2011-2012 University Catalog 
  
2011-2012 University Catalog

Biology, BS/Biology, Accelerated MS


Qualified undergraduates may be admitted to an accelerated master’s program and obtain both a BS and an MS within an accelerated time frame. This program is open only to those students who wish to pursue the master’s degree concentrations in microbiology or molecular biology. Students admitted to this program may take graduate courses after completing 90 undergraduate credits, and up to 6 credits of graduate work may be used in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the undergraduate degree. If students earn at least a 3.00 in these classes, they are granted advanced standing in the master’s program and must then complete an additional 24 credits to receive the master’s degree. All other master’s degree requirements must be met, including a minimum of 18 credits taken for the master’s after the bachelor’s degree is complete.

Students with an overall GPA of at least 3.00 may apply for provisional acceptance to the accelerated master’s program after completing BIOL 213, 214, 308, 310, and 311; and CHEM 313, 314, 315 and 318. Three letters of recommendation, including one from a prospective thesis or project advisor, are required.

After completing 120 credits and all requirements for the bachelor’s degree and filing the Graduation Intent Form, students are awarded a bachelor’s degree. Accelerated master’s students must then submit scores on the GRE and biology subject exam to have the provisional qualifier removed. Ordinarily, students should receive a minimum combined score of 1,100 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the general test and be in at least the 50th percentile on the subject exam.

This program of study is offered by the Biology Undergraduate Program in the College of Science .