(Download the checklist here.)

If you maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 in all your courses and a GPA of 3.5 in all courses taken to fulfill the biology major, you may be eligible to graduate with distinction.  Graduating with distinction requires planning ahead as early as the sophomore year; please see section on “Senior Thesis and Graduation with Distinction in Biology.”

1.  One introductory unit from:

• BY 105 (Biology of Plants)
• BY 106 (Biology of Animals)-no credit after BY108 or BY109
• BY 107 (Biology of Microbes)
• BY 108 (Biology of Invertebrates)-no longer offered, but students who took it prior to fall 2011 may count it.
• BY 109 (Biology of Vertebrates)-no longer offered, but those students who took the course prior to fall 2011 may count that unit.

IB HL Biology score of 6 or higher can fulfill this requirement only if you also pass the departmental bypass exam in the relevant subject area (plants, animals, or microbes).  Contact the Biology Chair to find out how you can take this exam.

2. BY 131 (Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology)

AP Biology score of 5 or IB HL Biology score of 5 or higher fulfills this requirement.

3. BY 231 (Genetics)

4. Six approved Biology electives

• Three must be Biology (BY) courses with BY231 (OR BY361) as a pre-requisite. Students can petition the department to count up to two units of BY 309, BY 409, or BY 499 toward this requirement provided that they completed BY 231 prior to the independent study and the supervising professor agrees.  
• One unit of elective credit may be CH241 or CH382
• One unit of elective credit may be GY300, PY299, or SC301
• One unit must be an approved senior capstone course
• Any BY course except BY100 and BY104 may count as an elective
• BY101 (FYE) counts as one unit of lower-level elective
• BY220 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math.  BY256/MA256 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math.  Neither course can itself satisfy BOTH a unit of biology elective credit and a unit of math.
• It is possible to petition the department to ask for other courses to count as electives.

5.  Four units in Chemistry

• CH 107 (General Chemistry)
• CH 108 (General Chemistry II)
• CH 250 (Structures of Organic Molecules)
• CH 251 (Reactions of Organic Molecules)

Check with your advisor to find out if AP or IB credit can fulfill the CH 107/108 requirement.

6.  Two units of math from:

• MA 117 (Probability and Statistics)
• MA 125-6 (Pre-Calculus and Calculus)
• MA 126 (Calculus I)
• MA 127 (Calculus I and II, Accelerated)
• MA 129 (Calculus II)
• MA 217 (Probability and Statistical Modeling)
• BY 220 (Biostatistics and Experimental Design)
• MA 256/BY 256 (Mathematical Modeling in Biology)
• EV 228 (Analysis of Environmental Data)
• AP or IB credit recognized by the registrar in calculus
• AP or IB credit recognized by the registrar in statistics
• BY220 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math.  BY256/MA256 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math.  Neither course can itself satisfy BOTH a unit of biology elective credit and a unit of math.

7.  Research Seminar Abstracts.  After declaring a Biology major and during your junior and senior years, you must:

• Attend five approved biology research seminars
• Write abstracts summarizing those seminars and submit each abstract electronically to your advisor and the biology office no later than the first Monday of the block following the block in which the seminar occurred.

• Pass the Biology ETS exam or the Biology GRE exam. 
• Register to take the 2-hour ETS Major Field Test in Biology early in Block 3 or early in Block 6, the only two times Biology offers the exam.  It is best to take the ETS exam in Block 3, in case you do not pass the exam. In the recent past, 20-25% of students did not pass the exam the first time!  So, you must plan to study for the exam regularly, probably during blocks 1, 2, and 3.  A description of the exam contents can be found at http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/MFT/pdf/mft_testdesc_biology_4bmf.pdf, while practice questions can be found at http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/MFT/pdf/mft_samp_questions_biology.pdf. 
• Alternatively, you can take the Biology GRE in the fall, but we strongly recommend that you take the less arduous, less expensive, shorter ETS exam instead.  See the Biology Majors’ Handbook for more details.
• Check with your advisor to find out if the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry GRE exam can fulfill this requirement.

• Complete an approved Senior Capstone Course as one of your six electives (requirement #5 above), in one of the following ways:
• BY 499 (Senior Thesis; required to graduate with distinction)
• BY 409 (Advanced Research in Biology); requires petition (See appendix XIII of the Majors’ Handbook).
• An approved Senior Capstone course.  The current list is:  BY308 Advanced Ecology, BY350 Advanced Genetic Analysis; BY365 Plant Physiology, BY366 Comparative Animal Physiology, BY378 Laboratory Investigation in Molecular Microbiology, BY410 Ornithology, BY412 Entomology, BY415 Evolution, BY421 Conservation Biology, BY440 Stem Cell Biology, BY443 Techniques in Molecular Ecology, BY463 Senior Seminar in Bacterial Pathogenesis, BY466 Development, BY450 Seminar in Molecular Biology.