Smeal College Entrance to Major (2021-22)

Entrance to Major Requirements, the Major Application Process, and Class Scheduling for students entering Penn State in summer 2021, fall 2021, or spring 2022.

Requirements for Entering a Major - Known as the Entrance to Major (ETM) process, applying and entering a major occurs within a defined window of completed Penn State (cumulative) credits. Specific ETM requirements include:

1. Be enrolled at Penn State as a pre-major in the Smeal College of Business or the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS).

2. Have earned a minimum of 40.0 but not more than 59.0 cumulative credits at Penn State.

3. Have completed or are in-progress the following course requirements:

English Composition: ENGL 15, ENGL 30, ESL 15, ENGL 137H or CAS 137H (C or better grade)

Microeconomics: ECON 102 or ECON 102H

Calculus: MATH 110, MATH 140 or MATH 140B (C or better grade)

Statistics: SCM 200, SCM 200H or STAT 200 (C or better grade)

4. Have completed or are in-progress the following course requirements at Penn State with a grade of C or better:

Financial and Managerial Accounting: ACCTG 211 or ACCTG 211H

Management: MGMT 301, MGMT 301H, MGMT 301M or MGMT 301W

Marketing: MKTG 301, MKTG 301H, or MKTG 301W

Finance: FIN 301 or FIN 301H

5. Students pursuing the Actuarial Science major take MATH 140 and MATH 141 to satisfy the calculus requirement.

6. At the time of applying for a major, students must have the minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) posted for the major of their choice. The minimum GPA must be maintained until the ETM process is complete.

Applying for a Major – Students apply for a major via LionPath’s Update Academics. There are several application statuses students can then be placed in:

• Permanent Approval – Student has met all entrance criteria including completion of all required courses and is enrolled in their major.
• Conditional Approval – Student has met all entrance criteria and has at least one required course in-progress.
• Dean's Review - The college must review the request manually.
• Final Approval – Student was in Conditional Approval status and has completed all requirements and has maintained the appropriate GPA. They are then enrolled in their major.
• Conditional Denied – Student was in Conditional Approval status and did not complete all requirements or maintain the appropriate GPA for their major. Their academic plan will revert back to Smeal or DUS pre-major status.
• Denied – Student applied for a major but has not met one or more of the entrance requirements.

Credits (Units) earned at Penn State along with Advanced Placement and Transfer Credits

• Cumulative Credits - These are credits earned at Penn State.
• Transfer Credits - Credits earned from another institution which count towards total credits. Transfer (courses) credits can satisfy some specific ETM course requirements but will not count towards the cumulative credits needed to apply for a major.
• Advanced Placement (AP) Credits - These are credits through various agencies (e.g., Educational Testing Services) which count towards total credits. AP courses can satisfy some ETM course requirements but will not count towards the cumulative credits needed to apply for a major.

Suggested Academic Plan for Entrance To Major