Biology Admission Requirements
Freshman admission
The minimum high school units required are:
- English - four units including composition and literature
- Foreign Language/Social Studies/Art/Humanities - 5 units in any combination. Two units of the same foreign language are recommended. Students who have graduated from high school in 2001 or later and have not completed the recommended two high school foreign language units will need to schedule appropriate foreign language course work at Penn State within their first two years of study.
- Science - three units
- Math - three units, including one-and-a-half units of algebra, one unit of plane geometry and one-half unit of trigonometry.
Transfer admission
The above criteria apply. If a student is missing a Carnegie unit from high school, but has taken the missing coursework in college, that will be taken into consideration.
The transfer of credit is a two-step process. The Undergraduate Admissions Office determines which credits will transfer to the University. The University College determines how credits will be used to fulfill degree requirements for the administration of justice degree.
Penn State credits are expressed in semester hours. When courses transfer to Penn State from institutions that utilize another form of academic credit, i.e. quarter credits, units hours, etc., the unit of credit is converted into semester hours.
For more information about transfer admissions and whether or not a student is classified as a transfer student, please visit our transfer page.
Entrance to major
In order to be eligible for entrance to the Biology major, a student must have:
- Attained at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point average;
- Completed BIOL 110 GN(4), CHEM 110 GN(3), MATH 140 GQ(4), and earned a grade of C or better in each of these courses; and
- Completed at least one of the following courses with a grade of C or better: BIOL 220W GN(4), BIOL 230W GN(4), or BIOL 240W GN(4).