Information about majoring in biology

All Advisees Read This Before Contacting Your Faculty Advisors

Contact your advisors via email if you need to reach them

Our Program Has Numerous Degree Options

Note that tracks and concentrations are specific courses of study but only a concentration is mentioned on a diploma.

Roadmaps for Graduation

Concentration Outlines

A useful tool for viewing remaining course requirements, both general education and major's courses, is available in your MyCSUB account. On the Student center page, there is a box labelled my academics: click on this and then on View Advisement report. This will pull up a page that shows what requirements have been met, which are in progress, and which have not been met.

https://my.csub.edu/

Tracks

Tracks are unofficial groups of courses suggested by the department for individuals interested in specific areas of Biology. Tracks do not appear on your transcript, and all still require satisfaction of the basic BS degree structure: all required courses are the same as in the "standard" BS degree, the tracks consist of suggested upper division courses and in some cases additional cognate coursework -- remember that regardless of track, you will still be required to have at least 20 units of upper division Biology electives, at least 12 of which must come from 4-unit, lab-based courses, and one of which must be at the 4000-level. The additional 8 units may be satisfied by any combination of lab-based or non-lab-based courses acceptable for the major.

Advising Links and References

Pre-Medical Students

Biology is an ideal major for students interested in applying to medical school after graduation. A degree in Biology will prepare you to succeed on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). A good score on this exam is important for getting into medical school. Here is a link to MCAT information:
https://students-residents.aamc.org/taking-mcat-exam/taking-mcat-exam. An additional reason majoring in Biology will help you in your medical studies is that when you attend medical school you will take many classes that cover topics in biology, thus you will have a head start to succeeding in medical school.

Registration is available for the MCAT in the CSUB Testing Center.
The testing center is located in the Modular Building next to the University Police Department. Suggested parking lots to the Testing Center are Lot H and I.

Find building #60 on the CSUB Campus Map.