2021-2022 Catalog

Major Requirements

Students are required to complete all major requirements and supporting coursework as detailed below in order to earn their degree in Biology. Those students looking to complete a concentration in the following fields should familiarize themselves with the additional requirements by clicking the link below.

Cell and Molecular Biology

Environmental Science

Marine Biology

COURSEWORK

Introductory Biology

Select one course from the list below:

BIO 105Marine Biology

4 units

BIO 106Biology of California

4 units

BIO 110Organisms on Earth

4 units

BIO 115General Zoology

4 units

Cellular and Molecular Biology (2 courses)

BIO 130Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology

4 units

 

And one course from:

BIO 221Molecular Biology

4 units

BIO 224Genetic Analysis

4 units

BIO 226Cell Biology

4 units

Environmental Biology

Select one course from the list below:

BIO 106Biology of California

4 units

BIO 260Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems

4 units

BIO 270Ecology

4 units

BIO 275Flora of Southern California

4 units

Evolutionary Biology

BIO 280Evolutionary Biology

4 units

Organismal Biology

Select one course from the list below:

BIO 240Vertebrate Physiology

4 units

BIO 250Plant Form and Function

4 units

BIO 275Flora of Southern California

4 units

Upper-division Biology

Students must select three 300-level Biology courses. At least two of these must be Occidental College Biology laboratory courses.

Senior Seminar

BIO 490Senior Seminar

4 units

Supporting Coursework

Students are required to complete five additional courses. Two must be in chemistry as detailed below and three additional quantitative courses.

Chemistry

CHEM 120Foundations of General Chemistry

4 units

Or

CHEM 130Advanced Placement General Chemistry

4 units

 

And

CHEM 220Organic Chemistry I

4 units

Quantitative Coursework

Three 4-5-unit courses are required to satisfy the quantitative requirement. These courses include a Mathematics/Calculus, Data Analysis, and an elective Quantitative Course. Two 2-unit courses taken at Occidental College may be combined to satisfy one quantitative elective requirement.

Students are required to take one of five classes (Calculus 1, Calculus 2, MATH 210, MATH 212, or MATH 214) to satisfy the math requirement for the Biology major. Students who pass out of Calculus 2 may take MATH 210, MATH 212, MATH 214 or an additional Data Analysis course to satisfy the math requirement for the Biology major. 

Mathematics/Calculus

 Select one course from the list below:

Calculus 1

4 units

Calculus 2

4 units

MATH 210Discrete Mathematics

4 units

MATH 212Multivariable Calculus

4 units

MATH 214Linear Algebra

4 units

Data Analysis

Select one course from the list below:

BIO 260Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems

4 units

BIO 268Biostatistics

4 units

COGS 255Data Analysis and Visualization

4 units

COMP 146Statistics

4 units

GEO 255Remote Exploration of Earth

4 units

MATH 150Statistical Data Analysis

4 units

PSYC 201Statistics in Psychological Science

4 units

The most current version as taught as 146 statistics in COMP Sci. is suitable as a data analysis course.

Additional Quantitative Elective

Select an additional course from the math or data analysis lists above or one course from the list below.

BIO 270Ecology

4 units

BIO 326Molecular Phylogenetics

4 units

BIO 340Sensory Biology and Neurophysiology

4 units

BIO 369Biological Oceanography

4 units

BIO 370Field Ecology

4 units

BIO 373Computational Biology

4 units

CHEM 221Organic Chemistry II

4 units

CHEM 300Physical Chemistry I

4 units

CHEM 301Biophysical Chemistry

4 units

COGS 242Computational Approaches to Cognition

4 units

COMP 131Fundamentals of Computer Science

4 units

COMP 165Mathematica

2 units

COMP 229Data Structures

4 units

COMP 353Information Theory

4 units

MATH 310Real Analysis

4 units

MATH 312Complex Analysis

4 units

MATH 322Number Theory

4 units

MATH 330Probability

4 units

MATH 332Mathematical Statistics

4 units

MATH 340Ordinary Differential Equations

4 units

MATH 342Partial Differential Equations

4 units

MATH 350/MATH 350Metalogic

4 units

MATH 352Computability and Complexity

4 units

MATH 354Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics

4 units

MATH 360Axiomatic Geometry

4 units

MATH 362Topology

4 units

MATH 370Numerical Analysis

4 units

MATH 380Combinatorics

4 units

MATH 382Graph Theory

4 units

MATH 392Mathematical Models in Biology

4 units

MATH 396Topics in Applied Mathematics

2 units

PHYS 110Introductory Mechanics

4 units

PHYS 115General Physics I

4 units

PHYS 125General Physics II

4 units

PHYS 230Introductory Electricity and Magnetism

4 units