Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I declare a major in PPE? What are the requirements for admission to the major?
2. What kinds of jobs do PPE students obtain?
3. Can I double major in PPE and another subject?
4. Can I use a course for the major that is not listed/allowed according to the information provided on this web page?
5. Are there any mathematical prerequisites for majoring in PPE?
6. What is your policy for CGS courses?
7. Can I take Phil 8 and PSCI 181? Do I need to take Phil 2?
8. Is there a minimum grade for courses to be counted towards the major? Can I take classes Pass/Fail?
9. Can I change concentrations or themes within PPE? Can I choose more than one theme or concentration?
10. What is your policy regarding transfer of credits outside the College? Outside Penn?
11. What is the Capstone requirement?
12. What do I need to know about being best advised as I go through the major?
13. Are there courses from certain subjects that are specifically not accepted by PPE, even though other courses from those departments are accepted by PPE?
1. Please see this page. Prospective students are encouraged to thoroughly explore this web site.
2. A section on careers after graduating with a PPE major may be found here.
3. Yes, PPE students have successfully double-majored in PPE and almost every other conceivable department in the arts and sciences at Penn; have double-majored or minored at the Wharton School; and have earned joint B. A./ M. A. degrees from many of Penn's graduate and professional schools.
4. Since 2005, the Core and the traditional concentrations of Philosophy, Politics and Economics have been made much more flexible. For guidance about course choices, pplease contact the Associate director.
5. We want to ensure that our students have, at the very least, some exposure and rudimentary training to rigorous analytical training. This is implemented by having our students complete the non-credit bearing part of the major, called the rigorous reasoning requirement. Further, certain courses that count towards the major may have mathematical pre-requisites. For example, the upper level Econ courses generally have calculus prerequisites, and students choosing the Econ concentration should be prepared to take several Math courses. Students intending to pursue further studies in Economics should take even more mathematics classes, at as high level as possible. Please see the section on prerequisites for further details.
6. For college students, advance permission from PPE is required for approval of CGS courses for the major. Please send email to the Associate Director.
7. Students may take both PSCI 181 and Phil 8, but there is significant overlap between these courses. As long as they have taken one, they can substitute for the other. Please visit the section on the PPE major.
8. Yes, the student must have a grade of C or better. On unusual occasions, the Associate Director may use discretion to relax this threshold, but no lower than C- will ever be accepted. For this same reason, students cannot take a class Pass/Fail for it to count towards the major. However, it is possible that mathematical prerequisites necessary for specific classes may be taken Pass/Fail. To investigate this, please contact the individual departments offering the class that requires the prerequisite, and visit the prerequisites page.
9. Note that concentrations, especially thematic ones, are very comprehensive. Changing is possible, but students would have to maintain consistency with the stream they are changing to. Attempts will be made to transfer as many credits as possible, but due to obvious consistency reasons, a full transfer may not be possible if the student is making the request late into his/her career at the College. Choosing more than one theme or concentration is not possible.
10. Please visit the section on transferring credits. Note that such transfer is not the same as choosing to take a course outside the College, with the prior approval of the Associate Director. The latter, often necessary for thematic concentrations, requires no approval outside PPE, and will be used for the major just like any College course.
11. Please see this page.
12. Please visit the advising page.
13. In addition to other restrictions mentioned in the description of the major, the following courses are specifically not accepted by PPE.
(a) Any 100 or 101 numbered course at Wharton except in the Finance department
(b) Phil 1.
(c) Any writing-intensive course (usually designated with the course number 9). Example: Econ 9, Phil 9.
(d) All PSCI courses below 100 level except PSCI 1.
(e) For Non-Philosophy concentrators: Phil 26 (Phil. of Space and Time), Phil 55 or Phil 80.
(f) Please also see the pages linked from the structure of the major.