Information for Incoming Admitted Students

Welcome to the Post-Bac program! This page contains information to help ease your entry into Penn.

The program you are entering can do great things for you, but you'll find pretty quickly that by far the most important actor in your upcoming year of study is you. Successful Post-Bacs (as well as successful graduate students and scholars) are self-starters by nature.

You'll want to get a few things in order before you arrive, of course. Within a few days after you have accepted your offer of admission and submitted your intent to enroll, you will be in the system here at Penn and will be able to start establishing your electronic profile at the university.

Getting your PennKey

This should be your first step in getting yourself set up at Penn. All LPS students are required to obtain a PennKey. A PennKey is required to authenticate, or verify, an individual's identity and to access many of Penn's networked computer systems and services. Authorized users need a PennKey and password to access such resources as Penn InTouch, Blackboard, certain library resources, and public campus computers. A PennKey is also required to obtain a Penn email account.  New students will receive a letter with information on how to create a PennKey within a few days of their admission to LPS. The following web site provides more information about PennKeys: http://www.upenn.edu/computing/pennkey/.

Getting your Penn electronic ID and email

All students enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania are required to have a valid email address on record, as this is one of the primary ways the University and your instructor will communicate with you.  A Penn email address and Penn Live email account are available free of charge. Instructions on how to create and use a Penn email address are available through the SAS Computing at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/help/Email/.

Post-Bac Blackboard site

Once you have your PennKey and have entered your email address in the Penn online directory (http://www.upenn.edu/directories/ ), you will be enrolled in the program’s Blackboard website, accessible through https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/. There you and other incoming Post-Bacs will be able to see the calendar of events, access a number of online resources, and participate in discussion boards.

Registering for courses

Since all Post-Bac students are required to take placement tests on the day before classes begin in the fall, it is not necessary for you to register for courses before arriving on campus. If, for financial aid purposes, you must register for courses, you may register for the Post-Bac seminars in Greek (CLST 402) and Latin (CLST 403), both offered through LPS. If, as is occasionally the case, one or the other of these courses is not appropriate for your level of language preparation, we will determine this during the first week of classes and adjust your enrollment at that time. Incoming Post-Bac students planning on taking summer courses can register without making a separate application for LPS’s summer programs. Course Registers and Timetables are on the registrar’s website, http://www.upenn.edu/registrar/.

Penn InTouch (PIT) provides secure access via the Internet to online course registration, class schedules, academic records, future academic planning, billing, financial aid application status and awards, address corrections and updates, and student health information. A PennKey is required to access Penn InTouch at https://sentry.isc.upenn.edu/intouch/.

Finding a place to live

Unlike some university towns, West Philadelphia is not an impossibly difficult real estate market. Your first and best resource for information on housing is the Office of Off-Campus Living. Students wishing to live on campus should contact the office of Housing and Conference Services.

Finding a part-time job

Many Post-Bac students pick up some form of part-time employment during their time with us in order to help make ends meet. Although our tuition is comparatively low, we realize that our students are mindful about assuming debt (or further debt) before embarking on their next stage of graduate education. We recommend that students plan to work no more than 20 hours per week; the Post-Bac program should be considered your full-time job. A good start in looking for employment at Penn is the Student Employment Office, but most students who find part-time work secure a job after their arrival on campus.

Getting health insurance

Post-Bac students are NOT granted health insurance as part of their tuition and fees costs unless they are registered for four or more course units per semester. This means you'll need to arrange for your own insurance. Post-Bacs in the past have done this in several ways. The most popular avenue is to go through a private HMO or insurer, or (depending on your tax status) register as a "dependent" on a parent's plan. Though Post-Bac students do not receive the university's student insurance plan as part of their tuition, they are eligible to enroll for a fee, and some find it to be preferable to a private insurer (though usually it is more expensive). More information on costs and benefits of Penn's student insurance plan can be found on the Student Health Services web site. Please note: Students who are registered for four or more course units will automatically be charged a clinical fee which entitles them to use of the University's Student Health Services. They will also be automatically enrolled in and billed for the University's student health insurance plan, unless they complete a waiver showing proof of alternate coverage. See the Student Health Services website for more information.

Getting ready academically

We recommend that students work their way through whatever introductory textbooks they used to learn the languages in their first year of study. Five to ten weeks of preparatory exercise will be time well-spent to get the most out of our program.

Planning for classes

Scheduling for the Post-Bac Greek and Latin seminars is usually not finalized until late summer; check the Course Timetable at http://www.upenn.edu/registrar/timetable/clstc.html. Each seminar typically meets once, twice, or three times a week for a total of 2 to 3 hours of class time for each language. Try to leave your Wednesday lunchtime and Thursday late afternoon free for our proseminar series and department colloquium, respectively.