Major Advising

For your first two years at Barnard, you will work with the faculty adviser who was assigned to you the summer before your first year. This adviser, along with your class dean, will help you find the information you need to make numerous choices each semester and to think about those choices in light of your short-term and long-term goals. These first two years are the time for you to explore our curriculum and research opportunities in addition to meeting current majors, faculty, and staff so that you can determine whether one of our four majors is right for you.

When you declare a Biology major toward the end of your sophomore year, you will choose a faculty adviser who will guide you through the remainder of your time at Barnard and assist you as you choose the advanced coursework in our department. Students who choose to double major will have two major advisers, one in each field. In our department, students directly contact a faculty member whose research interests (in the table below) are most in line with their own to ask whether they are accepting new advisees. A student’s choice must then be approved and their major declaration form signed by the Chair.

Below you will find documents that will guide you through our course listing options for majors each semester and help ensure that you are on track to complete your chosen major concentration. General questions can also be directed to the department administrator. Be sure to check our Course Listings FAQ and Major Requirements FAQ for the most commonly asked advising questions.