Explore Options; Plan Your MBA Academic Program

to remain enrolled in the course . It is the student’s responsibility
to find out in advance if the course has such a requirement .
Most professors choose to base part of your course grade
on attendance or participation and have a limit on the number
of classes you may miss . If you find it necessary to miss a class
or turn in written work late, you should seek permission from
the instructor in advance . In case of illness, the professor may
require a letter of confirmation from Student Health Services.
If you find yourself in a conflict due to your career
search or recruiting activity, you should work with the
MBA Career Management Office to find a resolution.
Employers are prohibited from requiring recruiting-related
activities (e.g., interviews, events or travel) that conflict
with a student’s academic commitments. An employer’s
inflexibility on this issue is considered a violation of
Wharton’s recruiting policies.
EXAMINATION POLICIES
Examinations (including both midterms and finals) in
Wharton courses are governed by the University policies on
examinations which are published periodically in the
University Almanac and can also be found in the University
Pennbook . You should be aware that examinations are given
on Fridays and evenings, including Thursday evenings, and
you should check the examination calendar carefully .
If you have documentable special circumstances such as
time conflicts between multiple exams, illness, or grave personal
difficulties such as a death in the family, you should petition the
MBA Program Office for Academic Affairs, which will work
with the faculty in appropriate cases to find a resolution . The
MBA Program Office will require documentation of your conflict
as a matter of course . See the University website (PennBook)
for policies covering absences resulting from religious observances
. You should never approach your instructors with requests to
reschedule exams or to make special accommodations .
If you find yourself with a conflict due to your career
search or recruiting activity, you should work with the MBA
Career Management Office to find a resolution . Employers cannot
require a student, as a condition of his or her employment
candidacy, to participate in recruiting-related activities at a time
that conflicts with his or her academic schedule . An employer’s
inflexibility on this issue is considered a violation of Wharton’s
recruiting policies . A time conflict due to a job interview,
a career pursuit or travel is not an appropriate reason to
request accommodation on an academic commitment.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
Minimum academic standards are maintained in the following
manner:
(a) Probation . A student will be placed on academic probation
upon reaching any one of the following conditions:
(1) receive two grades of F in any grading period 1 , (2) earn
1 A grading period may be a quarter or a semester .
ACADEMIC POLICIES
2 .5 credit units of Lowest 10% (LT) indicators in the first
semester, (3) earn 4 .0 credit units of Lowest 10% (LT) indicators
in the first two semesters cumulatively, (4) earn 6 .0
credit units of Lowest 10% (LT) indicators in the first three
semesters cumulatively . 2 Once a student is on academic
probation, the following steps are required:
1 . Meet with an academic advisor and develop a plan to
succeed which includes:
a . Course work for the remaining semesters
b . Extra-curricular activities
c . Career search activities
d . Other personal interests and needs
The effect of probation may include a limit on the number
of credit units taken in a term, a limit on the number of
leadership positions the student may hold, and/or the
opportunity for school-funded tutoring .
This plan must be approved by an academic advisor in
the MBA Program Office for Academic Affairs . Failure to
develop an acceptable plan within one week of notification
of probation may lead to enforced restrictions on the
student such as a limit on credit units, a recommended suspension
of school-sanctioned leadership roles, or a limit on
career management services .
2 . At the end of the grading period in which the plan is
initiated, review the plan with an academic advisor to
assess the student’s success and the plan’s viability;
3 . At the end of the semester in which the plan was initiated,
the student will meet with his or her academic
advisor . If the student has avoided reaching the next
probationary state, he/she will be taken off probation.
(b)Dismissal. Any of the following three academic conditions
will lead to dismissal from the MBA program: (1) receiving
three grades of F in any grading period or in any two
contiguous 3 grading periods; (2) receiving two subsequent
grades of F after being placed on academic probation; or
(3) accumulating five credit units of the sum of lowest 10%
(LT) indicators and F grades that did not carry an LT in the
first year or eight credit units of the said sum during
the program .
(c) Incompletes . Grades of Incomplete are given at the discretion
of the instructor when, on the basis of work completed, the
student is doing passing work, but some requirement of the
course (e .g ., exam or paper) is not completed . All Incomplete
2 Note that a “semester” generally refers to fall and spring semesters and that
summer terms may count if the student carries a full-time course load in that
term, but are to be considered on an individual basis
3 Contiguous grading periods are those that are immediately adjacent to
each other . For instance, the contiguous grading period for a full semester
course would be the full semester immediately succeeding or preceding
(e .g ., spring follows fall; fall follows spring) . The contiguous grading period
for a half semester course would be the half semester immediately succeeding
or preceding (e .g ., Q2 is contiguous to Q1 and Q3 is contiguous to Q2;
however, Q3 is not contiguous with Q1) . In addition Q3 is contiguous to
the fall semester . Q4 would not be contiguous to the prior fall semester, but
would be contiguous to the following fall semester .
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