B.A. Degree in Biology

Biology at the Johns Hopkins University emphasizes the relationship of structure to function in biological systems, how anatomical, cellular, and molecular structures are related to biological functions of development, regulation, movement, growth, and reproduction. The best preparation for students majoring in Biology is a thorough understanding of Mathematics and Chemistry. Organic Chemistry and Physics are useful parallels to Biology courses. The requirements of the Biology major satisfy all the requirements for admission to Medical School.

Core Course Requirements

The following are courses required for the BA Program:

Additional Humanities and Social Sciences requirements

The student must earn a grade of C- or better in all required courses. Grades of D or F must be resolved by retaking the course, with this exception. In the final semester of the senior year, a graduating senior is allowed a single D in a required course. After the first semester freshman year, no required course can be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory.

The student must accumulate 120 credits to graduate. Besides the courses required by the Biology Department, the student must also satisfy the University distribution requirements. For the BA Program, 30 credits must be taken in departments outside the N (Natural Science) area in H (Humanities), Q (Quantitative), S (Social Science), or E (Engineering). Eighteen of the 30 credits must be in either H or S areas.

The list above is useful as a checklist to make sure that students have fulfilled all requirements for the Biology major. Students are encouraged to prepare a long-range plan of their four years at Hopkins. There are three reasons for long range planning. First, most required courses have prerequisites. For example, students must take Biochemistry before they can take Cell Biology, or must take Genetics before taking Developmental Biology. Second, some required courses cannot be taken in the same semester. For example, Introductory Chemistry and Physics for Biological Science majors both meet MTW 9-10.  Third, students can balance their workload and have the best opportunity to do well in the courses. Spending 30 minutes with the catalog, the course schedule, and this list of required courses, students can plan out their program at Hopkins and have a clear view of what will be required of them.

This is a typical schedule for eight semesters showing only required courses for the class of 2007 and later:

This typical schedule may not be the best schedule for every student. Some common exceptions include:

• Requirement of General Biology I and II is waived for students with a grade of 4 or 5 in Advanced Placement Biology

• If students have advanced placement credits in Chemistry equivalent to 030.101 & 102 Introductory Chemistry I & II, the requirement for the Introductory Chemistry Lab 030.105-106 is waived. It would be possible for these students, while taking Calculus, to take General Physics during the freshman year.
   
• Advanced placement credits in 110.106-107 Calculus I & II will satisfy the requirement for the Biology major, but the faculty would recommend that those students who have such credits further their education by taking Calculus III, Linear Algebra, or Differential Equations. This is especially important for students wishing to apply to Medical School programs after graduation, since these programs usually require one year of Mathematics courses taken while in college.

APPENDIX I. Courses fulfilling the advanced course requirements for the B.A. program (revised 04/08)
 
Biology

020.304 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
020.310/610 Developmental Neurobiology
020.311 Enzymes and Proteins
020.312/612 Introduction to the Human Brain
020.313/623 Neurobiology of Sensation
020.317/614 Signaling in Development and Disease
020.324 DNA Microarray Technology (Bioinformatics)
020.325 Introduction to the Protein World
020.326 Introduction to Glycobiology
020.331/630 Human Genetics
020.332 Plant Biochemistry
020.333 Adaptations of Plants to Their Environments
020.335 Landmarks in Biochemical Research
020.336 Stem Cell Biology (in Development and Disease)
020.342 Proteins
020.346 Immunobiology
020.347 AIDS
020.349 Microbial Pathogenesis (Epidemics and Pandemics)
020.352 Topics in Virology and Bacteriology
020.365 Introduction to the Human Skeleton
020.366 Human Evolution
020.367 Primate Behavior and Ecology
020.368 Mammalian Evolution
020.375 Human Anatomy
020.376/606 Molecular Evolution
020.379 Evolution
020.380/650 Eukaryotic Molecular Biology
020.629 Human Cancer Biology and Treatment
020.634 Chromatin and Transcription
020.637 Genomes and Development
020.638 Regulation and Mechanisms of the Cell Cycle
020.639 Macromolecular Assemblies in Biology
020.642 Proteins: Structure, Folding, and Interaction with Partners
020.646 Biological Spectroscopy
020.651 Retroviruses
020.665 Advanced Biochemistry
020.667 Bioconjugate Techniques
020.668 Advanced Molecular Biology
020.674 Grad Biophysical Chemistry
020.676 Functional Interpretation of Biological Structures
020.680 Molecular Basis of Drug Discovery
020.682 Molecular Recognition and Signaling
020.686 Advanced Cell Biology

Applied Mathematics and Statistics

550.310 Probability and Statistics for the Physical and Information Sciences
550.311 Probability and Statistics for the Biological and Medical Sciences
550.420 Introduction to Probability
550.430 Introduction to Statistics
550.435 Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics

Biomedical Engineering

580.321 Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
580.421 Physiological Foundations for Biomedical Engineering I
580.422 Physiological Foundations for Biomedical Engineering II
580.425 Ionic Channels in Excitable Membranes
580.427 Calcium Signals in Biological Systems
580.440 Cell and Tissue Engineering
580.441 Cellular Engineering
580.442 Tissue Engineering

Biophysics

250.326 Biological Macromolecules: Structures and Function
250.332 X-ray Crystallography of Biological Molecules
250.345 Cellular and Molecular Physiology
250.351 Reproductive Physiology
250.353 Computational Biology (Biomolecular Dynamics and Ensembles)
250.372 Introduction to Biophysical Chemistry

Chemistry

030.301 Physical Chemistry I
030.302 Physical Chemistry II
030.425 Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry I
030.426 Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry II
030.441 Spectroscopic Methods of Organic Structure Determination
030.451 Spectroscopy
030.634 Bioorganic Chemistry

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

540.402 Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology of Mammalian Systems
540.404/604 Therapeutic & Diagnostic Colloids
540.431 Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology
540.435 Genome Engineering
540.437 Applications of Molecular Evolution to Biotechnology
540.441 Cellular Engineering

Computer Science

600.403 Computational Genomics: Sequence Modeling

Earth and Planetary Sciences

270.308 Population and Community Ecology
270.311 Geobiology
270.320 The Environment and Your Health (Global Change and Human Health)
270.321 Oceanography

Geography and Environmental Engineering

570.303 The Environment and Your Health
570.309 Microbiology
570.317 Paleoecology
570.328 Geography and Ecology of Plants
570.395 Principles of Estuarine Environment: The Chesapeake Bay
570.403 Ecology
570.411 Environmental Microbiology
570.443 Aquatic Chemistry
570.450 Molecular Biology for Engineering Applications

Neurosciences

080.304 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
080.305 The Nervous System I
080.306 The Nervous System II
080.310 Communication Between Cells: The Synapse as a Model System
080.330 Brain Injury and Recovery of Function
080.335 Neuroscience of Pain
080.340 Neuroplasticity
080.352 Primate Brain Function

Physics

171.310 Biological Physics
171.319-320 Intermediate General Physics for the Biosciences

Psychological and Brain Sciences

200.312 Imaging the Human Mind
200.314 Advanced Statistical Methods
200.329 Brain, Communication and Evolution
200.344 Behavioral Endocrinology
200.370 Functional Human Neuroanatomy
200.374 Behavioral Medicine
200.376 Psychopharmacology
200.378 Evolution of Behavior
200.386 Animal Cognition

Public Health

280.350 Fundamentals of Epidemiology

Joel Schildbach, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Mudd Hall, Room 235
410-516-0176
joel@jhu.edu

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