1. Welcome to CBU and the School of Sciences Biology Department Chemistry Department Mathematics & Computer Science Department Physics & Natural Science Department

2. Freedom and Responsibility
College will be different than high school.
You will have less formal class time each week.
You will have to make your own choices about what major to pursue, what courses to take, and when and how to study.
With this added freedom comes the responsibility for making your choices. You will have to live with the results of those choices. We have an obligation to help you, but we do NOT have an obligation to pass you. It is your responsibility to learn and succeed.

3. When you need help When (not if) you need help:
Don’t panic. Everyone finds math and science hard. It doesn’t mean that you are dumb!
Re-read the text or go back over sample problems in the text or notes.
Form a study group for each of your classes.
Formulate questions to ask before you come to see your professor.
Review your quizzes and tests when you get them back, and try to see WHY you missed what you missed, and what you might do differently in the future to avoid those types of mistakes.

4. Choosing Majors biology heavy math heavy
Biology Computer Sci Mathematics
Biomedical Sci Chemistry Engr Physics
Biochemistry Physics
Ecology all engineering majors
In most cases, the courses you take are as important, if not more, than the major you choose. Try to find a career that interests you, and choose your major and the courses to support that career!

5. You can change majors at the start of any semester.
Changing Majors
You can change majors at the start of any semester.
It is easier to finish in four years if you decide on your area of interest early in your career.
1. Going into your freshmen year, it is helpful (but not absolutely necessary) if you can decide among: Arts, Business, Engineering/Physical Sciences, or Life Sciences.
Going into your sophomore year in Science, it is helpful (but not absolutely necessary) if you can decide among:
2a. Biology, Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Ecology or Natural Science; or
2b. Computer Science, Math, Physics, or the various areas of Engineering (EE, ME, CE, ChemE).

6. Changing Majors
Choosing a major for the first semester does not lock you into that major for your college career. Keep talking to your professors and your fellow students about their courses, and try to find a field that is both interesting and fits your talents.
If you want to change your major, all it takes is for you to investigate a new major (talk to a faculty member in that area), and then see the Dean of Academic Advising about the formal process.

7. Paradigms
Paradigms for all of the Science majors are on the web. They will be more easily accessed from the Sciences’ main web page in the future, but for now:
Go to
Click on Academics
Under School of Sciences click on Undergraduate Programs
Click on the degree, concentration, option, or minor that you are interested in.

8. Paradigms All paradigms start with English and Math.
Biology, Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, and Ecology all start with BIOL 111 and lab. Chemistry may also start with BIOL 111 and lab if you are interested in the health area.
All paradigms with the exception of Computer Science and Math start with Chemistry.
Social Sciences, Religious Studies, and free electives can be moved around to different semesters.

9. Math placement
In order to place students appropriately, so as not to either overburden or bore students, we use a placement system based on ACT scores: MATH ACT score below 20 means you start with ALG to 22 means you are ready for MATH to 25 means you are ready for MATH 107 & 110 concurrently. 26 means you are ready for MATH and above means you are ready for MATH 131. There are math placements tests you can take to try to qualify for a higher level math course – see the web page on the Math Department page:

10. Prerequisites for CHEM & BIOL
In order to qualify to take a CHEM course, you need a MATH ACT score of at least 20, and you need to take the Chemistry Placement test to see whether you place into CHEM 101 or CHEM 113. If you don’t have at least a MATH ACT score of 20, you need to pass the ALG 115 & 120 courses to qualify to take a CHEM course. In order to qualify to take BIOL 111, the 1st biology course, you need to have a COMPOSITE ACT score of 22 or better and take either CHEM 101 or 113 concurrently. If you don’t have a COMPOSITE ACT score of at least 22, you need to pass the CHEM 1xx course to qualify to take the BIOL 111 course.

11. Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment
If you have credits you are bringing in from AP or Dual Enrollment, you may be able to jump ahead of the suggested paradigm for your major that is on the web. You might be interested in:
taking a lighter load (due to sports or work)
pursuing courses outside your major,
pursuing a dual degree, or
graduating in less than four years.
Be sure to talk to your advisor about these possibilities if you have credits coming in. Possibilities for dual degrees are not listed yet on the new CBU web design, but I hope to have them listed soon.

12. General Education Requirements
A college degree indicates to society that the person has received a well-rounded education in addition to receiving job/career preparation skills. A professional has to communicate with a lot of different people and so must have a base of knowledge to do that. At CBU all majors require the following:
Two courses in English composition
Math 105 or higher One science course with lab
One literature course Two social science courses
One Ethics course Two Religious Studies courses
Be sure to check with the catalog and/or your academic advisor about which courses satisfy the GER requirements.

13. General Education Requirements
To see a listing of the specific courses that count for the individual requirements,
Go to the CBU home page at
Click on myCBU (near top)
Click on Academic Catalog (at the very bottom on the right)
The courses that satisfy the different areas of the GER’s start on page 24* (scroll on the bottom for faster page changing). Page 24 is listed as page at the bottom.

14. Health Careers
All the professional health schools have their own sets of requirements. None of them specify a particular degree, but they do specify certain courses. Our Pre-Health Director has placed this information on the web.
Go to the CBU home page at
Click on Academics,
Under Sciences, click on Undergraduate Programs,
Scroll down and click on link under Pre-Health Programs heading

15. Prerequisites
Most of the science and math courses depend on previous coursework either in the field or in a supporting field.
For example, BIOL 311 Genetics has a prerequisite of BIOL 112 and CHEM 212; CHEM 212 has a prereq of CHEM 211 which has a prereq of CHEM 114 which has a prereq of CHEM 113.
It is important to learn the material in the prereq courses well so that you can do well in the follow-on courses.
The paradigm for your major helps you keep on track and manage all of the prerequisite requirements.

16. Corequisites
Most science classes have a lab attached, and the lab is almost always a corequisite for the course. This is done so that separate grades may be given to each – which is useful in the case of multiple labs where the lecture teacher and the lab teacher may be different. It is also useful to students if they want to repeat one part but not the other.
Note that BIOL 111 has a corequisite of CHEM 101 or higher, as well as a corequisite of the BIOL 111 lab.

17. Pre and Co-requisites
To see the prerequisite and corequisite requirements for any course,
Go on the CBU home page on the web at ,
Click on Academics,
Under Sciences, click on the department (e.g. Biology)
At the top of the page, click on the link Courses, and scroll till you find the course you are interested in. It will list the prereqs near the end of the description.

18. Science Labs
Many of the Science courses, including some math and computer science courses, have labs.
It is important to be on time and prepared for labs – for safety sake and to be fair to your lab partner.
Labs are hard to make up – it takes time to prepare labs and then to take them down, and some require time sensitive materials so it may not be possible to make up some labs.
For athletes (and others)
Some labs (not all) have sections offered in the mornings
some labs have multiple sections, so sometimes athletes can come to a different section if a game happens on a lab day, but check with your instructor about this
classes & labs take precedence over practices – always.

19. Course Information for Registration
College classes do NOT meet every day like most high school classes.
TR means Tuesday and Thursday
MWF means Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
BIOL 111 has three lecture meetings PLUS a discussion section (on Tuesday or Thursday at 8:30 AM)
CHEM 101 does not have a lab with it, but CHEM 113 does have a lab
CHEM 113 labs meet every other week, so there are two sections of CHEM 113 labs that appear on the schedule to meet at the same time
Math placement tests can be repeated later if you want to try to place higher. For now, though, register for the MATH course you placed into. We’ll adjust your schedule later if you place higher.
Chemistry placement tests can NOT be repeated.

20. Caution about back-to-back classes
It may (or may not) be possible to take all of your classes on MWF or all on TR, and it may be possible to take several classes back-to-back. This may seem attractive to commuter students. However, be aware that on some days (especially near mid-term and near the end of the semester) you may have tests in some or all of these classes and you may appreciate a break between classes to re-focus and prepare for those tests.

21. Chemistry planning
The normal paradigms that require chemistry start with CHEM 113 in the fall and CHEM 114 in the spring.
If you are placed into CHEM 101 instead of CHEM 113, you can catch up by taking CHEM 101 in the fall, CHEM 113 in the spring, and CHEM 114 during the summer.

22. Homework and Study
All of the courses in the School of Sciences require outside study and/or homework – some of it is graded and some of it is not. It is important to do the readings and homework in all cases since homework and outside study assignments both support material covered in class and cover additional topics not covered in class.
Homework and study provide you with reasons and material to talk about with your instructor, so take advantage of these opportunities to get to know your subject and your instructor.

23. Homework and Study
Rule of thumb: On average, you should study two hours outside of class for every hour you are in class. This translates into a 45 hour work week for a 15 credit course load. College is a full-time job!
Beware of one of humanity’s greatest weaknesses: procrastination. It is hard or impossible to seek good help on the night before an assignment is due, so do it early and seek help if you need it.

24. Study Skills There are two important study skills: HOW you study and
WHEN you study.
If you are having problems with a subject, talk to your professor and/or advisor and see what it takes to study the subject efficiently.
Time management is the key to WHEN you study. Some of our athletes with all of their practices and games turn out to be some of our better students because they have learned how to manage their time.

25. Student Groups
Think about joining the student group in your area AND those close to your area:
Beta Beta Beta in Biology
Student Members of the American Chemical Society
Student Chapter of the Mathematical Association of America
Society of Physics Students

26. Opportunity
We are here to help you get a great education. We cannot do it for you, we can only help you.
Do not expect to pass if you don’t do the work.
Do expect help if you ask for it. (Note: help doesn’t mean we simply give you the answers. Help means we guide you in the ways of understanding the questions as well as figuring out the answers.)
We offer you a great opportunity – take full advantage of it! Take ownership of your education and your life.