Major Requirements

The program in biological sciences, administered through the Division of Life Sciences Office of Undergraduate Instruction, is intended to provide a broad and comprehensive training in modern biology. This course of study is recommended for those who wish to study biology as part of their liberal arts education, preparing them for a career in one of the health professions, graduate studies in biology, a teaching career in secondary schools (courses in education also are required), as well as employment in various areas of the life sciences. If a student wishes to concentrate his or her studies in a specific area of biology, he or she should consider a major offered by one of the departments in the Division of Life Sciences or in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Faculty advisers are available to assist each student with course selection and program requirements.

A minimum of 20 credits of coursework from among general biology, genetics, and life sciences electives must be completed in residence. In other words, no more than 16 credits in this part of the major requirements may be transferred from any institution outside of Rutgers–New Brunswick. This rule is intended to assure that students receiving degrees from Rutgers–New Brunswick have taken a minimum number of courses in their major with this faculty. Please keep in mind that although a course may transfer from another institution into one of the Rutgers–New Brunswick schools, it will not necessarily be accepted toward the major in biological sciences. Therefore, all transfer courses must be evaluated and accepted by the advising office of the Office of Undergraduate Instruction in order to count toward the major. As indicated earlier, students must complete both semesters of general biology at the same institution or on the same campus of Rutgers before becoming eligible to declare the biological sciences major.

The course requirements for the biological sciences major are divided into two sections, the life sciences core courses and the life sciences electives.

Required Life Sciences Core Courses (47 credits)

  01:119:101-102  General Biology (4,4)

  01:160:161-162  General Chemistry (4,4) or 01:160:163-164  Honors General Chemistry (4,4)

  01:160:171  Introduction to Experimentation (1)

  01:160:307-308  Organic Chemistry (4,4) or  01:160:315-316  Principles of Organic Chemistry (4,4)

  01:160:311  Organic Chemistry Laboratory (2)

  01:447:380  Genetics (4)

  01:640:135,138  Calculus for the Biological Sciences (4,4)* or 01:640:151-152  Calculus for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (4,4)

  01:750:203-204  General Physics (3,3)**

  01:750:205-206  General Physics Laboratory (1,1)**

Life Sciences Electives (24 credits)

It is highly recommended that students meet with a life sciences adviser in the Division of Life Sciences Office of Undergraduate Instruction when planning their elective courses. It is important that the courses taken complement each other as much as possible and are not merely a collection of unrelated topics.

The electives must include at least three laboratory courses, only one of which may be satisfied by research work. General biology laboratory and "library research" do not qualify for this requirement. A minimum of six courses (18 credits) must be at the 300 or 400 level, including at least three separate laboratory courses or three courses with a laboratory component. The laboratory associated with genetics (382 or equivalent), if taken, may be used to satisfy one of the three laboratory requirements.

No course at the 100 level may be used to satisfy the life sciences elective requirements. A maximum of 6 credits of independent study/research/honors research may be used toward the 24 elective credits. Please keep in mind that a minimum grade-point average of 2.8 is required to enroll in an independent study/research course in biological sciences. Research courses can satisfy only one of the three laboratory requirements, regardless of number of credits. Courses taken on a Pass/Fail basis may not be used to satisfy requirements for the major in biological sciences.

The elective courses must include at least one course each from the Departments of Cell Biology and Neuroscience 146, Genetics 447, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 694, and Ecology and Natural Resources 11:704 at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. A list of approved courses in subject areas in addition to those in the Division of Life Sciences (Biological Sciences 119, Cell Biology and Neuroscience 146, Genetics 447, and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 694) will be published by the advising office of the Office of Undergraduate Instruction. It is strongly recommended that students consult this list, which is available on the website, prior to registering for their courses. Generally, acceptable courses from other departments on any campus of Rutgers University have a year of general biology as a prerequisite; however, there are exceptions. It is imperative for students to consult the published list and/or meet with an adviser. Cooperative education, online, and winter session credits may not be used to satisfy requirements for the major in biological sciences.

*With permission, 01:640:138 (4) may be substituted by 01:960:379  Basic Probability and Statistics (3) or 01:960:401  Basic Statistics for Research (3).
**01:750:193-194 (4,4) or 01:750:201-202 (5,5) may be substituted for 01:750:203-204 (3,3) plus 01:750:205-206 (1,1).