Quick Guide to Major Requirements

Here, in their most compact form, are the requirements for the different tracks of the Biology major. Note that each track requires upper-level Biology courses, but the specific courses that count differ between the tracks. See the course search tool to find which upper-level electives satisfy which requirements for each track.

At the bottom of this page are the CAS Core Curriculum requirements that apply to Biology majors.

Biology Major Standard Track

  • Principles of Biology I and II
  • Molecular and Cell Biology I and II
  • Five Upper-level Biology Electives:
    • Laboratory Skills course
    • Quantitative Skills course
    • Reasoning Skills course
    • Two additional advanced Biology courses
  • General Chemistry I and II
  • Organic Chemistry I and II
  • Calculus I
  • General Physics I and II

Biology Major Ecology Track

  • Principles of Biology I and II
  • Molecular and Cell Biology I
  • Fundamentals of Ecology
  • Five Upper-level Biology Electives:
    • Laboratory Skills course
    • Quantitative Skills course
    • Reasoning Skills course
    • Two additional advanced Biology courses
  • General Chemistry I and II
  • Organic Chemistry I and II
  • Calculus I and either Calculus II or Linear Algebra
  • General Physics I

Global Public Health/Biology Major

  • Health and Society in a Global Context (UGPH-GU 10)
  • Epidemiology for Global Health (UGPH-GU 30)
  • Health Policy in a Global World (UGPH-GU 40)
  • Environmental Health in a Global World (UGPH-GU 50)
  • Experiential Learning in Global Public Health (UGPH-GU 60)
  • A Biostatistics course in the Biology Dept (BIOL-UA 42 or 45)
  • One semester of study away
  • Principles of Biology I and II
  • Molecular and Cell Biology I and II
  • Two courses from one of the following emphasis areas:
    • Genetics and Genomics
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Environmental Health
  • One additional upper-level Biology elective
  • Two additional GPH or upper-level Biology electives
  • General Chemistry I and II
  • Organic Chemistry I and II
  • Calculus I
  • General Physics I and II

College Core Curriculum Requirements for Biology Majors

  • First-Year Seminar
  • Writing the Essay
  • Foreign Language through Intermediate II Level
  • Foundations of Contemporary Culture:
    • Texts and Ideas
    • Cultures and Contexts
    • Societies and the Social Sciences
    • Expressive Culture