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Choosing a Major

In COSAM, designation of your “major” may be confusing at first because of differing categories, options, and concentrations within majors.  The following points should help clear up the confusion:

• If you want to go into a human health profession, you will need to choose your “concentration” first. 
  • The concentrations are Pre-Medicine; Pre-Dentistry; Pre-Optometry; Pre-Physical Therapy; Physician Assistant; and Pre-Pharmacy. 
  • You do not declare your major until you have finished 60 hours of credit. 
• All of the pre-health concentrations except Pre-Pharmacy have five majors from which to choose:  (1) Biomedical Sciences;  (2) Chemistry;  (3)Microbiology; (4) Physics; and (5) Organismal Biology.

• The Pre-Pharmacy concentration has two options you can consider: 

  • (1)The three year program that constitutes the exact pre-requisites for the Harrison School of Pharmacy (HSOP) here at Auburn University;

  • (2)The four year Biomedical Science degree with a Pre-Pharmacy concentration.  This curriculum includes all 89 hours of the pre-requisites as well as 31 additional hours to earn the Biomedical Science degree.

• The Pre-Veterinary concentration has three options to consider in COSAM: 

• • The three year program that constitutes the exact pre-requisites for the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine; 
  • The four year degree program for the Organismal Biology major in the Veterinary Medicine concentration; 
  • The four year degree program for the Microbiology major in the Veterinary Medicine concentration.

The “mainline” majors are those that are not set up to provide pre-requisites for a professional school.  Students many times will wish to continue in the major in graduate school.  These majors are classified by departments:

• Biological Sciences:

  • Marine Biology, B.S.

  • Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology (Microbiology option), B.S.

  • Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology (Cell/Molecular option), B.S.

  • Organismal Biology, Integrative Biology option, B.S.

  • Organismal Biology, Conservation/Biodiversity concentration, B.S.

  • Organismal Biology, Ecology/Evolution/Behavior concentration, B.S.

• Chemistry:

  • Biochemistry, B.S.

  • Chemistry, B.A.

  • Chemistry, B.S.

  • Laboratory Science, B.S.

  • Medical Laboratory Science. B.S.

• Geography/Geology

  • Geography, B.A.

  • Geology, B.S.

• Mathematics and Statistics:

  • Applied Math, B.S.

  • Applied Math, Actuarial option, B.S.

  • Applied Math, Discrete option, B.S.

  • Mathematics. B.S.

• Physics:

  • Physics, B.S.

 

If you came into COSAM undecided, you will need to declare a major or concentration by the end of your freshman year.  For help, check out the various resources in COSAM and resources elsewhere on campus. 

Last Updated: 08/29/2017