BIOL B.S. additional notes:
1) Students must earn a “C” or better in all major courses and course prerequisites.
2) At least half of the required BIOL courses and electives for the BIOL B.S. degree (six of eleven) must be completed in residence at UMBC.
3) The following courses are considered thematically similar and only one may be used in fulfillment of major requirements: BIOL 305/307, BIOL 430/BTEC 430, BIOL 444/BTEC 444, BIOL 495/BTEC 395.
4) Students can substitute CHEM 352 and CHEM 352L together (must take both) for one Column B course.
5) At least one BIOL 4XX lecture course must be taken at UMBC (NOTE: BIOL 430 , BIOL 442 , BIOL 495 , BIOL 497H and BIOL 499 cannot be used to satisfy this requirement for the BIOL BS).
6) Students may substitute PHYS 121 for PHYS 111 , and PHYS 122 for PHYS 112 , but should note that PHYS 121 /PHYS 122 may not satisfy some professional school admission requirements.
7) BIOL B.S. majors receive 33 - 43 Upper Level Credits (3XX/4XX) that may be applied to the University requirement of 45 Upper Level credits for graduation, and 69 - 77 credits toward the 120 total credits needed for graduation.
8) The Biological Sciences Department evaluates completion of major requirements based on COURSES completed, not CREDITS completed, because equivalent courses taken elsewhere may not be the same number of credits as the UMBC course they replace.
9) Students who are BIOC (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) majors who wish to also pursue a BIOL BS degree may use Core BIOL, CHEM, MATH/STAT and PHYS courses from the BIOC major towards the BIOL BS degree, but MUST take separate electives for the two degrees (ie., no ‘double-dipping’ for the electives).
10) Under exceptional circumstances, the Department may waive or alter a BIOL major requirement. Students seeking to petition for a waiver must consult with their academic adviser, then may submit a ‘Petition for Waiver/Substitution of Program Requirements’ form, found here: https://biology.umbc.edu/undergrad/forms-links/.
11) Biologically-relevant 4XX level courses from other departments may be acceptable as a ‘Column B’ elective for the BIOL BS degree. Prior approval from the Biological Sciences Department Undergraduate Committee is required, using the form indicated in note 10. Such courses may not be used for the ‘Column B’ BIOL 4XX requirement.
NOTE: students who started at UMBC before 2010 may be pursuing an older version of the BIOL B.S., BIOL B.A. or BIOL minor degree program that had different requirements than those described here. For a full description of these ‘legacy’ degree programs, contact the Department of Biological Sciences.
