The Department of Biology has offices and laboratories located in five buildings near the center of the main College Station campus: Butler Hall, Biological Sciences Building East(BSBE) and Biological Sciences Building West (BSBW), Heldenfels, and the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building.

Our Administrative Offices, including the office of the Department Head, the Business Office, the Undergraduate Advising Office, and the Graduate Advising Office can be found on the first floor of Butler Hall.

The Biology Safety Office is also located in Biological Sciences Building West (BSBW).

When am I required to submit my degree planner?

Students are required to submit a degree planner once they complete (and have a grade for) 30 credit hours or more. Students who enter TAMU with 30+ credit hours, will need to complete the degree planner their first semester.

Degree planners must be submitted annually after the initial submission.

Check holds in My Profile on Howdy to see if you have a hold for “Missing UG Degree Plan”. Degree Planners are due Sept. 30^th each year. Students with a hold will not be able to register for classes until their degree planner has been submitted and approved. Note: often degree plans are declined and require changes and resubmission.

Can I change my degree planner?

Yes, you may change or update your planner at any time, but it must be approved annually.

How do I complete the degree planner?

Go to Howdy/My Record/Undergraduate Degree Planner to access Undergraduate Degree Planner.

In this same area, it may be helpful to review the Undergraduate Degree Planner Guide (PDF) and Degree Planner FAQs before you begin the planner. These are found below the Undergraduate Degree Planner link.

How can I speed up approval of my degree planner?

• Submit your plan well before the deadline
• Use the PREREQ CHECK tab at the top of the planner to be sure you have added all necessary prerequisite courses
• Be sure all progress bars of the DEGREE EVALUATION tab are green or green and yellow and say “Met”
• If you see a caution sign indicating a course is not typically offered in that semester, use the COURSE HISTORY tab to see when the course has historically been offered
• Use the resources listed below to aid in the development of your plan:
  • Biology degree plans and flowcharts https://www.bio.tamu.edu/undergraduate-programs/
  • Biology catalog listings https://catalog.tamu.edu/undergraduate/science/biology/#majorstext
  • List of core electives https://core.tamu.edu/

• How do I complete my degree planner?
  • See Undergraduate Degree Planner information
• How do I register for a 491?
  • Students should obtain a 491 form, which is also available from our Undergraduate Advising Office. The form must be signed by the supervising professor and the form returned to the Undergraduate Advising Office in 107 Butler for an advisor’s signature. At this time the advisor will rule on whether or not the course is acceptable and exactly how it will be used in the degree plan. Up to 4 credit hours may be used as a directed elective (BIOL, BMCB, MBIO, ZOOL). Additional credit hours may be used as general electives. Complete it with the professor, and return it to the Advising Office. Visit the Undergraduate Research Page for more information and forms.
• How many hours of 491 can I use?
  • Students may use a maximum combination of 7 hours of 484/485/491 (BIOL and NRSC majors) or 4 hours of 484/485/491 (BMCB, MBIO, ZOOL majors) in their major coursework. Hours in excess of this (up to 11 hours) may be used as general electives as long as the student has completed the Core Curriculum and University requirements. Visit the Undergraduate Research Page for more information.
• How do I choose a 491 topic?
  • Students are advised to look over the 491 listings. This allows the student to narrow their interests before approaching individual professors. Visit the Undergraduate Research Page for more information.
• What is BIOL 491?
  • BIOL 491 is an independent research course supervised by various faculty members in the department (0-4 credit hours). Visit the Undergraduate Research Page for more information.
• What courses can I transfer from another school?
  • There is no limit on transfer credits from other colleges and universities. TAMU residency requirements state that a student must complete 36 hours of 300- and 400-level courses at Texas A&M. Twelve hours of the total 36 hours must be in the student’s major field.
• How do I satisfy a minor?
  • A minor is available for any student but is required for those students following the B.A. Biology degree plan. To complete a minor, a student must have 15-18 credit hours in the minor field with at least 6 hours in 300- or 400-level courses. A student is allowed to minor in up to two areas for his/her degree. Majors in the Biology department (all majors) may not declare a minor in Pre-Medicine or Biomedical Sciences. Majors other than Biology (BMCB, MBIO, NRSC-MCB, ZOOL) also may not declare a minor in Biology. A complete list of minors can be found here.
• What can I use as general electives?
  • General electives are open as long as the student satisfies the Core Curriculum requirements and University requirements (residency, International & Cultural Diversity, Cultural Discourse, Writing Intensive). The only courses that cannot be used as general electives are prerequisite courses for minimum requirements (i.e. MATH 102, MATH 103), orientation courses (i.e. AGLS 101), and those courses offered by the Department of Biology for non-majors (BIOL 101, 107, 206).
• What can I take as biology (or molecular, cell, microbiology, or zoology) electives?
  • Course selection may be found on the degree plans, available for download from the Undergraduate Advising page.
• Do I have to take a language if I completed two years of language in high school?
  • No, as long as you completed two years of the same foreign language in high school (all degree plans). If you began college before 2009 please consult with an advisor to confirm requirements.
• What math courses are required for my degree?
  • Incoming Freshmen:
    • Fall 2019 onwards: TAMU Students are required to take two MATH courses.
      • You are required to take one semester of calculus. This must be satisfied by taking MATH 147, or the equivalent course of MATH 151 (The TCCN of MATH 151 is MATH 2413).
      • The second Math course can be chosen from MATH 148, MATH 152 (The TCCN of MATH 152 is MATH 2414), or STAT 201 (The TCCN of STAT 201 is MATH 1342).
    • Fall 2009-2018: You are required to take two semesters of calculus. These may be satisfied by any of the following sequences:
      MATH147 & 148 (preferred); MATH151 & 152; or MATH171 & 172.
      You may opt to take equivalent courses through a community college; the common course number is MATH2413 and 2414.
    • Fall 2008 and before: You are required to take MATH166 and MATH131, or their respective alternative courses.
      for MATH166: You may take MATH141 or MATH152 or MATH172, or PHIL240
      for MATH131: You may take MATH142 or MATH151 or MATH171
  • Incoming Transfer Students:
    Your MATH requirement is dependent on when you were initially in college attendance prior to being admitted to Texas A&M University. See guidelines noted above for Incoming Freshmen.Questions: Please contact the Biology Advising Office at 979-845-3116, or send an email.
• Which courses count towards the University Writing Requirement?
  • Any changes to the list of approved courses is always communicated to students via the Biology listserv. Always consult with a Biology Academic Advisor for the most current information.
  • The courses that may satisfy the Writing Intensive requirement must be in the major field of study. The courses are 900-level sections of BIOL401, BIOL402, BIOL491 (also requires explicit approval from the professor) and BIOL495. Students following Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology may also use 900-level sections of BICH414 or BICH432. Courses that are Writing Intensive are noted as such in the Attribute column of the schedule of classes (Univ Req-Writing Intensive).