MAKING ADVISING APPOINTMENTS

To make an advising appointment with Dr. Carter go through your CSULB Single Sign On and search there. You can also use this link.

The full list of CSULB CNSM academic advisors is HERE.

Before you make an appointment however, I strongly suggest reading the information below. Many common questions and confusions can be cleared up just be being aware of what is written below.

If you have a simple question you can also send an email. When sending an email be sure to do the following:

• Use the email acount associated with CSULB. Emails from unrecognized addresses are often treated as spam by the CSULB email system.
• Always include your name as listed in the CSULB system, not a nickname.
• Always include your student ID number.

USEFUL LINKS

• Biology department's website: go here for useful information about the department.
• Courses in catalog: make sure that the drop-down menu at the top shows the current academic year.
• Schedule of classes: scroll down to find the semester you're interested in. Note that there are 3 tabs, the left shows courses by department and the right shows courses by GE requirement.
• Timely graduation policy: this has CSULB's rules about how many classes you can take and how long you can stay a student.

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• UCUA: the University Center for Undergraduate Advising. This is for information about other majors.
• SAS Center: they provide useful services for science students.
• Learning Assistance Center: provides tutoring.
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) website: provides mental health services.
• Bob Murphy Access Center (BMAC) website: provides resources for students with physical and learning disabilities.
• Veteran's Services website: provides resources for students who served in the military.
• Scholarship information: go here for access to information about CSULB scholarships available and application procedures.

BIOLOGY MAJOR (GENERAL OPTION) REQUIREMENTS

READ THIS FIRST

• Always check in your Student Center and select the drop down item Academic requirements to see what courses you need and which ones you have already taken.
• The University catalog is the official source for your academic requirements.
• A link to the 2024-2025 catalog requirements for the biology major is HERE.
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• The requirements listed below apply to new majors and transfer students. If you have been a student for a while, you may have slightly different requirements based on when you declared your major.

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NON-BIOLOGY COURSES

• MATH: all students must take one semester of calculus, .
  • Math 119A or Math 122.
  • Math 119A is designed for biology majors whereas Math 122 is designed for chemistry, physics, math, and engineering majors. If you plan to take more than one semester you must take Math 122 as a pre-req for the other calculus courses, but this isn't necessary for most post-bacc biology programs.
  
  
• PHYSICS: all students must take two semesters of physics.
  • Phys 100A or Phys 151.
  • Phys 100B or Phys 152.
  • Phys 100A and 100B are designed for biology majors whereas Phys 151 and 152 are designed for chemistry, physics, math, and engineering majors. There is no huge rush to take these courses since they are not pre-reqs for other courses required for the major.
  
  
• CHEMISTRY: all students must take a year of introductory chemistry and a year of organic chemistry with lab.
  • Introductory chemistry courses.
  • Chem 111A or Chem 112A.
  • Chem 111B or Chem 112B. Chem 111A is a pre-req for Chem 112A and Chem 111B is a pre-req for Chem 112B
    • Take these courses ASAP.
    • To take Chem 111A you have to pass the chemistry placement test, take this ASAP.
    • Passing Chem 111A and Chem 111B are required to declare the major.
  • Organic chemistry courses.
  • Chem 220A. Chem 111A/111B or 112A/112B are pre-reqs.
  • Chem 223A. Chem 220A is a co-req. If you pass Chem 220A, but fail Chem 223A you can retake this by itself.
  • Chem 220B. Chem 220A is a pre-req.
  • Chem 223B. Chem 220A and Chem 223A are pre-reqs and Chem 220B is a co-req. If you pass Chem 223A, but fail Chem 223B you can retake this by itself.
    • The Chem 220A/220B/223A/223B courses are pre-reqs for the biochemistry course(s) that many students want to take.
  
  

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BIOLOGY COURSES

• Four Biology lower division core courses
  • Bio 211: Chem 111A or Chem 112A is a pre-req/co-req.
  • Bio 212: Bio 211 is a pre-req. Chem 111B or Chem 112B is a pre-req/co-req.
  • Bio 213: Bio 211 and Bio 212 are pre-reqs. Chem 111B or Chem 112B is a pre-req.
  • Bio 260: Bio 211 and Math 113 (or Math 119A or Math 122) are pre-reqs.

• Five Biology upper division core courses:
  • Bio 312: Bio 211/212/213/260 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 340: Bio 211/212 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 350: Bio 211/212/213/260 and Math 119A (or Math 122) are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 370: Bio 211/212 and either Bio 260 or Chem 251 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 480: requires departmental consent. All students take this during their final spring or fall semester, not before.

• One Biology upper division physiology course
  • Take one of the following 3 options
  • Bio 342 and Bio 342L: Bio 211/212/213 are pre-reqs. Bio 342L must can be taken in the same semester or later than Bio 342. This is the choice that pre-health students should take.
  • Bio 345 and Bio 345L: Bio 211/212/213 are pre-reqs. Bio 345L must can be taken in the same semester or later than Bio 345. This is the choice that pre-vet students, ecology and environmentally-focused students, and those interested in a broader scope of physiology should take.
  • Bio 447: Bio 340 and 370 are pre-reqs. This is the choice for students interested more in molecular and cellular biology or lab research should take. If this option is chosen, either the Bio 342 or Bio 345 course is still a valid choice for one of the elective courses (see below).
  • Note that students are not allowed to enroll in Bio 342 or Bio 345 if they have already passed the other due to the similarity and overlap of topics. Before you take either Bio 342 or Bio 345, be sure you are taking the one that best fits your educational and professional plans.

• Two biology upper division organismal diversity courses
  • Take two courses from the lists below.
  • Note that one of them must be from the first set of 5 courses, but the second can be any of the remaining courses from either set.
  • Note that if you take a 4 unit course for the second one, then one of those units will be counted in the upper level elective requirement (next category).
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  • Bio 313: Bio 211/212/213 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 316: Bio 211/212/213 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 324: Bio 211/212/213 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 427: Bio 312 or 370 are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 439: Bio 312 or 350 or 370 are pre-reqs.
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  • Bio 311: Bio 211/212 and Chem 111B or 112B are pre-reqs. This is a pre-req for many health-related post-bacc programs.
  • Bio 419: Bio 211/212/213/260 and 6 other units of upper division courses are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 421: Bio 260/350 and one other upper division course are pre-reqs.
  • Bio 423: Bio 312 or 324 or 350 is a pre-req.
  • Bio 424: Bio 211/212/213/260 and 3 other units of upper division courses are pre-reqs.

• Nine additional units of biology upper elective courses
  • The requirement is to take 9 units of upper division (i.e., 300 or 400 level) biology courses and at least 6 of these units must be at the 400 level.
  • All biology courses at the 300 or 400 level (except Bio 300 and Bio 301) can be taken to fulfill these requirements.
  • This requirement is an additional 9 units, course units taken to fulfill the other requirements above cannot be double counted here.
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  • Geog 481 can be taken to count for 4 of these units.
  • Chem 441A or Chem 448 can be taken to count for 3 of these units. Note that students are not allowed to take both of these.
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  • Note that if you take a 4 unit course for your second organismal diversity course, then 1 extra unit from that course (since technically that requirement is 3 units) will be assigned to this 9 unit requirement.
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  • Up to 3 units from the Bio 494/495/496 courses can be used to fulfill this requirement, but these are not required.

CSULB SPECIFIC ACADEMIC ADVICE

• Bio 370 counts as a Upper division category B GE course so you don't need to worry about this GE category in your CSULB degree requirements.

• In your Student Center, use the drop-down menu to select Academic requirements to look at what you need for a biology degree. You will get a screen that shows you red boxes (unmet requirements), yellow diamonds (requirements you are currently taking a course for), and green circles (requirements you have met).

• In your Academic Requirements screen, in the sections marked BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 400 LEVEL ELECTIVES and BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES UPPER DIVISION ELECTIVES there is a link called "View Course List" that shows you what can count for this. Note that the list it shows is only the first 10 courses, there is a small arrow in the upper right that you can click to show you the rest of the courses that count. Many students have missed this and don't realize how many courses can count.

• The Bio 340 course is a prerequisite for several upper level health-related courses (e.g., immunology, biology of cancer, developmental biology, molecular plant physiology) so you should take this course if you are interested in these kinds of courses. Also, Bio 340 doesn't require Bio 213 as a pre-req so you can take it earlier than most other upper division biology courses.

• Make plans for your pre-reqs. When making your long-term academic plan you should identify the upper division (300 and 400 level) elective courses you are interested in early. This is because these courses (400 level in particular) have pre-reqs which can include 300 level courses. You can find the course list, with description and pre-reqs using the "courses in catalog" link above.

• If you are planning for a post-bacc program (e.g., physician's assistant, nursing, wildlife management, forensic biology, genetic counseling) you should look at the academic requirements for the programs ASAP. There will typically be required scientific courses you need to take. There may also be non-scientific recommendations that you may be able to take while fulfilling your GE requirements. Instead of thinking of your GE courses as a checklist for graduation, see if you can choose some to assist with your post graduation plans.

  For example, at least one local physician's assisant program requires a course in medical terminology and another requries sociology. Spanish is also recommended for some programs.

• If you are interested in taking both semesters of biochemistry you may wish to consider the Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology option instead of the General option. The second semester of the Chem 441A/441B biochem sequence does not count as an elective in the General option whereas both semesters are required for the Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology option. However, except for Bio 311 (microbiology), none of the organismal diversity courses will count towards the Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology option. If you want to take some of these courses then the general option is probably the best option for you. Most post-bacc programs require only one semester of biochem, but be sure to check the specific programs you're interested in.

• The Bio 494/495/496 courses work differently from standard courses. You do not enroll in these like other courses. For 494, you arrange your own off-campus internship and then contact the Bio 494 instructor to see if it qualifies for Bio 494 credit. For Bio 495, you and a faculty member agree that you will assist them in teaching a lab course. For Bio 496, you and a faculty member agree that you will join their research lab and engage in independent research. Only after these "experiential" activities have been arranged with your the Bio 494 instructor or your Bio 495/496 advisor will you be able to enroll in these courses.

• Many health-related post-bacc programs have specific course requirements you should be aware of. The most common ones are:
  • Bio 208 (anatomy). This required for most nursing, physician's assistant, and similar programs. This course does not count towards the biology degree and would be an extra course you take as a pre-req for those programs. Because you're not using it for your CSULB degree, you may wish to consider taking this at your local community college.

  • Bio 311 (microbiology). This required for most nursing, physician's assistant, pharmacy, and similar programs. This course is one of the choices in the organismal diversity category for the biology degree above. If you take Bio 311 you don't have to worry about taking Bio 201.

  • Bio 342 (human and mammalian physiology). This required for most nursing, physician's assistant, pharmacy, and similar programs. This course is one of the choices in the physiology requirement for the biology degree above. If you take Bio 342 you don't have to worry about taking Bio 207.

  • Biochemistry. Many program require only one semester of biochemistry, but a few may require two semesters. If you need two semesters, you should take Chem 441A and Chem 441B. If you need one semester, you can take either take Chem 441A or Chem 448.

• You cannot take both Bio 342 and Bio 345 since they are too similar. Since these courses are pre-reqs for many post-bacc programs, make sure you know what you want to do after your CSULB degree before you decide which of these to take.

• You cannot take either Bio 300 or Bio 301 since they are GE courses designed for non-science majors.

• All courses have enrollment caps set by either the room size or the workload that the course places on the person teaching them. For most courses all the seats are first come first served. Some courses have a few seats reserved for specific students however.

  Here are the most common reasons for seats being reserved.

  • Some biology major options require certain courses while for others they are one choice among several. For example, the Bio 311 course is required for microbiology majors and biology education students, but not by the other options. As another example, Bio 260 seats are reserved for biology majors and students from other departments that often want biostats (e.g., kinesiology) have to wait until after these seats open to enroll.

  • New transfer students don’t enroll until after all current students so some seats are reserved for them in courses that new transfer students commonly take. For example, Bio 260, Bio 340, 342, and 342L.

  • Some courses require that a student be in their final semester. Bio 480 seats are reserved for these students and will not open to other categories.

  The schedule of classes (link above) lists the exact reason for the reservation in the comment section of the course listing. If there are courses you want, but can’t get into I strongly recommend recording the dates when they will open up and checking back to see if seats open up and you can enroll. Also, check the courses a week or two before the semester starts. About a week before the semester starts the university does an automated sweep and deletes the waitlist. From that moment on, if a student drops a course (e.g., their plans change or financial aid falls through) their seat will open up. The first person who notices this will get that seat.

  Identify the courses that you really want so that you can prioritize them in the semester when they are available. This is also why it’s very important to look ahead through your entire future plan and determine which courses you especially want to take and is why I have students write out their full academic plan when we meet for mandatory advising. Don’t wait until your final semester before trying to enroll in a course you need for your post-bacc plans and then find out that you can’t get in.

MORE GENERAL ACADEMIC ADVICE

After a number of years of experience advising students I decided to write the advice below to help students.

The advice here reflects my personal opinions based on my experiences with students for more than 15 years at FSU and CSULB and is not an official departmental or university statement. The focus of this document is the truth as I see it; this advice is designed to help you make good decisions, not to make you feel good. Some of these points are general and some are very specific.

Reading through everything below will help you make the best of your time here at CSULB.

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• The biology major is a great major, the material is very interesting and the broad nature of the degree prepares you for a wide range of opportunities. You will learn very interesting things that the general public never hears about or understands; you will genuinely be in the educated elite when you finish. On the other hand, a biology major is not really a terminal degree that serves as a direct preparation for very many careers. The degree does set you up for a number of lucrative and high quality careers, but usually after further graduate or professional training (LINK). You should therefore research exactly what these graduate and professional programs require before you graduate and prepare yourself while here.

• In today's world, a degree with a good GPA is the minimum qualification to get a job or into graduate or professional school, it is not enough all by itself. Gaining additional skills or technical certificates that are relevant to your goals can help your resume or application stand out from the many competitors you will face for every position. If you're thinking about becoming a medical professional you should consider learning skills such as sterile technique, phlebotomy, first aid, EMT, etc. If you're thinking about becoming an environmental or ecological professional you should consider learning skills such as small animal trapping, firearms safety and marksmanship, manual transmission driving, SCUBA, etc.

• If you are considering graduate or professional school you should strongly consider gaining research experience by working in a biology or chemistry research lab alongside a faculty member. An experience like this is essentially mandatory for getting into graduate schools and is not yet required for professional and medical schools, but is headed that way for medical school for sure. This opportunity is arranged informally and the burden to get this started lies with you, this is not some course you just sign up for. The departmental website has a listing of the faculty in the department and their research interests and many faculty members have detailed websites describing their labs and policies for accepting students. The departmental office has a list of each faculty member's office hours. Every faculty member runs their lab differently and has their own criteria for accepting students. There are also a number of national, state, local and campus programs that fund research experiences on campus during the academic year and in other places during the summer.
  If you are considering a science PhD program, a link to a famous, albeit cynical, set of advice written by Stephen Sterns (a famous ecologist) is here. A less cynical response by Raymond Huey (a friend and colleague of Stephen Sterns) is here. Graduate school can be an amazing and life-changing experience, but it is not easy.

• If you are interested in medical school to get an MD you should realize that this is very competitive. CSULB students do go to medical school, but they typically have very high GPAs and undertake a variety of other activities to make themselves competitive. For example, over 10% of CSULB CNSM students have GPAs above 3.5 so if your GPA is not that high you are probably not that competitive for medical school. If you think your compelling personal story matters, remember that people all across the country have their own compelling stories and you are competing with all of them. Post-bac programs are not effective for raising your GPA after graduation, if you think these will help you fix your low GPA that is not very likely. Majoring in biology with the goal of becoming an MD is a perfectly good plan, but in 2012 only about 3% of medical school applicants were accepted and started in each program. If you apply to many programs your odds are obviously higher than this, since the programs go through their waitlists when accepted students enroll elsewhere, but you may be very limited in where you may be accepted or what financial assistance is provided.

  You should be sure to develop backup plans so that you prepare yourself for a good future if you do not get into medical school. There are many other careers in the medical field aside from being a physician that allow a person to earn a good living and provide an important service to society and to the needy. An excellent website describing many of them is here: explorehealthcareers.org. Please consider these if you are planning to become an MD and there is any doubt about your ability to accomplish this.

• If you plan to enroll in a graduate or professional school after graduation you will take a standardized test like the MCAT, GRE, DAT, OAT, or something else. Whatever test you take, you should begin preparing and studying for this your freshman year and spend a large amount of time each summer on this. Because the reputations and rankings of programs in places like the US News and World Reports are partly based on the average test scores of their students, programs weigh these test scores heavily in their admission procedures. Different institutions and majors also vary widely in the grades they give so GPA is seen as a less reliable metric than it once was. Many places have minimum test scores for acceptance (even if not publicly described) and nobody will bother reading your personal statement or looking at your transcript if you don't meet that score.

• There are four main types of CSULB instructors that you will encounter teaching biology classes and labs: Professors, full-time lecturers, adjunct faculty and teaching assistants.
  • Professors have PhDs, are granted "tenure" based on their teaching and research accomplishments after a few years and form the core of a university faculty community. Professors teach both general courses at the lower levels and advanced courses in their area of expertise as well as design the curriculum and move up to administrative positions later in their career. Professors are the main group that also conducts research and their job is a balance between both teaching and scientific research.
  • Full-time lecturers teach lower and upper level courses and while some perform research, they don't have labs and their job is almost entirely based on teaching. Full-time lecturers are not granted "tenure", but are long term employees that participate in many of the decisions the department makes and therefore also contribute to the university community in an important way.
  • Adjunct faculty members are hired to teach individual courses and are essentially temporary employees for only the duration of that course. Adjuncts are sometimes hired to teach upper level courses when faculty have sabbaticals or leaves of absence and are sometimes hired to teach extra sections of lower level courses in high demand. Adjuncts typically do not conduct research at CSULB or participate in the overall university mission aside from their individual course(s). Many adjunct faculty members also teach at other institutions or have other jobs so they may have limited availability for meeting on campus.
  • Teaching assistants are CSULB graduate students hired to teach labs. Being a teaching assistant allows these students to learn about teaching and receive financial support from the university while conducting the research required for their master’s degree. You may find your teaching assistants more approachable than the faculty; they are a valuable resource for you.

• The university has a number of resources for finding programs that can provide financial support and professional opportunities. The CSULB scholarship office administers a number of scholarships and the link to them is above. Often, there are fewer applicants for scholarships than you may think, it's worth it checking them out. The SAS center (link above) also has resources for science students that can be very useful.

• The university has a variety of tutoring resources for students having difficulties in their classes. The SAS center (see link above) in the Hall of Science has tutoring available in many science and math classes. The Learning Assistance Center (see link above) has tutoring available for biology, chemistry, math and physics classes. Also, educational studies have also shown that students belonging to study groups do better than ones who study in isolation; you should try to find yourself a peer group of students serious about their studies to meet with for your classes. There is no shame in getting help; we all have difficulties with some courses.

• If you ever feel like you don't belong or that everybody else is more knowledgeable that you - you are not alone and you're not seeing the whole picture. CSULB was built with everyone's tax money for the benefit of everyone in California, you have just as much right to be here as anyone else. We all have self-doubt, but the fact that people are embarrassed to admit it means that we often feel like we are the only ones who feel like this. You are not alone in feeling overwhelmed and having struggles sometimes, this happens to all of us, especially at the beginning and end of our college years.
  If your negative feelings become severe, CSULB has a campus program, CAPS (see link above), which can provide counseling and assistance. I have personally known several struggling CSULB students who have made use of the assistance that CAPS can provide and become successful. There is no shame in getting help, the world is a difficult place and it is better to face a problem with help and solve it than remain in denial alone and become overwhelmed.

• Be careful to keep your educational priorities paramount and insulated against distractions. Many students work to earn money while in school and that often can't be helped, but do your best to avoid letting a dead end job derail your long term career. Significant others can also pose a threat to your studies; I have seen numerous examples of students making sacrifices for partners only to regret it and students doing poorly on exams when their partners put them through emotional turmoil the night before. Sometimes we do find our life-long spouses in college, but if you know your partner isn't that person (or aren't sure) do not let their actions compromise your education.

• Many students struggle with the expectations of their parents, family and high school teachers. These people care about you, but they do not have all the answers or all the information about the best choices for you to make; no single person or source does (including this document). Everyone has imperfect knowledge full of gaps and biases; you should seek out advice from many sources and then use the totality of this advice. If you do come to realize that your parents or family have opinions and priorities that differ from your own this can be difficult, but remember that they care about you and your best strategy will be one in which you educate them rather than staying in denial or being angry at them.

• If you plan to become a biology teacher by enrolling in CSULB's secondary science teacher credential program after your biology degree you may benefit by taking extra courses. That credential program requires a total of 10 courses prior to beginning student teaching, but 4 of them can be taken prior to starting the credential program. If you take some or all of these 4 courses prior to taking EDSS 300 (the first course in the program) and starting the credential program you can accelerate your credential program. Details about these courses are listed at www.csulb.edu/college-of-education/students/explore-our-programs.

• Note that new rules at CSULB limit students to retaking a failed course only once under ordinary circumstances (there are exceptions, but they are rare). If you fail a required course twice you will therefore probably not be able to complete the requirements for the major. If this happens, you may be better off investigating alternative majors rather than continuing to take other courses for a major you cannot complete.

• The single most common challenge for biology students is the two semester sequence of organic chemistry. Other options within the major allow a pair of survey courses in organic and biochemistry instead which may be easier, but some graduate schools and professional schools may require the full two semester organic sequence. Be sure to look at the application requirements of your intended post-CSULB programs or jobs when you decide on your choice of biology option or courses you take.

• The biology major requires physics, but this is not a prerequisite for any other courses in the major. I would recommend taking physics later rather than earlier because revisiting math late in your degree can be beneficial for preparing for the standardized tests that are required for application to graduate and professional schools (the exams typically have math content) and it is more important to make progress on your biology and chemistry courses early. If there is a risk you won't pass on your first attempt however, do not leave this to your final year.