Undergraduate Courses

Over 200 courses are offered in MCDB and EEMB. These courses are offered at 3 levels. Lower division courses (numbered 1-99) are taken by freshman and sophomores as part of the preparation for their major or as general education courses. Upper division courses (numbered 100-199) are more advanced courses generally in the student's major or minor. A minimum of 48 upper division biology units are required for the BS degrees in biology. A minimum of 36 upper division biology units are required for the BA degree. Graduate level courses (numbered 200-599) are not generally open to undergraduates.

Meeting Prerequisites is a Must

All Biology courses, with the exception of GE courses, build upon prerequisite or preparatory course work and thus, prerequisites are strictly enforced by the departments. Students who have not successfully completed the prerequisites for a course will not be allowed to register.

Most upper-division MCDB courses and some upper-division EEMB courses require a "C" or better in their course prerequisites. If you pass a course with less than a "C" in a non-prerequisite major course you do not necessarily need to repeat the course as long as you maintain a major GPA of 2.0. Specific course prerequisite information can be found on GOLD, the UCSB Catalog and the annual Proposed MCDB/EEMB Course Information Sheet. If you are unsure as to whether you meet a prerequisite or need to repeat a course, please see one of the biology undergraduate academic advisors.

On rare occasions faculty may grant special approval for a student to enroll without a stated prerequisite, but only if the student can show evidence of preparation through other means. This does not, however, extend to other courses requiring the same prerequisite nor does it excuse the student from completing the prerequisite as a requirement for the major.