Biology, B.S.: 120 units

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Offered by: College of Science, Biological Sciences Department

Major Required
Major Electives

Unrestricted Electives
General Education Requirements

Major Required: 56-58 units

Major Electives: 29-31 units

Students who take Elements of Organic Chemistry (CHM 2010 /CHM 2010L ) and Calculus for Life Science (MAT 1200 ) will need 31 units of Major Electives. Students who take both Organic Chemistry I (CHM 3140 /CHM 3140L ) and Calculus I (MAT 1140 ) will only need 29 units of Major Electives, whereas students who take only one of these courses will need 30 units of Major Electives.

Non-Emphasis Electives: 0-8 units

Up to 8 units of any 2000, 3000, or 4000-level courses from any department in College of Science or College of Engineering that are not listed under Major Required, as well as 3000-level GE courses offered by the Biological Sciences Department are allowed. A list of qualifying GE B5 area courses are listed below.

Note(s):

* If you plan to take Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (CHM 3140 /CHM 3140L ), you must also take Organic Chemistry II (CHM 3150 - (3) ) lecture in order to take any Biochemistry course. Both CHM 3150 and CHM 3150L (if taken) will count toward your Non-Emphasis Electives.

* If you take Biochemistry I (CHM 3270 ), you will also be taking its co-requisite CHM 3270L - (1) , which will count toward your Non-Emphasis Electives.

* CHM 2210 /CHM 2210L is required for the Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) programs and can be taken as an elective under this category.

Emphasis Electives: 21-31 units

Any combination of courses listed below will satisfy the required 21-31 units, except that at least 12 units must be at 4000-level or above. Emphases are listed to provide guidance for helping students to choose courses of interest that best fit your career goals, but there is no requirement for choosing a specific emphasis for fulfilling these units.

* Please note that up to 4 units combined from research supervisory, service learning, and internship courses can also count as electives under this category. These courses include BIO 2000 or BIO 4000 , BIO 4410 , BIO 4590S /BIO 4590AS , BIO 4610 , BIO 4620 , and BIO 4910S /BIO 4910AS .

* Please also note that all special topics courses listed as BIO 2990 /BIO 2990A /BIO 2990L or BIO 4990 /BIO 4990A /BIO 4990L are not included in any emphasis below but they can also count as electives under this category.

*Emphases with asterisks are recommended for pre-professional students in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. In addition, one year of organic chemistry with laboratories are required. One year of biochemistry with laboratories are also required for pharmacy and highly recommended for medicine and dentistry programs. For updated and specific professional degree and school requirements, consult individual professional schools or the Pre-Professional advisor.

**Courses with double asterisks are required for the admission to the Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) programs.

Emphasis 1 - Integrative Biology

Recommended Electives

Consider selecting 2 of the 3 courses listed below. Labs are corequisites.

Other Electives

Consider selecting a variety of courses from emphases 2 to 6 listed below.

Emphasis 2 - Botany

Recommended Electives

*Emphasis 3 - Genetics and Molecular Cell Biology

*Emphasis 4 - Microbiology

Recommended Electives

Other Electives

*Emphasis 5 - Neuroscience and Physiology

Recommended Electives

Emphasis 6 - Zoology

Recommended Electives

Other Electives

Unrestricted Electives: 0-3 units

Select a sufficient number of courses so that the total from “Major Required”, “Major Electives”, “GE”, and “Unrestricted Electives” is at least 120 units.

General Education Requirements: 48 units

Students should consult the Academic Programs website https://www.cpp.edu/~academic-programs/general-education-course-listings.shtml for current information regarding this requirement. Unless specific courses are required, please refer to the list of approved courses under General Education Requirements, Areas A through E.

	Course	Term Taken	Grade
Area A. English Language Communication and Critical Thinking (9 units) At least 3 units from each sub-area
1. Oral Communication
2. Written Communication
3. Critical Thinking
Area B. Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (12 units) At least 3 units from each sub-area
1. Physical Sciences
2. Life Sciences
3. Laboratory Activity
4. Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning
5. Science and Technology Synthesis
Area C. Arts and Humanities (12 units) At least 3 units from each sub-area and 3 additional units from sub-areas 1 and/or 2
1. Visual and Performing Arts
2. Literature, Modern Languages, Philosophy and Civilization
3. Arts and Humanities Synthesis
Area D. Social Sciences (12 units) At least 3 units from each sub-area
1. U.S. History and American Ideals
2. U.S. Constitution and California Government
3. Social Sciences: Principles, Methodologies, Value Systems, and Ethics
4. Social Science Synthesis
Area E. Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (3 units)

For an alternative and interdisciplinary way to complete some of their GE requirements, students may choose the Interdisciplinary General Education program, see below.

Interdisciplinary General Education: 21 units

An alternate pattern for partial fulfillment of GE Areas A, C, and D available for students is the Interdisciplinary General Education (IGE) program. Students should see an advisor for specific GE coursework required by their major. Please refer to the University Catalog General Education Program section for additional information.

How IGE fulfills General Education Requirements:

GE Area	Courses
A2	IGE 1100 and IGE 1200
C1	IGE 2100 or IGE 2200
C2	IGE 1100, IGE 1200, IGE 2100, or IGE 2200
D1	IGE 2300 or IGE 2400
D3	IGE 2300 or IGE 2400
C3	IGE 3100
D4	IGE 3100

A single course cannot be double-counted across multiple GE Areas.

revised 07/17/2024

American Institutions: 6 units

Courses that satisfy this requirement may also satisfy GE Areas D1 and D2.

American Cultural Perspectives Requirement: 3 units

Refer to the University Catalog General Education Program section for a list of courses that satisfy this requirement. Course may also satisfy major, minor, GE, or unrestricted elective requirements.

Graduation Writing Test

All persons who receive undergraduate degrees from Cal Poly Pomona must pass the Graduation Writing Test (GWT). The test must be taken by the semester following completion of 60 units for undergraduates.