Environmental Biology

The environmental biology curriculum within the biology major provides undergraduate preparation for students who are pursuing careers in such fields as conservation biology, wildlife biology, environmental toxicology, and environmental health. In addition to formal courses in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, employment criteria for these professions include prior experience (e.g., as a summer employee or intern), field biology skills (i.e., plant/animal taxonomy, habitat assessment and improvement), interpersonal skills, mathematical and communication skills, and the ability to reason critically and integrate across disciplines.

Medical Technology

A medical technology option is available within the biology major. The student must spend one year in a hospital internship program to become a certified medical technologist. Prerequisites to the hospital internship include: 16 hours of biology, 16 hours of chemistry, one mathematics course, and completion of all General Education Requirements. Students may do an internship during their senior year with 32 hours of transfer credit applied to the biology major upon successful completion of the internship. Many students complete the requirements for a biology major first and then take the internship after graduation from Cedarville University.

Preagriculture

The preagriculture curriculum is designed to satisfy the technical and nontechnical requirements of the first two years of a typical agriculture program. Students should research agricultural schools to which they wish to transfer at the junior level so that application materials can be completed in advance of deadlines.The preagriculture students should confer with their advisor to select electives based upon the following criteria:

• The requirements of the school to which they will transfer after leaving Cedarville University.
• The specific agricultural program they wish to enter.

Course requirements include core requirements and an emphasis in either agriculture business or agriculture science.

Premedical Program

Cedarville University students have been very successful in gaining admission to medical and osteopathic schools. Over the past five years, 81% of CU students who applied to medical schools were accepted (the national acceptance rate is 50-55%). While these schools usually do not require a specific major, students interested in medicine typically choose to major in biology or chemistry.

Preparation for Other Health Professions

Dentistry
Optometry
Physician Assistant
Podiatry
Cedarville University students have been successful in gaining admission to various health-related professional schools. For many of these schools, no specific major is required; however, students typically choose majors in biology or chemistry.

Prepharmacy

The prepharmacy curriculum enables a student to obtain the first three or four years of the six- or seven-year Pharm.D. program at Cedarville University. To ensure that specific course requirements may be met through Cedarville courses, the student should select the pharmacy college he or she plans to attend as early as possible and obtain a catalog describing the specifc course requirements.

Prephysical Therapy

Most Cedarville students who successfully apply to graduate programs in physical therapy have completed the B.A. in biology. Students should contact the specific schools they wish to attend to determine the exact prerequisites. Physical therapy schools usually require 40 to 100 hours of experience assisting alicensed phyusical therapist prior to application.

Preveterinary Program

Cedarville University students have been successful in gaining admission to veterinary schools. Typically, this requires a major in biology or chemistry.