business and Society course category.

Beginning with the Class of 2001, Penn Engineering has implemented a Writing Requirement. The Writing Requirement will not necessitate the completion of additional course units. Students can easily satisfy the requirement without altering the existing constraints of BAS or the BSE degrees.

Students are strongly encouraged to fulfill the Writing Requirement during the first year of study (and no later than the second year) because it becomes increasingly difficult to schedule first-year courses as one moves through the curriculum.

The Writing Requirement differs somewhat between each of the four undergraduate schools at Penn. For Penn Engineering students, the requirement can be satisfied by taking a critical writing seminar:

• Any WRIT course may be used to fulfill this requirement and is included in the 7 CU General Elective requirement, unless the course is designated as a Free Elective. The WRIT courses are categorized as either humanities, or social science, or technology, business, and society (TBS), and free elective depending on the department in which they are taught. Writing course descriptions and information about The Critical Writing Program are available on-line here.

Note:  Students may not use A.P. credit to satisfy the writing requirement. Courses used to satisfy the writing requirement may be taken pass/fail. The request for grade type must be made to the School Registrar at registrar@seas.upenn.edu no later than the end of the drop period. Dual degree students must take the writing requirement for a grade.