Undergraduate Summer Advising Information
Biological Sciences Advising Team

Jack Evans
Director of Undergraduate Programs
and Senior Instructor
jaevans1@vt.edu

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SUMMER ADVISING CHECKLIST
Welcome to the Virginia Tech Biological Sciences Department!
Check your email!
You will receive two important emails on May 12th from the Biological Sciences Advising Office and from Navigate to schedule your advising appointment.
Please check your Spam folder if you do not see the Navigate email in your VT inbox.
You will see a message that looks similar to the image on the right.

Once you make an appointment in Navigate go to STEP 2: PREPARE FOR YOUR ADVISING APPOINTMENT.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact the Bioadvising Team at 540-231-6407 or bioadvising@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 days prior to the appointment.
Review the Checklist!
Before your Biological Sciences advising appointment:
- Complete the College of Science Action Items on the Biological Sciences Summer Academic Advising Checklist
- Explore the Biological Sciences Undergraduate Webpage
- Have scores from AP/IB/DE/Transfer credit and unofficial academic transcripts available for your appointment (you can check Hokie Spa to see if we have received scores/transfer credit.
- Be ready with a list of questions - the advising team is interested in your success and persistence in school and is happy to help answer all questions.
Be excited and prepared!
- You will need to enter the Zoom meeting ID or URL to enter the meeting. You will be asked to share your screen so please make sure you can do this ahead of tim.
- Review information in STEP 2: PREPARE FOR YOUR ADVISING appointment as needed.
RESOURCES
Courses have been preloaded on your behalf; however you will still need to register for them. Utilize the Hokie Scheduler tutorials which can be found on the College of Science Summer 2023 Virtual Academic Advising & Course Registration Canvas page. We ask that you register for these preloaded courses regardless of pending AP/DE/IB/Transfer Credit. You will be able to make changes during your academic advising appointment. Please see the list below of courses that we recommend for first-semester students. If you are a transfer student, and advisor will work with you to create a course list/schedule.
- BIOL 1004: This is a first-year experience course and is required of all entering Biological Scienes and Microbiology students.
- BIOL 1105: Principles of Biology is a major required course and a Pathways to General Education course.
- BIOL 1115: Principles of Biology Lab is a major required course.
- CHEM 1035*: General Chemistry is a major required course.
- CHEM 1045*: General Chemistry Lab is a major required course.
- MATH 1025: Elementary Calculus is a major required course and a Pathways to General Education course.
- ENGL 1105: First-Year Writing is a major required course and a Pathways to General Education course.
*Based on your ALEKS Placement, you may subsitute CHEM 1035 and CHEM 1045 with CHEM 1014 Calculations in Chemistry.
https://www.science.vt.edu/resources/orientation.html
Refer to the College of Science Summer Orientation Site for the Expected Courses/Credits Worksheet and instructions for uploading that document.
This site also has important Resources for students to access as they prepare for their Summer Academic Advising Meeting.
https://www.science.vt.edu/resources/orientation.html
Refer to the College of Science Summer Orientation Site for detailed instructions on how to send official transcripts and transfer credit to the Registrar’s Office. Below is a chart of how many transfer credits a student is able to transfer.
TRANSFER CREDIT | MAX # OF ALLOWABLE CREDITS |
AP | 38 |
IB Diploma | 38 |
IB Certificate | 30 |
CLEP | 12 |
Cambridge International | 38 |
Community College(s) | 60 |
Multiple Sources | 90 |
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) provides accommodations to students on a case-by-case basis. SSD offers a host of accommodations, including classroom accommodations, accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing students, the SSD testing center, note-takers, alternate text, and housing accommodations. Students who wish to receive accommodations must register with SSD. If you received accomodations at your previous institution, you may want to contact SSD to see what services are avaliable to you.
If you are no longer interested in continuing as a Biological Sciences major, you should meet with an advisor in Transitional Advising. More information about changing majors can be found here.