Hi,
I have heard by many that a unique quality of uPenn is the ability to take courses across all schools. But can’t you do that at other universities as well? For example, Duke and Northwestern have a similar policy.
Hi,
What you’ve said is true but UPenn does it uniquely. I’m not sure about Duke, but I know that Northwestern either 1) needs to give you special permission to take a class outside of your college; 2) requires at least 5 years of undergrad if you plan on getting a dual degree. This is the policy most schools have.
With UPenn, especially with CAS (College of Arts and Sciences), they allow you to take certain classes from other schools without special permission, and vice versa. I know someone who was at UPenn’s Wharton (business) but took psychology courses at CAS.
Another unique thing about CAS is that it allows you to pursue a second degree from CEAS (College of Engineering and Applied Sciences) without requiring a fifth year of undergrad. That’s something almost no other university offers.
Other schools offer similar opportunities but none are as extensive and integrated as Penn’s. As an undergrad at Penn you can take classes in both its undergraduate schools and its graduate and professional schools with great ease. For example, to take a class at the Law school at Northwestern you would have to leave the undergrad campus in Evanston and head into the heart of Chicago because the law school campus is not located anywhere near the undergrad schools. And as Duke states on it’s website: “On rare occasions, an advanced undergraduate may request enrollment in a professional school course.” (https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/academic-policies/grad-professional-courses). Whereas at Penn, the policy is: “Penn Law welcomes students enrolled in professional and graduate programs at Penn, upper-class undergraduates, and staff to take a class at the Law School.” (https://www.law.upenn.edu/registrar/for-current-university-students.php). It is a difference in both offering and orientation. The opportunity to study across schools and disciplines is thus more robustly supported and more readily available at Penn. Penn also has an extremely broad array of fully integrated dual degree programs that simply cannot exist at schools that do not have as many schools on one, compact, contiguous campus or that have not invested the resources necessary to create these programs. If you have more questions about studying across schools and disciplines, feel free to private message me. Good luck in your college search!
Wow thank you all! 