Biology Minor
The Minor in Biology is designed to educate students in both the breadth of subject matter encompassed by the biological sciences and the rapidly advancing knowledge at the forefront of this discipline.
Program for a Minor in Biology
For a minor in Biology, students must complete a minimum of 5 Biology courses and 19 credits of Biology Courses from those courses normally accepted for the Biology Major. Foundations in Biology I and II with laboratory (BIOL-1203/1213 and BIOL-1204/1214) are required. Please check the listing regarding prerequisites for advanced courses. Courses numbered below 1000, which are intended to satisfy the general education requirement for nonscience majors, do not count for the minor. Courses numbered in the 2000’s which explore interdisciplinary connections with biology, similarly do not count for the minor.
Tutorial Research (BIOL-4950; 3 credits) can be applied to the Biology Minor. RISE (BIOL-4591,-4952) will not apply to the minor.
AP-credit in Biology
Advanced placement credit in Biology does not satisfy the requirement for Foundations in Biology. Students who obtain a minor in biology will obtain elective credit but no additional credits applied to the minor.
The Department of Biology accepts credit from one of the following: AP Biology Exam, AP Environmental Sciences Exam, or IB Higher-level Biology.
- Students who receive a score of 5 on the AP Biology Exam or on the AP Environmental Sciences Exam (but not both) will receive 4 upper division elective credits.
- Students with a score of 4 on the AP Biology Exam or on the AP Environmental Sciences Exam (but not both) will receive 3 upper division elective credits.
- Students with a score of 6 or 7 on the IB Higher-level Biology Exam (but not Standard-level Biology) will receive 4 upper division elective credits.
For Pre-medical students
Students interested in pre-medical study should see the pre-med advisor in the College Deans’ office for more details or check the link to the pre-health studies webpage. In general, one year of coursework in the following areas is necessary for medical school admissions: mathematics (with calculus), biology with laboratory, general chemistry with laboratory, organic chemistry with laboratory, and physics with laboratory.