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>> Hi, I'm Paul Wilson.
I'm a professor here at Cal
State Northridge and I'd
like to sort of style myself
as the dilettante around campus.
Today, I want to tell you
about the various options
with in the biology major.
We have a Bachelor of Arts which
is sort of a general option
and then we have several
Bachelor of Science options,
Cell and Molecular Biology,
Ecology and Evolution,
Microbiology, Biotechnology,
Medical Technology
which is little bit
different, and Marine Biology.
You have to choose
one of these options.
Until you select an option,
we can't plan out your degree.
It's really impossible
for you to interact
with the computer
and be advised.
If you have earned fewer than
90 units then you can select the
option or declare you're major
or change your major online
and that's done by first opening
your web portal then selecting
the Solar Student Center
in the lower right.
Then there's a drop down list
labeled "other academics"
and then select Change
your major or minor.
And then from the
first drop-down menu,
choose College of
Science and Math.
And from the second
drop-down menu,
select an option within Biology.
If you've earned 90 units
or more then you can't change
your major on your own,
you'll need to see an
advisor for that and come
to Biology Advisement Center.
I should probably start
out by saying that the BA
and the BS are equivalent
degrees.
The names are historical.
They really don't have anything
to with what is science
and what is art.
For instance, you can get a
BS in Business or Engineering
or Athletics and none of
those are really sciences
and you can get a BA in
Biology or Chemistry or Physics
and all of those are science.
The BA typically is construed
as being a broader degree
as having more of the light
tower view of the field.
Whereas, a BS typically
is taken as being more--
more specific course of study in
which you learn a sub-discipline
with hands-on experience.
Typically the BS is better
preparation for a specific field
within Biology and it also
can be a better preparation
for getting a job in
that particular field
with in Biology.
The BA typically is taken
by students who are going
on to professional schools or
maybe going to teaching Biology
and they need to have
a broad understanding
of all aspects of Biology.
But no graduate school
or professional school will
care whether you have a BA
or a BS per say.
Having said that, they might
care about what courses you took
and at CSUN in Biology,
the courses are different
for the different options.
So the question then is which of
these various options is right
for you?
The Bachelor of Arts could
be used as preparation
for graduate work in
biology but you have
to be very careful there
to not hang yourself
and not take any courses that
would actually prepare you
for graduate work with in a
subdiscipline within Biology.
It's more typically taken
by students who are aiming
at entering a health
profession, all though students
who are aiming at entering a
health profession could just
as well take one of the
Bachelor of Science degrees.
And then the Bachelor of Arts
option is also appropriate
for people who want to
teach high school Biology
or really kind of don't
know what they're doing at.
I mean if you're still lost and
you still want to study biology,
then the Bachelor of Arts
might be the default option.
The Bachelor of Science
options with in biology at CSUN,
they're great preparation
for graduate work here
or any other Master's
Degree and some PhDs.
They are also good preparation
for the health professions.
All though you then want to
choose particular options
within the BS and take
appropriate classes preparing
you for those health
professions.
They could be used for people
who are seeking teaching a
credential particularly the
Ecology and Evolution option
is useful for people who want
to teach high school, you know,
and take a few extra courses
in order to fill out your
biology preparation broadly.
And then they are specifically
built for an entry-level job
in a subfield with in biology.
For instance, being a
Microbiologist or Ecologist
or working in a pharmaceutical
company or something like that.
And then we have one
option with in the BS,
that's the Medical
Technology option that is more
of a training which
would prepare students
for being a clinical laboratory
scientist [inaudible].
I've written a little key
here for you to decide
which option you should be in if
you want to maximize the number
of electives that you have and
kind of shape your own program
if you want to graduate
as soon as possible.
And if you have a really
realistic plan about going
on to a particular
health profession,
then probably the BA
is the one for you.
If on the other hand you want
to take more Biology
courses specifically lab
and field courses, focused in
particular area within Biology,
it's where CSUN is strong,
then you probably want
to take one of BS programs.
The second couplet addresses
whether you're more of an
out of doors type of
person and you want to take
out of doors type of classes or
are you more of an indoor type
of person who wants
to take lab classes.
If you're an out of door type
of person then the last
question is whether you want
to take a mixture or terrestrial
and/or marine classes
or do you specifically want
to focus in on marine classes.
And probably that means
that you're aiming at going
to graduate school
in Marine Biology.
OK, now let's go
back to those of you
who are more interested
in lab classes.
I think the first thing to ask
is whether you specifically want
to be trained to be a
clinical lab scientist,
that is one of those people
who takes the blood when you go
to the doctor and then does
all of the test on that blood
to see how you're doing.
That's really a little bit
more of a vocational training
than the rest of them and so
you can answer that question.
Or do you want a
broader education
and to be more versatile taking
lots of different lab classes.
Couplet five, addresses whether
you specifically want to work
on bacteria, in which
case, of you would want
to choose the microbiology
option or do you want to work
with eukaryotes and then
maybe some bacteria as well,
in which case you can move
on to couplet number six.
In couplet number six will
make a distinction between Cell
and Molecular Biology
and Biotechnology.
I really feel like these
are very similar options.
The Cell and Molecular Biology
option might be weighted a
little more towards lecture and
understanding how things work
in a more thoughtful way.
Whereas the Biotechnology
option is weighted a little more
towards learning lab techniques
and all the Bio wizardry
that CSUN has to offer.
OK, let's start talking
about requirements.
First, there's the Biology
Core that is the courses
that every Biology
student must take
and that varies a little bit
from option to option but all
of them include a sequence
of Chemistry courses.
And that sequence of
Chemistry courses means
that you better get started
on you Chemistry very soon.
And then they all
include Biology 106,
its lab; Biology 107, its lab.
And then if you do
well in those courses,
you move on to Evolutionary
Biology,
Genetics and Cell Biology.
No matter what option you're
in you'll have to
take some physics.
And no matter what option you're
in you will take some math.
In order to advance to upper
division biology classes,
you have to earn a C or
better in Biology 106
and Biology 107 and their labs.
If you earn less than a C, in
other words a C minus or worse,
then in order to progress
in the biology major,
you have to repeat the course in
which you earned the poor grade.
And it's a bit difficult
to get into those courses.
You can't register until four
days before classes begin
and they usually fill up quite
quickly or perhaps earning less
than a C in Biology 106
or Biology 107 should
be taken as a sign.
Maybe the biology
major isn't for you.
It's really not for everybody.
The biology major requires
a great deal of memorization
and understanding of
a large body of facts.
It doesn't reward
creativity that much.
I might have been
happier if I had majored
in Art or in Philosophy.
But I did OK in biology.
Anyway, you might want
to consider another major
if you're finding the biology
courses to be frustrating.
Here's a diagram of the sequence
of courses that you would take
if you're a BA student
and notice
that there's a long
sequence of these courses.
For instance in chemistry,
many students end
up taking Chemistry 100, that's
kind of high school level
in a way so it doesn't
count towards the degree.
But you often need it in
order get into Chemistry 101
and its lab which is
our entry-level course.
And that's a prerequisite
for Chemistry 102 and its lab
and that's a prerequisite
for Chemistry 333 and its lab
and that's a prerequisite for
Chemistry 334 and its lab.
So you need to get working
on your Chemistry very soon
as a biology major if
you can hope to graduate
in a reasonable period of time.
The biology courses are
also somewhat sequenced.
You could take Biology
107 before Biology 106
but Biology 107 requires
Chemistry 101 as a prerequisite.
So many people end
up taking 106 first.
And then 106 and 107 are
required before you can advance
to the upper division
biology courses.
Math is also going to be
required in some way or other
and many students have to take
Biology 93 before they can take
the math courses that count
towards the biology degree.
And then physics
will be required
but Physics doesn't
count as a prerequisite
for any other courses.
And so even though you're
taking 100 level physics,
usually you don't take that
until you're an upper class man.
Here's the diagram for the core
and recommended course sequence
for Cell and Molecular
Biology students
and Biotechnology students.
And you'll see that in addition
to that other chemistry
sequence,
then you also take
Biochemistry which has
as its prerequisite
Organic Chemistry.
And so the sequence is even
longer and you wold need
to start it even sooner
if you were to finish
in the same amount of time.
In addition, there are a
number of other courses
that are also required
for BS students
and those courses also
have prerequisites.
After you've taken the
Biology lower division courses,
then there's an upper
division selective program
and this differs
among the options,
the BA requires 20 units
beyond the core and at least 17
of those units must be upper
division courses then there are
4 lists from which you
select those 20 units.
Usually take two courses
and molecular, cellular
and physiological biology,
one course in systematics
and comparative biology,
one course in ecology
and environmental biology,
and then one elective
that is a biology course in
addition to the electives
that are university-wide
electives.
The BS options all require
at least 30 units and some
of them quite a bit more.
They can be quite specific
in their requirements.
For instance, if you're majoring
in marine biology then you'll
be required to take a lot
of marine biology classes.
Or if you're majoring
in microbiology,
you would take a lot of
bacteriology classes.
And so they have less
latitude for selection
and can be a bit
harder to schedule.
I'd like to end by telling
you to really take the most
of your opportunity at
CSUN and get the most
out of your time with us.
Realize that in the US a
Bachelor's Degree offers this
thing that's really
amazing and wonderful.
It's called an education and by
that I mean it does
not constitute training
for a specific vocation,
instead it allows contemplation
and exploration and a kind
of pure intellectualism.
Yes, definitely keep an eye
on the future and try to plan
out where you're going to
go after CSUN but don't get
so obsessed with the future that
you can't enjoy your time here.
Really the time that you send
here should be intellectual time
of your life.
It was for me when I
was an undergraduate
and that's really
quite different
than being in graduate school.
Select the courses
that you can love
and that will give you
general purpose skills,
classes that teach you how to
think scientifically and how
to write scientifically,
how to present yourself
and your thoughts in
oral presentations,
how to analyze data that
teach you lab technique
or field observation.
And finally, don't
overload yourself.
Don't become a drudge who never
gets ahead of the grind or exams
and term papers and homework.
Everything in biology
and maybe in other majors
as well takes far
more time than people
from the outside would
imagine that it would take.
So try to plot out your
schedule so that you'll be able
to get the most out
of the biology classes
that you take at CSUN.
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