Waiver Guide Frequently Asked Questions

There are two submission deadlines for waiver by credentials. These do not correspond to your admissions status and you can submit in either or both rounds. Results from the first deadline are returned to students earlier, and in the event that supplemental information is required for your credential review, or your credentials are denied, you may submit additional information by the second deadline. There is no further consideration for credentials after the second deadline has passed.

Absolutely, yes! We ask that you highlight courses for consideration on your uploaded transcript so that evaluators can provide timely feedback. Transcripts that do not contain highlighted courses will not be reviewed.

19 graduate level course units (CU) are required for the MBA degree. If you waive out of core requirements, you must satisfy the waived course units with electives.

Yes, because a file must be uploaded in order to create an academic profile in the Waiver Evaluation Module, we will require you to upload a transcript. However, if you have taken undergraduate courses at Penn, an unofficial transcript is sufficient.

An updated syllabus of the course may suffice. We will contact you if we need supporting information.

Yes. A translation of the syllabus to English is required; however it does not need to be translated by a certified translation company.

If you do not satisfy the criteria required to submit credentials to waive a course, you should take the waiver/placement exam to prove your expertise in the material.

For some courses (i.e. MGEC 6110), waiving by credentials is not an option.  In that case, you should sit for the exam.

For credentials submitted by Tuesday, June 20, results will be returned Friday, July 7.  For credentials submitted by Monday, July 17, results will be returned Friday, July 28.

There is no penalty for a low score on the waiver and placement exams. If you do not pass an exam, then you will need to take the core course.

Yes – we require that students upload these materials, especially in the event that academic credentials are considering in conjunction with work credentials.

You can upload your credentials via the Waiver Evaluation Module. Once determined that you are eligible to submit credentials for review, you can create an academic profile and upload supporting documentation. When uploading transcripts, please be sure to highlight or annotate the courses you are requesting for review, while also including the respective syllabi and other supporting information you might have.

Please note: the waiver module only allows students to submit one document at a time. Therefore, if submitting multiple credentials (e.g., transcript, resume, syllabus), you will have to repeat the steps for uploading documentation.