Fill out a major declaration form on Slate. The associate chair will review your form and assign you an advisor. If there is a specific biology major advisor you would like to request, please contact the associate chair.

To determine whether a Columbia course can count towards the major, see the two tables on the Course Listings page. If the course you are interested in is not listed, consult with the Associate Chair before enrolling in the course.

The following Columbia departments each offer upper-level undergraduate courses that count towards the Biology major or minor at Barnard. Many Columbia Biology and E3B courses can be used to fulfill Major/Minor requirements or the science GER. It is important to note that there are several Barnard/Columbia course pairs that are mutually exclusive (for example, students cannot take both BIOL BC3360 Physiology and BIOL UN3006 General Physiology).

• Department of Biological Sciences
• Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology (E3B)

You may also use the Columbia Directory of Classes to view course listings across Columbia University.

Please note: Barnard’s Biology 1500-level series is the most appropriate prerequisite for our biology major and minor.

There are three courses in the biology department that provide credit for research.

The following two yearlong courses fulfill major requirements:

• Guided Research & Seminar (BIOL BC3591 & BIOL BC3592)
• Senior Thesis Research & Seminar (BIOL BC3593 & BIOL BC3594)

Guided Research & Seminar can count for up to two upper level labs required for the major. Senior Thesis Research & Seminar fulfills the senior capstone requirement. You may not enroll in both courses at the same time, and you may only take Senior Thesis R&S in your senior year.

The following course provides credit for research but does NOT fulfill major requirements:

• BIOL BC3597 Guided Research does not fulfill any major requirements.  

Learn more about these courses on the Undergraduate Research Page

The associate chair automatically assigns major advisors when a student submits a Slate form or when a professor goes on leave. If you would like to request a specific advisor or change your advisor, please reach out to the associate chair. After you receive approval from the associate chair, you may or may not be asked to fill out the major advisor change form on Slate.

AP and IB credits do not exempt students from any biology courses at Barnard.

• AP/IB credit does not replace any part of the introductory biology sequence needed for major and pre-health requirements; students must take BIOL BC1500, 1501, 1502, & 1503 regardless of AP/IB test scores.
• AP/IB credit does not satisfy any general education requirements.

A student who earned a Biology AP score of 4 or 5 may gain 3 points on their transcript. AP and IB points may count toward the total number of points required to earn a degree. To transfer test credit, students must ask the testing organization to send their scores to the Barnard registrar's office. Please contact the registrar for more information on AP/IB transfer credit.

Please submit the appropriate transfer credit form (see below) and contact the associate chair. Please be prepared to submit a transcript to the registrar that shows the courses you took.

If you are a returning student, it is strongly recommended that you obtain approval for any non-Barnard course before taking the course. There are separate forms for study abroad and summer course approvals - please see the subsequent questions.

• If you are an incoming first-year, you may use this form for transfer credit
• If you are an incoming transfer student, you may submit a degree audit change request for transfer credit
• If you are a returning student, you may submit a degree audit change request for transfer credit

To learn more about transfer credits, please refer to Barnard's transfer credit webpage.

We strongly recommended that you discuss your study abroad plans with your Biology major advisor AND with the study abroad office well in advance.

Please note that if you wish to fulfill major requirements abroad, you must obtain approval from the biology associate chair. You should complete a study abroad course approval form after your course has been been preliminarily approved and you have a tentative course list to choose from.

Please refer to Barnard's study abroad website to learn more. 

It is strongly recommended that you obtain approval for non-Barnard courses prior to taking the course. You can get approval from the associate chair once you have completed the Summer Course Approval Form.

Note: This applies for any Biology course, irrespective of whether you are taking it to fulfill major or minor requirements, to fulfill the science GER, or simply as degree credit.

You may do this using the Degree Audit Change Request form on the Slate system where the Associate Chair will approve the change.

Please note that the department will review each student's transcript independently of their degree audit before they graduate. As a senior, you will fill out a major checklist and submit it to the department administrator. This checklist will be used to verify that you have completed your major's requirements and to calculate your major GPA, which is considered for departmental awards.

The environmental biology major is offered by the biology department and the environmental science department in combination. Environmental biology majors are assigned two major advisors: one from the biology department and one from the environmental science department. Majors choose to take their senior capstone requirement either in the biology department or in the environmental science department and take numerous courses offered by each department.

Please contact the associate chair with any questions about the biology major. If the associate chair is unavailable, please reach out to the department administrator.

You can find their contact information here.

You can find contact information for all biology faculty and staff here.