• I took CHM 1040 at a local community college, Does this count for the Chemistry I course CHM 2045 at Florida Atlantic University?

  NO. General Chemistry at Florida Atlantic University is offered as a two semester series. If your local community college offers a three course series in General Chemistry, then you need CHM 1040 and CHM 1041 to replace Florida Atlantic's CHM 2045 which is General Chemistry I. Furthermore, General Chemistry I and II must include a lab in order to fulfill the Biology Department's requirements, so you will also need CHM 2045L, CHM 2046, and CHM 2046L to complete the requirement of 1 year of General Chemistry.

   

• I took BSC 1010 at a local community college but I had to drop the Lab. Do I have to take the Lab at Florida Atlantic University?

  YES. The Labs for both BSC 1010 and BSC 1011 are required in order to meet the Biology Department's requirements.

   

• What is the difference between the two courses in our basic Biology sequence, BSC 1010 and BSC 1011?

  BSC 1010 (Principles of Biology) deals primarily with cellular and metabolic processes whereas BSC 1011 (Biodiversity) includes more "whole organism" biology, including a survey of the various evolutionary concepts.

   

• Must I take BSC 1010 before BSC 1011?

  No. In fact, most students should take BSC 1011 first (during the Fall Semester), along with General Chemistry I. This provides a good background for the more chemistry-based processes taught in BSC 1010 during the Spring Semester.

   

• The Biology Lab is linked with the Lecture. I passed the lab, but failed the lecture. How do I sign up for only the Biology lecture?

  You must obtain the signature of the professor teaching the Lecture part of the course. The professor will sign your registration form to unlink the Lab from the Lecture. Go then to the Biology Department (BS 302) for a departmental stamp, then to the Charles E Schmidt College of Science Associate Dean's Office (SE 234) for a College stamp. After all that, you can sign up for just the Lab.

   

• I took an Astronomy course (or some other general science course) at another college. Does this replace anything in the Biology Department requirements?

  The course you took does count for the University's General Education Requirements for Science. However, a course that does not appear in the Biology Department's Requirements cannot be used to replace another course offered at FAU. For example, you can't skip Genetics because you want to count Astronomy as your genetics course.

   

• I'm a Biology major. I've already seen an Academic Advisor in the Student Services Office. Do I go back to him or her next semester for advisement?

  Although the Academic Advisor in the Student Services Office is willing to help you throughout your stay at Florida Atlantic University, you must obtain a Faculty Advisor from the Biology Department (BS 302) as soon as possible. That Advisor will be responsible for guiding you through the Biology Curriculum and for signing you off on graduation. It's important to keep in touch with your Faculty Advisor throughout each semester to guarantee that you are well on your way towards graduation.

   

• My faculty advisor is never in the office, never returns my phone calls, and may be advising me poorly. What should I do?

  There are a few ways of handling this delicate situation. If you feel that strongly about it you can change advisors by simply going back to the Biology Department and having another Faculty Advisor assigned. Furthermore, if you found a professor that you trust and they agree to become your Faculty Advisor, simply tell the secretary in the Biology Department that this professor will now be your Faculty Advisor. If you have further questions regarding your situation proceed to the Charles E Schmidt College of Science and either see the Academic Advisor or make an appointment with the Associate Dean (SE 234).

   

• I'm a pre-med student. What math courses satisfy the Biology Department's math requirement?

  You will need Methods of Calculus and Experimental Design and Statistical Inference. If you know which med school you want to go to, check their requirements.

   

• I was recently a Business major at a four-year institution completing 102 credits. I'm now interested in a Biology degree at Florida Atlantic University. I only need 20 or so credits to receive a Biology Degree, right?

  Well, no. It's unlikely that you completed courses like Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Microbiology while you were a Business major. There are approximately 75 credits in the Biology curriculum. You'll most likely end up with well over 120 credit hours (which is common after changing majors late in your academic career.)

   

• I took a Genetics in an out-of-state institution. Does this course fulfill my Genetics Requirement?

  Maybe. Only your Faculty Advisor can tell you. Remember they are the ones which will sign you off on graduation if you have meet all their requirements. It is best to bring a copy of your transcript and the other school's catalogue (with course description) to your Faculty Advisor. If your Advisor can't determine the answer themselves they'll direct you to someone in the department who can. If you took Genetics at another institution in the Flordia State University System (and this course had the same course number as FAU's Genetics course), then FAU will accept it.

   

• What is the difference between General Physics I (PHY 2048) and College Physics for the Life Sciences I (PHY 2053)?

  General Physics I uses calculus, while College Physics I does not. Both courses meet your requirement for Physics in the Biology Department, but most biology majors satisfy the requirement by taking the College Physics sequence. If you know specifically of a medical or graduate program that you may be entering after graduation, check with their prerequisites to make sure they don't require Physics with calculus. If they do require calculus-based physics, then take General Physics I and II--but you will need to have the prerequisite Calculus with Analytic Geometry I!

   

• I want to take College Physics for the Life Sciences I (PHY 2053). Do I need to take the Physics Lab? Is there a separate lab for this course?

  Yes, a lab is required with both Physics courses, whether with or without calculus. The Lab for the non-calculus Physics course is the same as for the calculus Physics course. The labs you are required to take are PHY 2048L and 2049L.

   

• Is there a Minor Offered in Biology?

  Yes there is. Please see the catalogue for the Minor Requirements.

   

• I want to be a biochemist. Should I major in Biology or Chemistry?

  The Biochemistry major is taught within the Chemistry Department. You will take a lot of biology courses as part of this chemistry major, however.

   

• I want to be a Psychobiology major. Am I in the Biology Department or the Psychology Department?

  The Psychobiology Major is offered within the Psychology Department.

   

• Which Biology degree is best, a BA or BS?

  The answer to that question depends on what your ultimate goals are. The BS degree is designed for students who are going on to Graduate School in biology. The BS is slightly more rigorous in the sense that your interests are more narrowed in the field of Biology by choosing an emphasis area: Marine Biology, Ecology and Organismic Biology, Microbiology, Biotechnology and Preprofessional. Realize that both degrees cover just about the same number of credits and courses, however the BA degree offers the flexibility of choosing your own Biology electives. The BA degree is a fine option for students who want to teach high school biology (but note that you will need education credits as well to become certified to teach).

• I am transferring from a local community college with 29 credits. I am a psychology major and I've been told that I need to take 6 credits of Biology and/or Anatomy & Physiology and that I don't need to take the lab. Is this true?

It is true that the Psychology Department does not require that you take the lab with your science cognate area courses. However, since you transferred with less than 30 credits you are required to satisfy the University's Core curriculum and that requires that you take at least one Science with the lab. Had you taken that 1 credit you were hemmin' & hawin' over you'd only need to satisfy the General Education requirements and you would not need the lab. You should consult the Undergraduate catalog, (and your faculty advisor), to see what the Core curriculum requirements are because there are other requirements that you will need to satisfy that are not required of students who transferred with 30 credits or more. For example, you will need to take 9 of your credits over 1 or more summer semesters.

 

• I'm transferring to FAU from a community college. I am a psychology major and I have already taken 12 credits of psychology courses. Will they all transfer into the Psychology program?

Sorry. The Psychology Department requires that you take 40 credits of psychology course work and 31 of those credits must be upper division courses, i.e., 3000 & 4000 level courses. So the department will only transfer 9 credits of lower division psychology course work.

 

• I am transferring to FAU from a 4 year school. I am a psychology major and I have already taken 15 credits of psychology course work. Will all of my Psychology credits transfer to the Psychology program at FAU?

As long as no more than 9 credits are lower division courses (1000/2000 level), FAU will accept up to 20 credits of transfer psychology course work.

 

• I'm a psychology major transferring from a local community college. I have taken College Algebra and Statistics. My evaluation summary says that I have completed my Math general education requirement. Have I also satisfied the Psychology Math requirement?

I'm afraid not. The Psychology curriculum requires 6 credits of Math. The courses taken must be College Algebra or higher and Statistics may not be used to satisfy this requirement.

 

• I took Statistics at my community college. I am now a psychology major at FAU and I see that part of the core curriculum of the psychology program is Experimental Design & Statistical Inferences (PSY 3234). Will the Statistics course from my community college substitute for this course?

No, the community college statistics course is not considered to be equivalent to PSY 3234. Therefore, you must still take PSY 3234 (as well as the required 1-credit Intermediate Statistics Lab, STA 3163L). Upon approval of your advisor, an alternate advanced-level quntitative psychology course may be substituted for PSY 3234.

Well, the faculty in the Psychology Department prefer Experimental Design (PSY 3234), but they will accept some statistics courses on the condition that you've earned at least a C and that you also take a statistics lab, specifically, Intermediate Statistics Lab, STA 3163L. This is a 1 credit lab course and as of Fall `97 is required of all incoming Psychology Students, with or without prior statistics course work.

• I am a transfer student from an out of state school. I just found out about Florida's Gordon Rule writing requirement. I received an evaluation summary with my letter of acceptance that indicates that I have not completed the requirement. I only received credit for my English Comp courses but I had other writing courses. Why did I not receive credit for those courses? My roommate went to PBCC and he got credit for other courses he took.

  The Gordon Rule requires 24,000 words written by each student pursuing a bachelor's degree in the state of Florida. Florida state schools have assigned a writing requirement to several "Gordon Rule" courses that are offered at state universities and community colleges. English composition courses from out-of-state schools are typically granted 6,000 words apiece. However, there is no way for an admissions evaluator to know what the writing requirement was for other courses you have taken. Your roommate attended Palm Beach CC, a Florida public community college, and therefore the courses he received writing credit for must have been "Gordon Rule" courses that have a writing requirement assigned to them. If you have done a considerable amount of writing for courses taken at your out-of-state school you may be able to get writing credit for them by having your professor or the department offering the course document the number of words written. This is accomplished by having them send a letter on the school's letterhead stating the number of words written for the course(s) to the registrar's office at FAU.

   

• I took 3 years of French in high school and a friend told me that this satisfied the language requirement at FAU. Now another friend tells me I need to take more language courses. Is this true?

  Maybe! The university has two language requirements, an entry requirement, which your high school French satisfied, and a graduation requirement, which requires two semesters of a foreign language or the equivalent. There is one requirement to get in and one to get out. With 3 years of high school French, you may try to CLEP FRE 1120 and 1121. If you earn 8 credits for FRE 1120 and 1121, you're done. If you don't earn 8 credits, then you may try going straight into FRE 1121, based on the fact that you've had some training in the language in high school. (See the undergraduate catalogue, for a full explanation of how to satisfy this requirement)

   

• I transferred to FAU from Broward Community College with 73 credits. I understand that I need to complete 120 credits to get my BA. So I only need another 47 credits, right?

  Wrong. The University requires that a student complete 45 credits of upper division work (3,000 and 4,000 level courses). NOTE: All students are required to complete a minimum of 120 credits to earn a Baccalaureate degree. The 45 credit hours of upper division should be part of the 120, however it is possible you may exceed 120 credits in completing requirements.

   

• I transferred to FAU from the University of Florida with 103 credits. My FAU faculty advisor has approved my science courses and therefore I have satisfied the majority of my major requirements. In addition, I have also completed my 45 credit hours of upper division work. How many credits do I need to graduate?

  In order to receive a degree from FAU you must complete a minimum of 30 credits in residence at FAU, as well as all other degree requirements.

   

• I am a student at BCC. I have been accepted to FAU for this Fall semester. I was to have received my AA from BCC this past spring but I had to withdraw from a class and I need to take it to get my AA. Should I take this course at BCC to get my AA or should I forget about the AA and just come to FAU this fall?

  Here are your options: You may take the course at FAU and transfer the credits back to BCC to satisfy the requirements for your AA. You will need to roll over your application for the AA degree until the Fall semester. This way you will get your well deserved degree, you will not have delayed your start toward your bachelor's degree at FAU, and you will have effectively doubled your credit power because those credits will apply to your AA. Or you have the option to take the one course at BBC and still enroll at FAU for the same semester. You will need to fill out a transient student form.

   

• I am a transfer student at FAU. I transferred from a local community college with my AA and 60 credits. I want to get my BA from FAU but understand I only have to take my last 30 credits at FAU to get the bachelor's degree. Can I take course work at my community college? It is closer to home and cheaper.

  Bad idea. You will not save any money doing this. And you will be "spinning your wheels." Although you are correct that the last 30 credits taken toward the BA must be taken at FAU you have overlooked the requirement of 45 credits that must be taken at the university level. The 60 credits you transferred came from a lower division school. So, you will not save money. You will actually waste money and time by doing this. Not to mention that graduate and professional schools would look suspiciously at a Bachelor's degree loaded with community college credits.

   

• I took a course at FAU and received an "F" in it. Can I take this course over at my local community college for forgiveness?

  Sorry. The course must be taken at FAU. A Repeated Course Request Card, (Available in the Registrar's Office), must be filled out prior to or during the semester in which the course is to be taken. If the course is no longer offered by the University, it is up to the department/unit that offered the course to deny your request, or to offer an appropriate, related substitute course. (See the Undergraduate Catalogue, for more information)

   

• I am transferring to FAU from Keiser College with an Associate of Science degree in Respiratory Therapy. How will my credits transfer?

  For admissions purposes, FAU will accept all of your credits and classify you accordingly. However, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science will NOT accept vocational/technical credits and therefore many of your credits may be deleted. Additional information will be provided individually when you meet with a Student Services Advisor.

   

• I have a SC hold. What does that mean and how do I get it removed so I can register?

  The Charles E. Schmidt College of Science places an SC hold on to all new students into the College, including change of college or major and transfer students. Students who have not been advised in the Student Services Office have the hold.

   

• I have an SS hold. What does that mean and how do I get it removed?

  An SS hold is placed on Charles E. Schmidt College of Science students that have been suspended. In order to continue your studies at FAU, you must first meet with a Student Services Advisor prior to further registration.