Biology Program Guide

 

Graduation Requirements

The graduation requirements for a B.Sc. degree are as follows...

You need to satisfy both the Faculty of Science requirements and the requirements of the Biology Program for your Program Option.

Faculty of Science Requirements:

1. Total Credits

- A Major, General Science, or Integrated Science program requires a minimum of 120 credits

- An Honours or Combined Honours program requires a minimum of 132 credits, but may vary depending on the program

2. Science Requirement

- At least 72 credits must be in Science courses

3. Upper level courses (numbered 300 or higher)

-For the BSc major 30 of the 48 upper level credits must be in Science courses. The remaining 18 upper level credits may be in any faculty.

- Courses for upper-level Science credit are normally restricted to the offerings of the Faculty of Science. There are some exceptions and upper-level Science credit may be obtained for courses in other faculties...

Geography - courses numbered 00-09 in the last digits, and GEOG 370, 372, 373, and 470.

Psychology - In addition to PSYC 348 and 448 all psychology courses numbered 60 or above in the last two digits have Science credit.

Land and Food Systems - ANSC 321, 322, 323 and 425; FNH 350, 351, 450 and 451.

Medicine - ANAT 390, 391, all BIOC, PCTH, PHYL, and MEDG 410 to 421.

Warning: There are some Science courses not for credit in Biology B.Sc. programs. These include: ASTR 310, 311; BIOL 344, 345, 346; CHEM 430; MATH 335, 336, 337; MICB 415; EOS 310, 311, 312, 314, 315; PHYS 340, 341, 343; STAT 303.

4. Lower level courses

- In the first 60 credits, every student, unless enrolled in Science One, must complete the minumum requirements in English, physical sciences, computational sciences, biology or another science, and laboratory science. No more than 3 credits of lower lever requirements may be deferred beyond the first 60 credits completed, and English and Math 100, 102, 104, 120, 180, or 184 may not be deferred. Each program may require additional first- and second-year courses.

- English ~ Students must take 6 credits of 100 level English, either ENGL 100, 111, 112, 120, or 121, but ENGL 112 is recommended.

- Physical Sciences ~ Students must take 6 credits of 100 level chemisty either CHEM 121 & 123 or 111 & 113, but students must take CHEM 111 first if they did not pass grade 12 Chemistry. Additionally, students must take 3 credits of 100 level physics either PHYS 101 or 121, but students must take PHYS 100 first if they did not pass grade 12 physics.

- Computational Sciences ~ Students must take 6 credits of 100 level mathematics, 3 credits from MATH 100, 102, 104, 120, 180, or 184 and 3 credits from MATH 101, 103, 105, or 121.

- Biology~ Students must take BIOL 112 and 121 but if they did not pass grade 12 Biology they must first take BIOL 111

- Labratory Sciences ~ Students must take BIOL 140, but BIOL 240 is optional

5. Arts Requirement

- At least 18 credits must be in Arts courses, which includes six credits of 100 level English.

6. Breadth Requirement

- A student must take at least 9 credits in Arts or Science outside of the field of major (i.e. not Life Sciences)

7. Free Electives: A Major B.Sc. may include up to 15 credits from a Faculty other than Science or Arts (e.g. Agricultural Sciences, Commerce, Forestry). Since these are free electives they may also be chosen from Science or Arts. These credits may also count toward the minimum 48 upper-level credits for the degree.

8. The Honours degree and other options have slightly different requirements. All the details are in the UBC Calendar.

Determining whether you have met graduation requirements.

You should use the worksheet for your program option to determine whether you have completed graduation requirements.

Cross off the blocks corresponding to all courses that you have taken. Be sure to include courses that you have transferred from other institutions. Circle the blocks for courses you are currently taking. Put the course numbers of each elective course in the appropriate type of block, including biology program electives.

If you complete this exercise and still have unmarked blocks, you are probably short courses required for graduation. If you are uncertain about individual courses, see a biology advisor.

Special agreements regarding course credits and transfers are often made by biology advisors or by the Dean's office. These decisions should be recorded in letters or notes that are included in your permanent file in the Dean's Office. You should ask for and retain copies of any letters written on your behalf concerning acceptability of transfer credits or unusual course credit arrangements.

Graduation averages are calculated at the time of graduation and consist of the average of all upper level required courses and the best 9 credits of program electives in Majors and Honours respectively.

Program core requirements (second- and third-year courses required of all students in a particular biology program option) plus

Program-specific electives. These are chosen from a specific list for each program option.

Electives Explained

 

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