Biology at University of Pennsylvania

A suggested order for the 96 courses on the map, built from prerequisite chains and how often each course has run in fall and spring across the last 12 regular terms. It is not the department’s plan, and it is not a promise a course will run. Confirm against the department’s own advising material.

Gateway courses

Each of these unlocks the largest share of downstream work on this map. Courses from other departments can appear here when they genuinely gate BIOL coursework.

• BIOL 1102Introduction to Biology Bopens 63 courses (19.8 directly)
• BIOL 2210Molecular Biology and Geneticsopens 29 courses (21.3 directly)
• BIOL 2010Cell Biologyopens 19 courses (13.2 directly)
• BIOL 2110Molecular and Cellular Neurobiologyopens 9 courses (7.7 directly)
• BIOL 2610Ecology: From individuals to ecosystemsopens 6 courses (5 directly)
• BIOL 2410Evolutionary Biologyopens 6 courses (4 directly)

The map

Intro tiers at the top, advanced work below; arrows point from a prerequisite to the course it unlocks. Courses from other departments appear where they gate BIOL work. Click any course to see what it requires and unlocks without leaving this page; hovering lights up its neighbors. The lists on this page carry the same courses in text form.

Showing the 96 BIOL and feeder courses that have prerequisite links. 133 more BIOL courses have no recorded prerequisites. They are listed under Tracks below, not drawn as loose dots here.

Concentration routes

The concentrations and majors that build on BIOL, and how their requirements are structured. Expand a program to see which courses satisfy each group, then plan it in the Planner.

Tracks

Upper-level clusters, grouped by the gateway that opens them.

The longest ladders

The deepest prerequisite chains in BIOL. These are the routes that take the most semesters to climb.

• 5 courses deep, ending at BIOL 3004

  1. BIOL 1101Introduction to Biology A
  2. BIOL 1102Introduction to Biology B
  3. BIOL 2201Essentials of Molecular Biology and Genetics
  4. BIOL 2701Elements of Microbiology
  5. BIOL 3004Infectious Disease Biology

• 4 courses deep, ending at BIOL 2301

  1. BIOL 1121Introduction to Biology - The Molecular Biology of Life
  2. BIOL 1123Introductory Molecular Biology Laboratory
  3. BIOL 1124Introductory Organismal Biology Lab

• 4 courses deep, ending at BIOL 3006

  1. BIOL 1101Introduction to Biology A
  2. BIOL 1102Introduction to Biology B
  3. BIOL 2001Essentials of Cell Biology

• 4 courses deep, ending at BIOL 3020

  1. BIOL 1101Introduction to Biology A
  2. BIOL 1102Introduction to Biology B
  3. BIOL 2010Cell Biology

Grade medians

Professors

No section schedule with instructor names for BIOL yet.

Clubs & organizations

No clubs or organizations on record under BIOL yet.

Clubs students here join

Department events

Biology does not run a page here yet. When it does, its events show up here and on the Penn campus feed.