Welcome to USF Biology, I am Prof. Sikes. If you are interested in evolution, ecology, molecular or cellular processes, this is the right place for you. WeÕre excited to have you joining us.  This module is for Biology majors and other new students who are planning to become Biology majors. In this video, I will walk you through the process of choosing courses for the upcoming semester.

Each student typically registers for 16-18 credits per semester. That is four, 4 credit courses and perhaps 1 or 2 credits of extracurricular activities. All of the courses for the major follow a specific sequence for the first two years, please do not make substitutions, other than those suggested, without consulting your academic advisor.

In your first year, you will take Biology 105: Molecules of Life and Biology 106: Diversity of Life. You can take either class first; both classes are offered in the spring and in the fall. 
Biology 105: Molecules of Life focuses on molecular and cellular biology, with discussion of evolutionary biology as well. 
Biology 106: Diversity of Life focuses on organismal diversity and plant and animal anatomy and physiology. Both of these courses have a laboratory component; you should register for both the lecture and lab simultaneously. 

For example, if you are registering for Biology 106, you should select BIOL106 and BIOL106L to add this course to your schedule. For both of these courses, you need to earn at least a C grade for credit towards the biology major. [1][2]

In order to be a successful biologist, you also need to develop your understanding of chemistry. Each student will complete General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II. These do need to be taken in sequence; you will take General Chemistry I, course number Chemistry 111, and the lab, Chemistry 112, first. Before you can register, you must first take the USF Chemistry Diagnostic Test. The test is a timed multiple-choice test covering high school chemistry topics. If you do not place into General Chemistry I you will need to take a free online preparatory course to review basic chemistry.  You can enroll in this free online course by completing a form located on the placement test page of the Advising and 


Class Registration Tutorials.  You must earn a minimum grade of C in General Chemistry I to advance to General Chemistry II.

You do not need to register for a MATH class at this time. Calculus is not required for the Biology major, and students are advised to complete the Biostatistics course in their second year.

As a student at a liberal arts university, you will develop knowledge and skills across many different fields. These are your Core classes, an important part of your USF education. For your remaining two classes, we suggest you consider the following options.

Many students take a rhetoric course in their first semester. Developing good writing and speaking skills is absolutely essential to your success in all the classes you will take at USF.  Please review the tutorial about the Core Curriculum and the Core A2 Rhetoric and Composition requirement to register for a rhetoric course.

We also recommend Public Speaking which fulfills your core A1 requirement or a first-year seminar course. If you are a transfer student, you can take a transfer year seminar course. These seminars serve as a great introduction to the academic environment at USF and will fulfill a Core Requirement.

You can also take a class that fulfills a different Core requirement. Note that the Biology Major covers the Core B1 and B2 requirements, so you should pick a class that covers a different area, for example, History, Literature, Philosophy, Theology & Religious Studies, Ethics, or Visual and Performing Arts. You can search for Core classes in the course catalog by selecting a core under Ôattribute type.Õ We encourage you to explore what interests you outside of Biology![3] 

If you have studied a foreign language previously, you should also take a foreign language placement test to determine your level of competency. As a science major you need to take two semesters of a foreign language. If you are placed into the third semester of a language, you have completed your foreign language requirement. In this instance, the department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures will need to verify your language proficiency at llc@usfca.edu.
Once you have selected your classes, your schedule should resemble something like this.
First Year students:
BIOL 105 & 105L Molecules of Life (4 credits)
or
BIOL 106/106L Diversity of Life (4 credits)
CHEM 111/112 General Chemistry I (4 credits)
Core course (4 credits)
Core/Language course (4 credits)
Transfer students:
BIOL 105 & 105L Molecules of Life (4 credits)
or
BIOL 106/106L Diversity of Life (4 credits)
CHEM 1xx/2xx (depending on transfer credit) (4 credits)
Core course (4 credits)
Core course (4 credits)

If you are a transfer student, you may have completed some of these courses. It is important for you to review your degree evaluation and meet with your academic advisor to determine which courses you need to complete. 

There are also many 1-2 credit courses that you may like to consider.
For example, a College success course, like USF 101, will provide valuable insights into student life at USF.  

Spend some time navigating the Schedule of Classes to familiarize yourself with the layout of the website. Look for courses that you would like to register for, including specific sections. Spend some time doing this to find a schedule that works for you. You should also keep an alternate list of courses in case some are closed.

If you have any questions, please contact us. 
biology@usfca.edu
415.422.6755
We look forward to meeting you during Orientation when we will review the major requirements and you will have the opportunity to meet faculty and students.
If we could find a way to record what the screen would like when they had done this (selecting both 106 and 106L) that might be a good shot to show here, to demonstrate what we mean.Ê Most students do figure this out with just instructions, though.
Good idea!
Again, this might be too much stage direction, but here a screenshot or short capture showing someone selecting attribute type might be helpful.Ê Ideally they're getting all of these types of directions from the more general videos that are produced, though...