Pilot Curriculum Electives Requirement

One of the most important aims of the Pilot Curriculum is to allow students to make full and creative use of their electives.

You will be asked to organize a well-articulated plan, with the help of your academic advisor, for the use of your electives during your sophomore year that will be revisited in your junior year. Some possible choices include:
  • Thematic clusters: Under the guidance of faculty mentors, you may create individualized clusters of four to six courses that are interdisciplinary and integrate perspectives from two or more areas. We encourage the inclusion of an undergraduate research or independent study course within the cluster.
  • Enhanced study abroad: The four or five courses taken abroad should be supplemented by additional advanced language courses taken upon completion of the term abroad. In the case of English language programs, students should take advanced courses in the history, society or culture of the host country.
  • Community-based research option: The application of knowledge toward the solution of community problems is a long-standing tradition at Penn. If you choose this option, you should complete three or four participatory action research courses supplemented by several courses that allow you to place your work in an appropriate historical, cultural or sociological context.
  • Thematic semester: A semester spent on a single related theme, such as the Washington semester, when supplemented by appropriate coursework, is another way to integrate electives into a creative and challenging program of study.

  • Dual majors/degrees/minors: Another way to organize electives in a coherent program of
    study is through a double major, a major and a minor, or a dual degree with another of Penn's undergraduate school.

You may only take 4 non-College electives. (Dual degree students are permitted to take up to 6 non-College electives.) You are permitted to take more than four; however, any additional courses that you take outside of the College in Wharton, Nursing, Engineering, Education or Fine Arts will not count towards graduation. Non-College courses counted towards your minor (technically a specialized group of electives), do count towards the limit. Non-College courses that count towards your major do not apply towards the limit.