Biological Sciences Requirements
Students in all five majors within the Department of Biological Sciences must follow general rules and fulfill certain general requirements in addition to those in their specific major:
- A total of 32 credits in biology must be taken (see specific course requirements for each major below). All biology courses taken for the major must be completed with a C or better. If a C- or lower is earned in a biology elective course that is not repeated, the course will be used in calculating the overall GPA in the major but will not be counted as part of the 32 credits required for the major.
- Co-requisite courses must be taken in chemistry, physics, and mathematics and/or statistics, including
- CHEM 0110 and CHEM 0120 General Chemistry 1 and 2, which includes the labs,
- CHEM 0310 , CHEM 0320 , and CHEM 0345 Organic Chemistry 1 and 2 lecture and lab,
- MATH 0220 Analytic Geometry and Calculus 1,
- Either MATH 0230 Analytic Geometry and Calculus 2 or STAT 1000 Applied Statistical Methods, and
- Either the algebra-based physics, PHYS 0110 and 0111 Introduction to Physics 1 and 2, or the calculus-based physics, PHYS 0174 and 0175 Basic Physics for Science and Engineering 1 and 2.
- A minimum GPA of 2.00 must be maintained in all biology courses and in the combined co-requisite courses. The S/NC option (formerly the S/N option) may be used for only one biology course and for any of the co-requisite courses.
- The Dietrich School required related area is fulfilled by the co-requisite courses in chemistry. Departmental writing (W) courses may be selected once the major is declared and count towards the 32 biology credits for the major
- Opportunities for faculty-sponsored directed research and internship experiences are available and strongly encouraged. Academic credit awarded from the departmental W, directed research, and internship courses count as credit toward graduation, but not in determining the 32 biology credits required for the major. Students interested in departmental honors should contact department advisors for information.
- University Honors College equivalents for any of the above courses are accepted. Credit by examination is available only through appropriate AP scores for equivalents to BIOSC 0150, 0050, 0160, and 0060 Foundations of Biology 1 and 2 and labs.
Updated information about the department, major requirements, and course offerings is available on the department’s Web site, www.biology.pitt.edu.
Corequisite courses
Corequisite courses must be taken in chemistry, physics, and mathematics and/or statistics, including
Note:
Updated information about the department, major requirements, and course offerings is available on the department’s Web site, www.biology.pitt.edu.
Biology Course Requirements
Completion of the biological sciences major requires a total of 32 credits in biology, including
17 credits of required courses:
A minimum of 15 credits of upper-division courses
A minimum of 15 credits of upper-division courses, which must include two labs or one lab and one field course or one lab and BIOSC 1545 - THE MATHEMATICS OF BIOLOGY . Students may begin to take elective courses when they have completed the appropriate prerequisite courses; for example, some upper-division courses have only 0150 and 0160 as prerequisites whereas others have additional requirements. As part of these electives, students who declare a major in Biological Sciences on or after September 14, 2009 must complete one higher-level 3-credit BIOSC lecture class, defined as a course with prerequisites beyond BIOSC 0150 and BIOSC 0160 .
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