Study Abroad Checklists

Submit potential courses to XCAT. Please note the following:

• You must be full-time enrolled in your abroad program as detailed in Passport for each host institution.
• You should submit twice as many courses than you ultimately plan to take, not more.
• When submitting a course, you will need the course code, course name, description, number of credits/units, modality/meeting pattern, and syllabus. Course documents should be in English.
• Online courses are not permitted for students on any Penn study abroad program.
• Business courses must be submitted only to “Wharton Undergrad Division” under “Requested Penn Subject.”
  • When selecting business courses, avoid introductory courses that overlap with Business Fundamentals (e.g., avoid Introduction to Finance; but Introduction to International Finance would be okay)
  • All approved study-abroad credits business courses are designated with a general WH code to be used for business breadths and electives.
• Non-business courses must be submitted to the respective College or Engineering department for them to determine whether it can receive Penn credit.
  • If there are specific requirements you wish to request a course for, please include that in the initial XCAT request for review.

Please do the following:

• Business courses: Notify your Wharton abroad advisor of your submissions including any updated entries. The advisor will let you know their timeline for review.
• Non-business courses: When a course receives an equivalency from the department, email your Wharton study abroad advisor to confirm approval for specific liberal arts and sciences requirements.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to follow up on any College or Engineering course submissions.

Students can elect to take courses Pass/Fail while studying abroad. Students are encouraged to consult with their Wharton study abroad advisor before making any election of Pass/Fail.

• Courses must comply with Wharton’s Pass/Fail policy.
• Students must notify their Wharton study abroad advisor by email by 5 PM ET on the Friday of the 9th week of the program. More information can be found here.).
• For courses that are part-of-term, Pass/Fail elections follow a different schedule. Students must consult with their Wharton study abroad advisor about the specific date(s).

Please withdraw all XCAT requests for courses you are not enrolled in.

Your official program transcript must be sent to and uploaded by Penn Abroad. Please note the following:

• The timeline and process for transcripts varies by program and can take up to several months.
• If your program sends your transcript to you directly, follow instructions from Penn Abroad for upload. Do not send it to your Wharton abroad advisor.
• You will receive a notification when Penn Abroad has uploaded the transcript.

Your Wharton abroad advisor will update your XCAT submissions with grades converted to Penn’s grading scale, and the Office of the University Registrar will post the grades to your Penn transcript. Please note the following:

• All courses must be approved in XCAT before grades can be posted.
• Your abroad grades will be calculated into your cumulative GPA at Penn

Meet with your assigned advisor to ensure that your abroad credits are properly recorded on your record.

If you need any adjustments to how your abroad courses are slotting into your degree audit, please contact your Wharton abroad advisor.