Dec 10, 2024  
2023-2024 Academic Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Biology, B.S.


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  1. Satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements for students entering college in Fall 1999 or after. See “Bachelor’s Degree Requirements .”
  2. Satisfy the requirements for the Bachelor of Science.
    • Natural sciences with lab (for a total of 11 semester hours of natural sciences)
  3. General requirements:
  4.     Students must take a minimum of 4 semester hours of upper division laboratory.  Concurrent enrollment in the lecture class is required.
  5.     Students seeking secondary certification should see the section on “Secondary Education Teacher Certification Programs ”.
  6.     Free electives - Enough electives to fulfill the 120 semester hour requirement and the 36 semester hours of upper division courses.

These requirements are summarized below:

Degree Requirements


The following requirements apply to all candidates for the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science. The Bachelor of Arts option is available to those who choose plans in Communication, Humanities, Mathematical Sciences, or Psychology. The Bachelor of Science option is available to those who choose plans in Biology, Communication, Computer Science, Computer Information System, Criminal Justice, Mathematical Sciences or Psychology.

  1. Satisfy all university requirements for a bachelor’s degree as found in the ”Bachelor’s Degree Requirements  ” section of this catalog.
  2. Satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements for students entering college in Fall 1999 or after. Note: Students who transfer from a Texas public community college or public university and are certified as core complete shall have satisfied the core requirements of UHV.
  3. Satisfy the requirements for either the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science, as follows:

Bachelor of Arts
(1) Lower Division: 3 semester hours of speech and satisfy Computer literacy/proficiency requirement (See [**] below); Foreign Language: 6 semester hours at the sophomore level in one foreign language. Students submitting an acceptable score on a standard foreign language proficiency test approved by the College of Natural and Applied Science may substitute 6 semester hours of electives.

Bachelor of Science
(1) Lower Division: 3 semester hours of speech and satisfy Computer literacy/proficiency requirement (See [**] below); Natural Sciences: 11 semester hours in natural sciences, at least 2 semester hours of which must be in laboratory courses. Natural sciences include biology, biophysical sciences, chemistry, geology, and physics.  To fulfill the natural science course requirement, students must take at least six semester credit hours in natural science coursework. i.e.  Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, or Bio/Physical Science

[**] May be satisfied within the core curriculum. However, 3 semester hours of both speech and Computer literacy/proficiency are still required even if the student is certified as core complete by way of transfer from a Texas public community college or public university.

    4.  Satisfy course requirements for the plan: At least 24 semester hours in one plan of which at least 18 semester hours must be advanced.

Core Curriculum Requirements


(42 total core hours required).

  • Core 010 Communication
  • Core 020 Mathematics
  • Core 030 Life and Physical Science
  • Core 040 Language, Philosophy and Culture
  • Core 050 Creative Arts
  • Core 060 American History
  • Core 070 Government/Political Science
  • Core 080 Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Core 090 Component Area Option: Speech
  • Core 090 Component Area Option: Computer Literacy

Major Program Requirements


Must earn C or higher in all major program requirements.

Free Electives


Additional upper division hours to satisfy the 120 minimum requirement of hours on the degree plan and the 36 hour minimum of upper division hours.

Total: 120 s.h.


Students must complete a minimum of 4 semester hours of upper division laboratory.
Total must be minimum of 120 s.h. with minimum of 36 s.h. at upper division level.
^ May be satisfied within core curriculum. However, 3 semester hours of both speech and computer literacy/proficiency are still required even if the student is certified as core complete by way of transfer from a Texas public community college or public university.

Premedical and Predental Program


The Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and courses taught at the University of Houston-Victoria fulfill the admissions requirements for most medical and dental schools in the United States and its protectorates.

Premedical and predental students are advised that many medical and dental schools require the following courses (taken from TMDSAS); however, students are responsible for determining the specific requirements of those medical or dental schools selected for application.

  • Biological Sciences (14 sch; 12 sch lecture and 2 sch lab)
  • General Chemistry One year with laboratory (8 sch)
  • Organic Chemistry One year with laboratory (8 sch)
  • Biochemistry (3 sch)
  • General Physics One year with laboratory (8 sch)
  • English (6 sch)
  • Upper division statistics (3 sch)

 

Furthermore, students need to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) or the Dental School Admissions Test (DAT) to fulfill admission requirements of most medical and dental schools.  These tests are usually taken in the spring of the junior year of college.  For more information seek the advisement of the Pre-Health Advisory Committee (PHAC).  Letters of recommendation from the PHAC will be provided only for students who have fulfilled PHAD requirements.

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