All BFS students take at least three (3) BFS seminar CUs during their time at Penn. These are the heart of the BFS program and bring together students and faculty who jointly pursue powerful questions of mutual interest. In addition, the four undergraduate schools – Nursing, Engineering, Wharton, and the College – have their own additional requirements for their BFS students.
BFS is also a residential program, all first year students live together in Hill College House, many forming friendships and choosing to live together in the years after. BFS has exclusive events such as Masterclasses, Pre-Registration Dinners, off campus excursions, etc. these are facilitated by a dedicated UAB who plan events for the BFS community throughout the academic year.
There are many extraordinary and intensive opportunities at Penn, each with their own rigors. Amazing educational experiences here are simply the norm, and it’s true that worthwhile things tend to be demanding, and sometimes force us to make choices.
Students whose home school is the College and who are doing Integrated Studies are not eligible for the College’s intensive biological science program, the Vagelos Scholars Program. College students in BFS are eligible to pursue a dual degree with a professional school, although this is rare. BFS students in Nursing, Engineering or Wharton are eligible to pursue intensive or dual-degree programs in their home school ( Huntsman, LSM, or Nursing and Health Care Management) Contact your pre-major advisor for more information.
No, BFS is not a degree program or a major. The BFS distinction is noted on your transcript.
Yes! Many of our scholars are also Pre-Law, Pre-Medical, or are otherwise planning on further graduate schooling. Many of our alumni are successful in these fields and have spoken of the benefits a BFS education has had on their pursuit of these careers.
No, any undergraduate at Penn can request a seat in a BFS seminar. Roughly a third of the seats in BFS seminars are reserved for program participants, and the rest are open to BFS students or for general enrollment. Some BFS seminars may have seats reserved for majors in that department (for example, History usually reserves some seats in BFS seminars for their majors). Some BFS seminars may require a permit for all students, whether or not the student is in the BFS program.
No, all aid from Student Financial Services is need based; there are no merit-based scholarships administered by Penn’s Student Financial Services.
Many BFS students study abroad. If, for instance, you have completed two BFS seminars by the end of your sophomore year, you can go abroad all of junior year and take your third BFS seminar senior year. If, however, you haven’t taken any BFS seminars by the end of your sophomore year and plan to be abroad all of junior year, it is not realistic to expect to take all your BFS seminars as a senior.
BFS seminars are designed to be accessible to students regardless of home school or experience. This allows our students to study subjects that they have no familiarity with, while allowing others to dive deeper into an interest.
You may have semesters in which you take no BFS seminars, and others in which you take more than one. You are required to complete 3 seminars before graduation.
The focus of the BFS program is on integrated exploration, using multiple disciplines to examine a wide array of subjects. This often leads our students to research: many work with faculty, take part in PURM, or otherwise do research throughout their time at Penn. A student’s Ben Talk in their senior year often highlights these experiences. BFS has funding available for our students to engage in summer research or support unfunded internships.
The BFS program is home to an array of scholars from different years, majors, and schools all finding common ground in their goal of intellectual exploration and cross-disciplinary learning. In their first year, BFS students live together in Hill House, and students of all years will take BFS seminars with their peers in different schools. They interact at events hosted by our Undergraduate Advisory Board, which is made up of BFS students of all schools and different years.