Biology Major, Bachelor of Science (BS)
Graduation Requirements: Complete the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Major Field Test for Biology.
Review the Biology Department website for additional information about advising tracks including Pre-Veterinary medicine, Pre-Pharmacy, and many others.
Grade Requirements: a cumulative GPA ≥2.0 for all courses in student’s curriculum in Biology.
| Required Biology Courses | ||
| BIOL 171 & 171L | BIOLOGY I and BIOLOGY I LAB | 5 |
| BIOL 172 & 172L | BIOLOGY II and BIOLOGY II LAB | 5 |
| BIOL 173 & 173L | BIOLOGY III and BIOLOGY III LAB | 5 |
| BIOL 270 & 270L | BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION and BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION LAB | 3 |
| BIOL 310 | FUNDAMENTALS OF GENETICS | 5 |
Choose one of the following | ||
| BIOL 301 & 301L | MICROBIOLOGY and MICROBIOLOGY LAB | 5 |
| or BIOL 302 & 302L | BOTANY and BOTANY LAB | |
| or BIOL 303 & 303L | INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY and INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY LAB | |
| or BIOL 304 & 304L | VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY and VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY LAB | |
Choose one of the following | ||
| BIOL 423 | EVOLUTION | 4-5 |
| or BIOL 440 | ECOLOGY | |
Choose one of the following | ||
| BIOL 436 | CELL BIOLOGY | 5 |
| or BIOL 438 | MOLECULAR BIOLOGY | |
Choose one of the following | ||
| BIOL 334 & 334L | HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY III and HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY III LAB | 4-5 |
| or BIOL 351 | PRINCIPLES OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY | |
| or BIOL 352 | PRINCIPLES OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY | |
| or BIOL 353 | PRINCIPLES OF MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY | |
| Required Supporting Courses | ||
| BIOL 380 | DATA ANALYSIS FOR BIOLOGISTS | 5 |
| or MATH 161 | CALCULUS I | |
| or MATH 380 | ELEMENTARY PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS | |
| CHEM 171 & 171L & CHEM 172 & CHEM 172L & CHEM 173 & CHEM 173L | GENERAL CHEMISTRY I and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY I and GENERAL CHEMISTRY II and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY II and GENERAL CHEMISTRY III and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY III | 15 |
| Electives–21 of 36 credits must be in Biology, non-Biology electives must be approved by faculty advisor. | 36 | |
| Required Senior Capstone | ||
| BIOL 490 & 490L | SENIOR CAPSTONE and SENIOR CAPSTONE LAB | 5 |
| Total Credits | 102-104 | |
Plan of Study
The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.
Courses could be offered in different terms, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| BIOL 171 & 171L | 5 | BIOL 172 & 172L | 5 | BIOL 173 & 173L | 5 |
| CHEM 171 & 171L (Natural Science BACR 1) | 5 | CHEM 172 & 172L (Natural Science BACR 2) | 5 | BIOL 270 & 270L | 3 |
| ENGL 101 | 5 | ENGL 201 | 5 | CHEM 173 & 173L | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 2 | ||||
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| BIOL 301 & 301L (or BIOL 302 & BIOL 302L, BIOL 303 & BIOL 303L, BIOL 304 & 304L) | 5 | BIOL 310 | 5 | BIOL 436 or 438 | 5 |
| BIOL 380, MATH 161, or MATH 380 | 5 | BIOL 423 or 440 | 4-5 | Biology Elective2 | 4 |
| Diversity - graduation requirement1 | 5 | Global Studies - graduation requirement1 | 5 | Humanities & Arts BACR 11 | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 2 | ||||
| 15 | 14-15 | 16 | |||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| BIOL 334 & 334L (or BIOL 351, BIOL 352, BIOL 353) | 5 | Biology Elective2 | 4 | Biology Elective2 | 4 |
| Biology Elective2 | 4 | Biology Elective2 | 4 | Social Science BACR 21 | 5 |
| Humanities & Arts BACR 21 | 5 | Social Science BACR 11 | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 1 | Elective - minor or general elective | 2 | Elective - minor or general elective | 1 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| Biology Elective2 | 4 | Biology Elective2 | 4 | BIOL 490 & 490L (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement) | 5 |
| Biology Elective 2 | 4 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Biology Elective2 | 4 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 | Elective - minor or general elective | 5 |
| Elective - minor or general elective | 3 | Elective - minor or general elective | 1 | ||
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Total Credits 180-181 | |||||
- 1
University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
- 2
Electives – 21 of 36 credits must be in Biology, non-Biology electives must be approved by faculty advisor.
University Competencies and Proficiencies
English
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB
General Education Requirements (GER)
- Minimum Credits—180 cumulative credit hours
- 60 upper-division credits (300 level or above)
- 45 credits in residence (attendance) at Eastern, with at least 15 upper-division credits in major in residence at Eastern
- Minimum Cumulative GPA ≥2.0
Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)
Humanities and Arts
Natural Sciences
Social Sciences
University Graduation Requirements (UGR)
Diversity Course List
World Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List
Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term expected to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).
Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.
- The catalog in effect at the student's first term of current matriculation is used to determine BACR (Breadth Area Core Requirements) and UGR (Undergraduate Graduation Requirements).
- The catalog in effect at the time the student declares a major or minor is used to determine the program requirements.
Students who earn a BS in Biology from EWU should be able to:
- apply basic concepts of cell biology, including understanding key terms;
- apply basic concepts of ecology and evolution, including understanding key terms;
- apply basic concepts of molecular biology and genetics, including understanding key terms;
- apply basic concepts of organismal biology, including understanding key terms;
- apply basic statistics to analyze and interpret quantitative data;
- compose written documents that communicate information in a manner consistent with scientific norms;
- deliver presentations that communicate information in a manner consistent with scientific norms;
- use scientific practices to generate evidence to support or refute proposed explanations for natural phenomena.