Class Standing

A student's class standing is determined by the number of course units the student has accumulated. In addition to course work taken at Penn, this includes A.P. credit, transfer credit from other institutions and credit issued for departmental examinations. Course work in progress is taken into consideration in determining a student's classification for Advance Registration for a future term.

For students in the College, the classification is as follows:

  • First-year: fewer than 8.0 c.u.
  • Sophomore: from 8.0 - 15.99 c.u.
  • Junior: from 16.0 - 23.99 c.u.
  • Senior: 24.0 c.u. or more.

Transfer students who have questions concerning their class standing should contact the Office of Admissions. Questions concerning the curriculum should be addressed to an academic advisor in the College Office.

Students may need an official letter from the College confirming their academic status, including whether they are full-time and in good academic standing. The College can prepare these letters at a student's request. Students should follow these instructions:

Email college@sas.upenn.edu with the phrase "Request for a full-time good standing letter" in the subject line. The student should provide an email address to which the letter should be sent (it can be sent back to the student or on to a third party). Unless otherwise requested, the letter will be in PDF format.

Those requesting such letters should allow for at least three business days for processing (and during peak periods of the semester even more).

Students must be enrolled in no fewer than 3 c.u. in order to request a letter attesting to their full-time status. If a student is on academic probation for the current semester, the College will not be able to certify "good standing" in this letter.