The biology department offers a major and a minor in biology. We also offer interdisciplinary majors in environmental studies - biology, physics - biology, biochemistry and neuroscience. A major in conservation biology is also under development. If you have an interest in any of these areas, please see the advice below and our Majors and Minor Page.

GET A SECOND ADVISER: If you think that you might want to major in biology (or a related interdisciplinary major) or if you are a health career enthusiast, we strongly recommend that you get a second adviser from the biology faculty or the health careers committee respectively.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BIOLOGY MAJOR? The minimum requirements for the major consist of 2 semesters of General Biology (Bio. 101, 102 - see advanced placement below) and 6 units of upper-level biology coursework. Of these 6 units, two units must be at the 300-400 level and only one unit may be a non-lab course (labeled "Major Credit Restricted"). One unit of independent research may also count in addition to the major credit restricted course. We also require one year of general chemistry (Chem 103-104) and one statistics course (Math 113). We highly recommend that you also take a year of organic chemistry (Chem 221, 222) and a year of introductory physics (Phys 103-104). You really need to understand these related sciences in order to understand biology. We suggest that you take these support courses early in your undergraduate experience.

The requirements for the interdisciplinary majors are more specifically defined and can be viewed on the model planning forms available on the link below.

WHAT COURSES SHOULD YOU SIGN UP FOR THE FIRST SEMESTER? We receive a lot of correspondence concerning what courses to enroll in as a first-year student. If you think that you will want to major in biology (or a related major), you should enroll in General Biology your first year (Bio. 101 in the fall, 102 in the spring). Since you must also take a first year program (FYP) course, this will leave you with two other courses to decide upon for the fall semester. If you are a fairly strong student (academically speaking) you should consider taking general chemistry (Chem. 103). Since we advise biology students to take at least two years of chemistry (general and organic), many like to start taking the chemistry the first year. What to take for the fourth course? If you take biology and chemistry in the first year, do NOT take a third science course. Instead, take a non-science course that fulfills a distribution requirement. Taking FYP, biology, chemistry and, say, calculus is a death wish for your first year unless you are an exceptionally strong student. If you are not sure that you can handle taking biology and chemistry your first year, you should postpone the chemistry and take another non-science elective instead. This advice is also applicable to the new majors in biochemistry and neuroscience.

NOTE: Even though the FYP course and the General Biology courses are 1.5 units each (totaling 3 units, with 3.5 needed for full-time status), you should still take 4 courses. This is very important.

For the health career enthusiasts (pre-med, pre-dental, etc.), some of you may wish to major in something other than biology (although most pre-health students do major in biology). If you do want to major in something else and if you are only going to take one science the first year, then it might make sense to take chemistry and postpone biology since you will not need to fulfill the biology major requirements. But having said that, if you are capable of being successful in a health profession school, you should be able to handle two science courses your first year of undergraduate college. For more information on preparing for a health career at St. Lawrence, see our Health Career Pages.

If you are interested in an Environmental Studies - Biology combined major, you must currently complete the biology major and the prescribed ENVS courses. In addition, you must also fulfill the general chemistry (Chem. 103 - 104) and statistics (Math. 113) requirements. You should start taking these courses as early as possible.

CLICK HERE FOR MODEL PLANNING FORMS FOR BIOLOGY AND RELATED MAJORS

WHAT IF YOU HAVE AP CREDIT? Students scoring a 4 or 5 on the AP Biology test must take our first semester of general biology (Bio. 101) for which you will receive the normal 1.5 units of credit towards the major. If you do well in this course, you will be permitted to bypass the spring semester general biology course (Bio. 102) and you will be awarded the 1.5 units of credit toward the major. The approval of this option will be determined by the general biology course instructors who will use multiple criteria to determine whether or not you should take the spring course. The AP score of 4 or 5 will automatically nominate you for this option but you may voluntarily choose to forgo it.

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