Registration and Advising

student snorkeling

This page includes a variety of tips and resources that are useful for Biology majors (and advisors) during the course registration and planning process.

General Advice

  • Students should meet (or at least check in with) their academic advisors well in advance of registration and should come to those meetings with a clear plan of what they hope to take the following semester. Course planning is done on Amos.
  • The overall requirements for the Biology major and minor are listed here.
  • There is no pre-med, pre-dental, or pre-PA major; like most schools, students interested in these careers at Moravian take all of the necessary courses and gain the necessary experiences to prepare a competitive application, regardless of their major. Most students interested in careers in the health professions (medical, dental, vet, PA, etc.) at Moravian major in Biology, Neuroscience, or Biochemistry.
  • Students interested in a career in the health professions (medical, dental, vet, PA, etc.) should contact the Health Professions Advisor (Dr. Cecilia Fox) to plan out their college career and prepare themselves for success in these careers (more Health Professions Resources)
  • Major and minor declarations are made on Amos (College Students > Forms > Declaration/Change Form)
  • If students plan to do a course overload (more than 4.5 units in a term), they must fill out the Course Overload Request form on Amos (College Students > Forms). Keep in mind that this only applies to courses that have open seats after all Moravian students have a chance to register, so the form should only be submitted after first-year students register (so that we know there are empty seats).
  • If a student does not get into a course they believe they need for their major, they should email the instructor of the course and copy their advisor - this does not guarantee getting into the course, but it lets the department know what the student needs are.
  • Course Withdrawal forms can be found on Amos (College Students > Forms)

Biology Elective Policies

  • At least three of the five elective courses you take must have an associated laboratory and/or scientific research component.
  • At least four of the Biology electives must be at the BIOL 200-level or higher.
  • Honors and Independent Research with a BIOL prefix count as Biology electives (with a lab / scientific research component).
  • Anatomy & Physiology I & II (BIOL103 & 104, or BIOL 106 & 107) can be counted as a single biology elective course. Keep in mind that these courses are typically only open to Nursing and Health Science majors unless they are taken over the summer. Life science majors typically take Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, which are upper-level biology courses and both count as biology electives.
  • Students can count the St. Luke's Clinical Observership program (HLTR 285) as a non-lab Biology elective. Learn more here.
  • Students can count internships as a non-lab Biology elective if they follow the guidelines below (under Internships).
  • If there is any Moravian or transfer course that students are unsure whether it counts as a Biology elective, they should ask their advisor and if necessary, consult the Biology department chair.
  • Travel courses (e.g., BIOL128 Exploring Tropical Biodiversity, BIOL232 Field Marine Ecology) count as biology electives (with a lab / scientific research component) but cannot be registered for through the normal registration process. Students can see listings and apply through the Center for Global Education. Students should register for a full course load even if they are intending to apply for a travel course, because not everyone gets into those courses.

Research

  • The three main research options are SOAR (over the summer), Honors (full senior year), and Independent Research (one semester).
  • Students can conduct research as early as their first year at Moravian, though this is not for everyone and faculty have lab-specific guidelines for student involvement in their research lab.
  • For any research opportunity, the first step is to contact a faculty member (or multiple) early in the semester before you hope to participate. The earlier you reach out the better, because we are limited in the number of students we can take. Independent research opportunities with faculty are not guaranteed, but many of our courses have course-based research projects and there are many outside research opportunities (see the link below).
  • Independent Research guidelines and applications can be found on Amos (College Students > Forms > Independent-Individualized Study & Independent Research Application).
  • Research policies in Biology can be found in more detail here.

Summer / Winter Courses

  • Moravian transfer policies can be found here.
  • Many courses are available to take at Moravian over the summer and winter terms. Students can search for these courses on Amos by selecting summer or winter term in the course search menu.
  • Summer and winter courses at Moravian are typically not eligible for financial aid, but tuition rates are lower than during the semester.
  • Students taking courses at other institutions must fill out the Pre-approval To Study At Other Institutions form on Amos (College Students > Forms) before enrolling, to make sure that it will count at Moravian.
  • Students can only transfer community college courses back to Moravian when they have earned 20 units or less at Moravian.
  • Several community colleges have transfer agreements in place with Moravian, with their courses already approved to count as specific courses at Moravian. These can be found in the transfer guide here. Students must still fill out the pre-approval form to take these courses, but they do not need approval from the relevant departments at Moravian because the courses are pre-approved.

Internships

  • Internships can be done for course credit! They typically do not count as Biology electives, but they can if students connect with a faculty advisor and agree to write a ~30 page research paper and weekly check-ins, in addition to the work of the internship. Paper guidelines can be found here.
  • Internships are not arranged by faculty / advisors - they are set up by the student, in collaboration for the Career Center.
  • The guidelines for internships (including registration checklist, handbook, application) can be found on Amos (College Students > Forms)

Cross-Registration

  • There are options to take courses during the semester through other institutions (which still are covered in the normal tuition/financial aid package), but only if students are unable to take equivalent courses at Moravian. More cross-registration information is here.
  • For students who register for courses through LVAIC, COLA, or Acadeum, the courses will automatically show up on the Moravian transcript and the payment (tuition/aid) will be worked out by Moravian - there is no separate application process (unlike transfer courses).
  • Acadeum courses are all fully online. To look at offerings, students will need to create an account (advisors can do this to look as well). There are opportunities to take classes that start halfway though the semester or that are only a half-unit, so these can help students who are missing units or requirements for graduation. For any student who requests enrollment though Acadeum, the advisor will receive an email from the Registrar, asking the advisor to confirm why the student needs that particular course (and can't take it at Moravian).