Biology, B.S.: 120 units

Offered by: College of Science, Biological Sciences Department

Major Required
Major Electives

General Education Requirements

The curriculum matrix for the degree program may be found here. The curriculum matrix is the alignment of courses (curriculum) with the desired goals and student learning outcomes of the program. It shows what is taught and how these outcomes are achieved through the completion of the degree program.

Major Required: 56-58 units

Note(s):

* Any General Education A2: Writing Communication credit is an acceptable substitution for ENG 1101 or ENG 1103 .

** Any General Education A3: Critical Thinking credit is an acceptable substitution for ENG 2105 or PHL 2020 .

Distribution of “Major Required” units and “Major Electives” units:
- Students who take Elements of Organic Chemistry / Elements of Organic Chemistry Laboratory (CHM 2010 /CHM 2010L ) and Calculus for Life Sciences (MAT 1200 ) will have 56 “Major Required” units and need 34 units of Major Electives;
- Students who take both Organic Chemistry I / Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (CHM 3140 /CHM 3140L ) and Calculus I (MAT 1140 ) will have 58 “Major Required” units and need 32 units of Major Electives only;
- Students who take only one of these two courses, Organic Chemistry I / Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (CHM 3140 /CHM 3140L ) or Calculus I (MAT 1140 ), will have 57 “Major Required” units and need 33 units of Major Electives.
If you plan to take Organic Chemistry I / Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (CHM 3140 /CHM 3140L ), you must also take Organic Chemistry II (CHM 3150 (3)) in order to take any Biochemistry courses, CHM 3210 or CHM 3270 . In such case, CHM 3150 will count toward your Non-Emphasis Electives.
If you take CHM 3270 - Biochemistry I , you will also be taking its 1 unit co-requisite CHM 3270L , which can count toward your Non-Emphasis Electives.

Major Electives: 32-34 units

Total “Major Electives” units are combined units from “Non-Emphasis Electives” and “Emphasis Electives”.

Non-Emphasis Electives: 3-8 units

At least 3 units of 3000-level GE Synthesis B5 area courses offered by the Biological Sciences Department (listed below) is required. In addition, students can take 0-5 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.

Emphasis Electives: 24-31 units

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 Emphasis Electives units - students can choose any courses from one or more emphases to fulfill the total needed 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.
Courses listed in emphases marked with * are recommended for students interested in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy.

**Courses with double asterisks are required for admission to 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

Other Electives

Emphasis 6 - Zoology

Recommended Electives

Other Electives

General Education Requirements: 48 units

Students should view their Degree Progress Report (DPR) for information regarding their General Education requirements. Unless specific GE courses are required for their major, please refer to the list of approved courses in the General Education Program in the University Catalog, https://catalog.cpp.edu. When viewing the catalog, students should select the catalog year associated with the GE requirements listed in their Degree Progress Report.

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 (9 units)

At least 3 units from each sub-area
1. U.S. History and American Ideals
2. U.S. Constitution and California Government
4. Social Science Synthesis

Area E. Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (3 units)

Area F. Ethnic Studies (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: 18 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:

Year	Completion of IGE Courses	Satisfies GE Requirements
First	IGE 1100 , IGE 1200	A2 and C2
Second/Third	IGE 2150 , IGE 2250 IGE 2350 IGE 3100	D1 and C2 C1 C3 or D4

American Institutions: 6 units

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

Graduation Writing Test

The Graduation Writing Test (GWT) is suspended until Fall 2023. Students entering Cal Poly Pomona before Fall 2023 are not required to take the Graduation Writing Test.