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- What are the requirements of
the new majors?
- How do I switch to the new majors?
- Which of the new majors is best for
my career plans?
- How will changing my major affect my general
education requirements (GFR or GEP)?
- What changes have been made to the BIOL
minor program?
- Shouldn't pre-medical students
be enrolled in a Biology B.S. major?
- When will the new curriculum take
effect?
- Will all courses required for the old curriculum continue
to be taught?
- Which courses will be phased
out? When will they be phased out?
- Can any courses from the old curriculum be used to satisfy
requirements for new courses in the new curriculum?
- Will I be able to count courses in
Anatomy & Physiology
or Microbiology toward major requirements?
- What changes are being made
in required studies of quantitative analysis?
- Does the new curriculum include Honors College courses?
- What are
the requirements of the new majors?
All requirements are listed on course requirement
worksheets available for each of the programs:
BIOL
B.A., BIOL
B.S. and BIOL
minor.
- How do I switch to the new majors?
Those students who are not placed in the new majors because they entered UMBC before Fall 2010 can apply to change to the new majors by submitting a form to override the default decision based on their date of entry. Please consult the switching to the new majors page for more details.
- Which of the new
majors is best for my career plans?
The new majors have been designed to meet the needs of
different groups of students. The new BIOL B.A. is less
research intensive and involves fewer laboratory classes.
It is especially appropriate for students planning
professional training (dental, medical, pharmacy, veterinary).
The BIOL B.A. would also be appropriate for students planning
training in an allied health field
(nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene, etc.). Because
the BIOL B.A. requires significantly fewer credits, it
is also more appropriate for students
whose career plans do not fit into any of these categories.
For exmple, a student may wish to combine training in Biological
Sciences and Visual Art to prepare for a career in scientific
illustration, for instance. The new BIOL
B.S. is an experimental major and is designed for those
students who intend
to pursue a Ph.D. or Masters in
the science or students planning a career
as a research technician in academia or business.
- How will changing my major affect my general education
requirements (GFR or GEP)?
Changing from the old to new B.A. will have no effect on
your GFR or GEP requirements. However, changing from the
B.S. to the B.A. will affect your Language or Culture requirements.
Under the GFR requirements (for those who began higher education
before Fall 2007) B.S. students may substitute one Langugae
or Culture (L or C) with a course in mathematics. Under the
GEP requirements (for those beginning on or after Fall 2007)
the B.S. students must complete one Culture course while
B.A. students must complete two. In either case,
changing from the B.S. to the B.A. will require completion
of an additional L or C course.
- What
changes have been made to the BIOL minor program?
The old BIOL required completion of BIOL 100 and BIOL
301, both of which are being phased out. The new major
replaces these two courses with the BIOL 141/BIOL
142 series.
Also, the old BIOL minor program required completion
of the BIOL 100L
Concepts
of Biology Laboratory,
which is to
be phased out. The new minor replaces BIOL 100L with
the new BIOL 300L laboratory course.
- Shouldn't
pre-medical students be enrolled in a Biology B.S. major?
No. This is a misconception. The American
Association of Medical Colleges confirms that
students are admitted to medical school at similar
rates regardless of their major. In fact, applicants with
a humanities B.A. are actually more likely to be admitted
than those with a Biological Sciences degree (50% versus
42% in 2009). The average science, non-science and total
GPA of matriculants is not significantly different by major
nor are the average MCAT scores. While it is true that
students who do not major in Biology or other science still
must achieve similar GPAs in their science classes, enrolling
in a degree program in which you can achieve your best
possible overall GPA should improve your chances of admission.
Don't be fooled into enrolling in the "most difficult"
possible major and achieving a GPA that disqualifies
you from admission (remember, difficulty has more to do
with the talents and abilities of the student than the
topic of the major).
- When will the new
curriculum take effect?
It will take effect starting in the Fall semester of 2010,
with some elements phased in during
Spring 2010 and Fall 2011 (including new laboratory courses).
All Freshmen beginning study on or after that date will
be required to complete the new curriculum. Continuing
students can chose to pursue the old curriculum or to transfer
to one of the new programs (BIOL
B.A., BIOL B.S. or BIOL
minor).
- Will all
courses required for the old curriculum continue to be
taught?
No, but they will be phased out over
several semesters allowing continuing students to meet
major requirements. After the courses are phased out, equivalencies
will be established to allow students to satisfy the requirements
of the old majors by taking new courses in the new majors.
During the phasing out of the old courses students continuing
in the old majors should make the effort to take these
classes before they are phased out.
- Which
courses will be phased out? When will they be phased
out?
The courses BIOL 100 (Concepts of Biology), BIOL
100L (Concepts of Experimental Biology), BIOL
301 (Evolution & Ecology)
and BIOL
303L (Cell Biology Laboratory) are the only
courses that will be phased out. BIOL 100 and BIOL 301
will be replaced by a two-semester introductory biology
series, BIOL 141 (Foundations of Biology: Cells, Energy & Organisms)
and BIOL 142 (Foundations of Biology:
Ecology & Evolution). BIOL 100L will be replaced for
majors by the new BIOL 300L core laboratory course to be
offered for the first time in Fall 2011. BIOL 303L will
be replaced by a projected Cell & Developmental
Biology Laboratory. The old courses will be phased out
by the Fall 2010 semester (a detailed
schedule is
available).
-
Can any courses from the old curriculum be used to satisfy
requirements for new courses in the new curriculum?
Yes, when continuing students change from the old to the
new majors some completed courses can satisfy requirements
for new courses. The requirements for BIOL
141 and BIOL 142 can
be satisfied by previously completed BIOL 100 and BIOL
301, respectively. (BIOL 301 taken during the 2010-2011
academic year can be used to satisfy the BIOL 142 requirement
although you are encouraged to enroll in BIOL 142 when
it is presented starting in Spring 2011.) Previously completed
BIOL 303L would satisfy the requirement for BIOL
300L.
- Will I be
able to count courses in Anatomy & Physiology
or Microbiology toward major requirements?
Yes, in the new curriculum these courses can be used toward
the Junior-level elective requirements.
The combination of BIOL 251 and BIOL
252 (Human Anatomy & Physiology I and II)
will satisfy this elective for the BIOL
B.A. degree. BIOL 275 (Microbiology)
can be used toward this requirement for either the BIOL
B.A. or the BIOL
B.S. degree.
- What
changes will be made in required studies of quantitative
analysis?
The new curriculum has additional requirements in
Mathematics & Statistics or Computer Science. The BIOL
B.A. has two required courses: STAT
350 (Statistics
with Applications in the Biological Sciences) and either MATH
151 (Calculus & Analytical Geometry I) or MATH
155 (Elementary Calculus I). The BIOL
B.S. has two required courses, STAT 350, MATH
151, plus an elective course from this
list: MATH
152 (Calculus and Analytical
Geometry II), MATH 221 (Introduction to
Linear Algebra), STAT 414 (Environmental
Statistics), STAT 420 (Statistics
for Bioinformatics), STAT 454 (Applied
Statistics), or CMSC 201 (Computer
Science I for Majors).
- Does the new curriculum
include Honors College courses?
Yes, honors sections of the first two core courses will
be offered as BIOL 141H and BIOL
142H. These courses are available only to students
in the Honors College. Students will meet for one hour
per week with a faculty member and explore course issues
in greater depth.
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