The Department of Biology offers the following degrees:
Information on coursework requirements for these programs may be found in four places:
Checklists
Impaction
Biology is an impacted major. This does not mean that we have a limit to the number of Biology majors. Instead, it means that incoming freshman and transfer students are classified as "Premajors." Premajors should be working through introductory coursework, while majors can concentrate on their upper division classes for the major. To enter the Biology major requires:
The single biggest difficulty that university students have is learning to balance their academic responsibilities and their financial responsibilities (i.e., work). If you are working 20+ hours per week, you should probably keep your academic load to no more than 12 units. Suppose you are carrying 12 units (with no labs) and working 20 hours a week. Work and class time would add up to 32 hours a week before you can begin to account for the other necessities, like eating, sleeping, studying, driving between home, school, and work, having a little fun, etc. Also remember that a 1 unit laboratory class will take 2 1/2 hours every week. We do not recommend that any students take more than 2 lab units per semester (whether these 2 are for the same class, or different classes).
Prerequisites are placed on a class for a reason. If a course lists chemistry as a prerequisite to a course, then the faculty will expect that you understand chemistry at the prescribed level when you walk into that course. The professor will teach the class based on this expected understanding. The professor has the right to drop students who do not have the prerequisites. It is unwise to take a course without the necessary prerequisites, and then end up with a D or F. If you are having trouble filling your schedule, come see us in the bioadvising office.
Do not start taking all your GE courses during the freshman year. There are many difficult upper division courses, as well as time-intensive lab courses throughout the major. We advise you to spread out your GE courses across your entire time at SDSU, including your final year. This will help create a reasonable workload each semester. Except for seniors who are in their final semester, try not to carry more than three science courses/semester.
The Biology major requires three semesters of introductory chemistry, followed by two semesters of Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology. Each of these courses is a prerequisite for the next, and the final two are prerequisites for numerous upper division courses.
Every semester we counsel students who are in serious academic trouble, and some have been disqualified from the university. Most commonly, these students are in trouble because they have not paid attention to prerequisites or have tried to carry an unreasonable academic load, given their other life responsibilities. Come see us as soon as you start having trouble in your courses. We can help you get on the right track before it is too late.
SDSU offers degrees in Biology and Microbiology with the opportunity for emphasis in many areas. We do not have a "Pre-Med" major, but many of our majors aspire to attend medical school or other health profession programs. Visit the web site of our Preprofessional Health Advising Office for specific information about academic preparation in the following areas:
Premedical |
Predental |
Preveterinary |
Prepharmacy |
Prepodiatry |
Preoptometry |
Prephysician Assistant |
PreChiropractic |
PrePublic Health |
Allied Health Fields |
The director Ms. Barbara Huntington has an excellent track record of helping students submit successful application to those programs. She would like to meet with you as soon as you get to SDSU. We in the Bioadvising office will make sure that you get your bachelor's degree, while Ms. Huntington will help get you into medical school.
See us for advising:
- When you need advice on which courses to take
- When you get a C- or less in any course
- If you have a lower division GPA < 2.7, or upper division GPA < 2.0
- Before using course forgiveness
- Before taking any GE course in the sciences
- Before taking any course Credit/noCredit
- When planning for research (Special studies: Bio 497, 499)
Call the advising office at 619-594-6442, or email us at bioundergrad@sunstroke.sdsu.edu. You may also stop by the office in 135 Life Science North for a walk-in appointment between 8:00-noon and 1:00-4:30, Monday to Friday.
You should see us in the Biology advising office for advice on all science courses. The university's advising office may be able to help with GE and general graduation requirements.
See us in the bioadvising office as soon as possible so we can discuss your options. You should also see the list of services that is maintained by the Division of Undergraduate Studies.
SDSU's rules on course forgiveness and retaking courses are changing in Fall 2009. The new rules are here. See us in the bioadvising office before making any decisions about retaking a course.
If you have completed the lower division coursework and met the impaction requirements listed above, make an appointment to meet with us in the bioadvising office.
Come see us in the bioadvising office ASAP.
See us as soon as you are considering a minor in Biology, so we can advise on coursework.
An emphasis is a formal program of study within the major that indicates specialization in a certain area of study. Essentially, an emphasis indicates the focus or concentration of your upper division electives. So, for example, an Emphasis in Zoology will have similar coursework to a major in Zoology at another institution. Some, but not all, students decide to declare an emphasis.
See our information page on teaching at the elementary and secondary levels.
SDSU is not accepting applications for second bachelor's degrees. See the university's information on this topic.
Email or visit us in the bioadvising office so we can discuss the process with you. For almost all science courses, we will be your primary contact, not the university's Office of Advising and Evaluations. Courses from California community colleges may articulate automatically if there is a current agreement with SDSU. Check assist.org for a list of current agreements.
No. Not as written in the catalog. This is very important. Open up your 2009-2010 General Catalog to page 85. See the bottom: "A. Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning". Cross out that section. Turn to page 86. Cross out the entire left column. As a Biology major, you do not need to complete anything from this section. The courses listed there (or more advanced courses) are already part of your premajor.
In most cases, students may apply upper division research coursework towards their degree. These courses are numbered Bio 497 and 499. For some emphases, upper division research units from other departments may be used instead (consult the SDSU General Catalog).
- Admission into the Biology major (all lower division courses completed).
- A minimum 2.7 GPA for Upper Division major courses (covering at least 9 UD units for the major). Some exceptions may be made if the UD GPA is at least 2.5 but not 2.7. Please see the Biology advising office for more information.
If you do not meet these requirements, you may enroll in Biol. 299 Special Studies, but not 497 or 499.
You can see a brief research summary of each professor's research on the Biology department web site, and links to each professor's home page.
See our information page on crashing.
With approximately 35,000 students from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, San Diego State University is the third largest university in California. US News and World Report now ranks SDSU 20th nationally for racial diversity. SDSU ranks second nationwide for students studying abroad during college, sixth in the nation for the most bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics (26% of the undergraduate population), second in California for bachelor's degrees awarded to minorities, and has 3.5% international undergraduates. The Department of Biology serves 1400+ Biology and Microbiology majors, 300+ Biology minors, thousands of students that take Biology courses for pre-nursing and other fields, and the vast majority of non-science majors through its General Education courses. Biology offers 50-60 undergraduate courses per semester.
See information on numerous programs on the web site for CASA (Center for the Advancement of students in Academia).
See the San Diego State University Veterans Center and the Troops to College web site.
Contact the International Student Center. If you wish to earn your Bachelor's degree at SDSU, email International Admissions. If you wish only to visit for a short time (1-2 semesters) and take courses while you are here, contact the Exchange Program.
Contact the International Student Center, 619-594-2475 or studyabroad@sdsu.edu
Possibly. If you wish to take courses at SDSU and are not officially enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate program, you may enroll in those courses through the Open University. As an "Open University student," you may not register for a particular course until the professor has verified that all regularly enrolled students have enrolled. That will limit your selection in some courses that fill early because they are small and/or heavily utilized by full time students. You can check the online schedule of classes to see the number of seats available for both this semester and past semesters, or email the course instructor to ask if they typically accomodate Open University students.
Please attend one of the Academic Orientation Days over summer, before classes begin (see this web site for the latest information). We will answer your questions and help you plan your courses for fall. Most importantly, you will be able to register early: the next day after the orientation!
If you cannot attend orientation, make sure to examine these Biology Department Advising web pages, especially the checklists above, and the roadmap. Come visit us in the Biology undergraduate advising office before you register if at all possible.
