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.
The following courses count as being inside the Math.
Department as far as the Major or Minor is concerned. This means that
that counting them toward a Math Minor or Major does not change the
number of cognate courses above which can also be counted.
Some courses which are not approved as COGNATES
for Mathematics Majors or Minors
Two Examples
- 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.
- 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.
To the Penn Math Undergrad Web Page.
How to contact us.