Penn Math   Undergrad

Cognates and Electives for Math Majors and Minors

A cognate gives you extra flexibility. For each Math. program, you are required to take a certain number of math electives. You are allowed the flexibility to substitute at most one cognate for a Math elective. All cognates require the approval of the Undergraduate Chair <UGradChair AT math.upenn.edu> and must be part of a well planned selection of electives within the Major.

Some Courses Often Approved as COGNATES (Major or Minor)

• Astronomy 11, 12, 111, 410

• Biology 412, 414, 446, 535, 536, 537

• Computer Science and Engineering 370, 371 and one of (but not both) CSE and CSE 320. The courses CSE 110, 120 and 121 cannot be counted as cognates.

• Economics 212, 245

• FNCE 205, 235

• Insurance 260

• Mechanical Engineering 210, 211

• Philosophy 6, 411, 413 (not Phi l 5)

• Physics 140, 150, 151, 170, 171

Some courses often approved as COGNATES for Mathematics Minors

• INS 253, CSE 260, CSE 261.
  Students can count one of these cognate courses towards a Math Minor. Math Majors can count one of the above cognates toward a Math Major, and two if they are double majors.

Courses counting as inside the Math. Dept.

• Statistics 430, 431, 432, 476 (MKTG 476), 512, and 541 or Systems Engineering 301, 302, or Econ 103, 104, or ENM 503.

  Note: Since some courses have similar content, there are restrictions on courses in the following two lists:

  List A:   Math 430   Stat 430   Econ 103   Systems 301   ENM 503
  List B:   Econ 104   Stat 431   Systems 302

  Math Major or Minor Elective Credit: at most two courses from the combined lists A and B, but at most one of these from List A.
  Cognate: A third course from these lists can count as a Cognate -- but not as a Math elective. At most one of these three courses can be from List A, but all three may be from List B.
  In applying the above rules, students may substitute Stat 510 for either Math 430 or Stat 430, and Stat 511 for Stat 431.

• Computer Science and Engineering 262, 511.

• Econ 222 (old number: Econ 115).

• Electrical Engineering 530, 630, 632, 674.

• Engineering and Applied Science 320

• Engineering and Applied Science 503 can be counted as a Math Elective provided Math 320 is not also counted.

• OPIM 930.

• STAT 541

Some courses which are not approved as COGNATES
for Mathematics Majors or Minors

• OPIM 101 and 102.

Two Examples

1. Betty Jo Bioloski is a Math Major but not a double major. She takes Math 104, 114, 240, 241, 370, 371, 360, 361, 202 and 203 to fulfill the calculus, algebra, analysis and seminar requirements for the Math Major. She then must take 4 additional electives. She chooses Stat 430, Stat 431 and Math 420, which are all counted as Math courses, and then uses Physics 150 as her one allowed cognate course not counted as a Math course. If Betty Jo had been a double major, she could have counted Physics 151 towards her Math Major rather than Math 420.

2. Bernie Riemann is double majoring in Chemistry and Psychology, and would like to also have a minor in math. The fact that he is a double major has no effect on the courses he can count toward the Math Minor. He takes Math 104, 114, 240 and 312 and then must choose three more electives for his Math Minor. He opts to count Stat 430, Econ 104 and INS 253. In this case, Stat 430 and Econ 104 are counted in the same way as courses in the Math Department, while INS 253 is Bernie's one non-math cognate course. Note that Bernie could not count both Stat 430 and Econ 103 toward the Math Major, since these are considered to have too much overlap in content.

Note: Other courses might also be approved;
see the Undergraduate Chair.

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