Biology (B.S.)

Students first entering college in Fall 1999 or after should see section on “New Core Curriculum” under “General Requirements for a Bachelors Degree.”

1. Satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements for students entering college in Fall 1999 or after.  See “General Requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree.”
2. Satisfy the requirements for the Bachelor of Science.
3. General requirements:

Lower Division - 3 semester hours of speech and satisfy computer literacy/proficiency requirement; BIOL 1406 and BIOL 1407 General Biology for Science Majors; BIOL 2420 Elementary Microbiology; CHEM 1407 Introductory Biochemistry; CHEM 1411 and CHEM 1412 General Inorganic Chemistry; PHYS 1401 General Physics; and MATH 2312 Precalculus.

Upper Division - ENG 3430 Professional Writing; MAS 3391 Probability and Statistics.

 Concentration -

• Lower Division - CHEM 2323 Organic Chemistry I
• Lower Division or Upper Division - BIO 4310 Biochemistry and BIO 4210 Laboratory for Biochemistry, or CHEM 2325 Organic Chemistry II with Lab.
• Upper Division - BIO 4313 Genetics or BIO 3320 Human Genetics;  BIO 4320 Embryology, or BIO 3330 Histology and BIO 3230 Laboratory for Immunohistochemistry; BIO 4333 Comparative Animal Physiology, or BIO 3323 Comparative Anatomy; BIO 3326 Plant Biology and BIO 3226 Lab for Plant Biotechnology, or BIO 4390 Phytochemicals and Human Health; BIO 4337 Cell & Molecular Biology and BIO 4237 Lab for Cell & Molecular Genetics, or BIO 4335 Ecology and BIO 4235 Lab for Ecotoxicology; BIO 3340 Animal Behavior, or BIO 3342 Social Biology; BIO 4103 Biology Seminar or BIO 4102 Independent Research in Biology.
4. Students must take a minimum of 8 semester hours of upper division laboratory:  2 s.h. must be BIO 4237 or BIO 4210.
5. Free electives - Enough electives to fulfill the 122 semester hour requirement and the 54 semester hours of upper division courses.

These requirements are summarized in the following table:

Biology Plan

* Students must complete a minimum of 8 semester hours of upper division laboratory.  Recommended minimum of 6 semesters of UD lab for students interested in science professions.

** Total must be minimum of 122 s.h. with minimum of 54 s.h. at upper division level.

Premedical and Predental Program

The Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and courses taught at the University of Houston-Victoria fulfill the admissions requirements for most medical and dental schools in the United States and its protectorates.

Premedical and predental students are advised that most medical schools require the following courses; however, students are responsible for determining the specific requirements of those medical schools selected for application. A majority of this course work needs to be completed at the lower division.

Furthermore, students need to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) or the Dental School Admissions Test (DAT) to fulfill admission requirements of most medical and dental schools.  These tests are usually taken at the end of the junior year of college.  To prepare for these exams, students will also need to take upper division biology courses such as Genetics, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Human Physiology and Anatomy.  These courses, although not always specified by professional schools, are recommended by the Pre-Professional (Premedical, Predental) Advisor at UHV.

Most professional colleges require the completion of a bachelor’s degree and a high GPA to obtain admission. Some schools will admit exceptionally well-qualified students with high grades and MCAT/DAT scores before they complete a bachelor’s degree.

 

UHV has an established Pre-medical/Predental advisory board to support and provide advice to applicants.  Letters of recommendation from the Pre-Professional (Premedical, Predental) Advisor/board can be provided only for students who have fulfilled the above requirements and completed at least 3 upper division courses at UHV including the core courses for a BS in Biology.  The recommendations will require above average grades and close interaction with the Pre-Professional (Premedical, Predental) Advisor, and board.