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Prospective StudentsISC exterior day

Please feel free to peruse our website for information on our seminars, programs, courses, etc.  To schedule a campus tour and/or sign-up for one of our Biology group admission sessions offered during the fall and spring semesters, please contact the Admissions Office.  Due to the large numbers of prospective students currently interested in pursuing Biology, we are unable to accommodate individual requests for meetings with faculty or tours of the Integrated Science Center.  Group sessions are unavailable on holidays and college breaks, and have limited offerings on Saturdays.  We strongly encourage students to come to the Biology group admission sessions with specific questions in mind.  These group sessions are ideal for students interested in premed, research, preprofessional, etc.

Those students interested in pursuing pre-med or pre-professional are asked to review the Premed website before visiting the campus or contacting a faculty member.  Students with specific program questions in one of the following advisement areas should contact the faculty member via email:

EFFECTIVE FALL 2013 ADMISSION:  PRE-BIOLOGY MAJOR

Policy:  Students will not be able to declare a Biology major until they have achieved a combined C+ average or better in their first two required Biology lecture courses at SUNY Geneseo.  Required lecture courses are:

  • BIOL 117
  • BIOL 119
  • BIOL 203
  • BIOL 222
  • BIOL 300 

For most freshman students, the first two required courses would be BIOL 117 and BIOL 119.  For freshman students with a 5 on the AP Biology exam, it would be BIOL 203 and BIOL 222, unless they elect to retake BIOL 117 and BIOL 119 here.


This policy will apply to transfer students as well.  They may be further along in the required sequence (e.g. they could have credit for BIOL 117, BIOL 119, and BIOL 203), in which case the first two required courses would be BIOL 222 and BIOL 300.  If they already have credit for both BIOL 222 and BIOL 300, they would need to achieve a grade of C+ in BIOL 300 before they could be accepted as a Biology major.

A student may only repeat a required Biology course, or related requirement, once for major credit; the repeated course must be taken at the next offering of the class.

Students adversely affected by this policy may consider completing the Biology minor and should then take: 

  • BIOL 117, BIOL 119, BIOL 116
  • BIOL 203
  • BIOL 207 or another Biology elective above the 100 level
  • (BIOL 271* or BIOL 222)
  • (BIOL 210, BIOL 235, BIOL 264, or another Biology elective above the 100 level).

*preferred for minors