BSc General Program

Please note that the Faculty of Science is revising the Bachelor of Science in the General Program degree requirements for all students admitted in Fall 2014 and thereafter. Please see www.uofa.ualberta.ca/science/programs/undergraduate for a detailed listing of the approved program requirements.

The BSc General program provides students with a diverse education in more than one branch of study. Students must major in a Science subject area of concentration (as defined either by a single course designator or by groupings of course designators – see below). Students may elect to minor in a Science subject area of concentration, in an Arts subject area of concentration (see BA Honors and BA Major/Minor Requirements ), in one of a select number of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences subject areas of concentration (see BSc BSc General—Minor in Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences), or in Business (see BSc General—Minor in Business). In addition to providing a path to the BSc General Degree, this program of study allows for subsequent transfer to Specialization and Honors programs. Students intending to transfer to Honors or Specialization programs should consult the appropriate admission requirements for the program of interest (see Faculty of Science ), select carefully their first-year core courses in accordance with the requirements of the specific Honors or Specialization program, and pay close attention to course load and GPA requirements for transfer. Students in the combined BSc/BEd program should consult Education Chart 2 (see Secondary Education Route ) when choosing courses for their major and minor.

Admission

See BSc General Admission Requirements for admission requirements for the BSc (General) programs.

For information about admission to the Business minor, see BSc General—Minor in Business .

Selection of Courses

Note: For success in your chosen program, ensure you have satisfied the pre/corequisite requirements for all courses. Departments have the right to remove students from courses for failing to present a passing grade (or higher, where stipulated) in the prerequisite course(s) and/or for failing to be enrolled in the corequisite course(s). Please see www.uofa.ualberta.ca/science/programs/undergraduate/admission-to-science for more information.

The following regulations govern the General program:

To obtain a BSc General Degree

To obtain a BSc General Degree, a student must receive credit in ★120. At least ★72 and not more than ★102 must be in courses offered by the Faculty of Science (see details of courses ). At least ★18 and not more than ★48 must be in courses offered by the Faculty of Arts.

The General program includes a core of courses which must include the following:

★6 junior ENGL or ★3 junior ENGL and ★3 junior WRS

★6 from among junior courses offered by the Departments of Computing Science, and Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

★6 from among junior courses in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics

★6 from among junior Science courses titled Biology, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, or Science Psychology

Not more than ★42 may be taken at the junior level.

Each student must complete a Science major

Each student must complete a Science major. See below for specific course requirements in each major subject area of concentration. With the exception of the Physical Science major, which requires ★42, all Science majors require a minimum of ★36 with at least ★12 in 300-level or higher courses taken while registered in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta.

Each student must also either:

complete a second Science major. Students who complete a second Science major will not have a minor. The Double Majors will be recorded on the student transcript; or
complete a minor. With exception of the Physical Sciences minor, which requires ★27, all minors must have at least ★24 with at least ★6 in 300-level or higher courses taken while registered in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta. The minor may be in Science (see below), in an Arts subject area of concentration (see BA Honors and BA Major/Minor Requirements ), in one of a select number of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences subject areas of concentration (see BSc General—Minor in Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences), or in Business (see BSc General—Minor in Business). For non-Science minors, students are responsible for meeting both the Faculty of Science minor requirements and any outside Faculty or department-specified course requirements. For information about admission to the Business minor, see BSc General—Minor in Business .

A maximum of ★18 may be taken from faculties other than Arts or Science

A maximum of ★18 may be taken from faculties other than Arts or Science. For applicants to the BSc General who have already taken courses from faculties other than Arts or Science, potential transfer credit for such courses will be assessed at the time of admission to the program. Such subjects are not included as part of the major or minor (with the exception of those courses meeting the requirements for a Business minor or one of the allowable minors from Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences), nor toward the minimum requirement of ★18 in Arts, nor toward the minimum requirement of ★72 in Science.

General Program in Biological Sciences

A major or a minor area of concentration in the Biological Sciences is available in the BSc General program.

Courses which may be used toward a Biological Sciences major or minor include BIOCH; BIOIN; BIOL; BOT; CELL; ENT; GENET; IMIN; MA SC; MICRB; MMI (with the exception of MMI 133 ); NEURO; NU FS 363 ; PMCOL (with the exception of PMCOL 300 ); PALEO; PHYSL (with the exception of PHYSL 600 ) and ZOOL.

Courses in Biochemistry may be used for a concentration in Biological Sciences or Physical Sciences or Chemistry but not in more than one concentration.

Courses in Paleontology may be used in a concentration in Biological Sciences or Earth and Atmospheric Sciences but not in both.

Courses in Bioinformatics may be used in a concentration in Biological Sciences or Mathematical Sciences or a Computing Sciences minor but not in more than one concentration.

Note: It is not possible to combine a major or minor in the Biological Sciences with a minor or major in one of the specific subject disciplines in the Biological Sciences. For example, students may not select a major in the Biological Sciences and a minor in Microbiology.