I have often wondered if the general trend of allowing a 2.0 gpa for a
biology major is appropriate. Essentially, if you GPA drops to far
below a 2.5 you are essentially dead in the water. you will not get
in a grad school today, nor will you get hired. I would like to see
universities send a me
Jane, I believe there are some institutions where one can earn an undergraduate
degree in biology with only college algebra, and some of those even still offer
and require trigonometry, both of which have been subsumed at most post
secondary institutions that offer them into a "precalculus" cour
Mike, of course we find (or found, I am retired from teaching) many of those
enrolled to be lacking in math training and skills. So do the chemistry,
physics, and engineering faculty. Math proficiency may be the one skill that
high school graduates are most lacking in. Many students do come t
It's interesting that Kim is from Canada and Robert is from the UK, while
David is from the US. I'm also from the US and I've never heard of a
biology program that didn't require at least one term of calculus, although
I've heard of such things having existed in the past. (BTW, I think linear
algeb
Won't comment on the E.O. Wilson part of this interesting thread. As a former
High School Teacher, Math was not required for any of our Biology courses. That
included the upper level Junior and Senior classes. I tried to change this, am
not it was that successful. Am not speaking for all High Sc
Extremely limited or even no math requirements may be a more common feature of
biology programs
than you realize. For example, up until recently, my program required only a
stats course. It is my
understanding that this is an increasingly common approach for biology programs.
Partially as a re
Robert Gilman wrote:
> . At many US and UK universities, a student can obtain a BS in biology
> without taking a single course in mathematics or statistics. In some cases, a
> student can obtain a PhD in biology with no more than a basic high school
> math background.
>
What schools are
I agree with Wilson – but only in part. We should not discourage students from
entering science simply because they have poor mathematical backgrounds. Some
people have succeeded in science without strong math skills. Many more have
acquired mathematical skills because they have had scientifica
