High-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy in transmission has been used to obtain information on the symmetry of unoccupied electronic states in the new high-T, superconductors.In particular, for YBa2Cu307 and Bi2Sr2CaCu208, the 0 1s and Cu 2p absorption edges have been measured for momentum transfer parallel and perpendicular to the a, b plane. Both a. and inplane n holes on 0, formed upon doping, , are compatible with our experimental results. For YBa2Cu30q, in both cases, holes must be in the planes and in the ribbons. Out-of-plane z holes can be excluded for YBa2Cu307 and Bi2Sr2CaCu208. In the undoped and doped compounds, the unoccupied states on the Cu sites have predominantly in-plane 3d"2 y2 symmetry. There is an admixture of about 10% of lower-lying states probably with 3d3, 2 "2 symmetry.