Utility of a BS/BA in Biology From Excelsior

Hi - This forum is a great resource. I really have gotten alot out of the information contained on this site. With that said, I do have a few questions regarding my own particular situation.

I am currently enrolled at a community college, majoring in Biology. I currently have 18 credits, none of which are in the Sciences! To make a long story short I have 9 music credits, 3 U.S. History Credits, 3 writing credits and 3 Intro to Anthro credits. It will take forever to even obtain an A.S. in Biology. Therefore I am looking to shorten my time to a Bachelor's degree by switching to DL program.

My goal is to obtain a BA or BS in Biology ASAP. My question thus is two-fold:

Firstly (and most importantly), will a BA or BS in Biology from Excelsior really cut it in the professional (i.e. Pharmaceutical or Laboratory) world? Will potential employers (or even my current Big Pharma employer) take seriously a Biology degree from this institution?

Secondly, with a BA or BS in Biology from Excelsior, what are my chances of getting into a B&M (or a good DL) Science program at the Graduate level? Obviously, I realize that my GPA and GRE exams will come into play here. I'm just wondering about the fact that my degree would be coming from Excelsior. I'm considering Graduate programs in Physiology, Biology, Nursing or Physician's Assistant.

Finally, will testing of out of some courses (including Science courses) be a hinderance to my chances of getting into a graduate program?

Thanks in advance for you help!

- Tom

 

I can answer hardly any of your questions, but I can tell you that a BS in bio from excelsior still requires lab classes, even in the upper level.

Grad schools look at the difficulty of your courses. You will increase your chances of being accepted with chemistry with lab, organic chem with lab, biochem with lab, and so on

So you're going to have to take a few B&M science courses.

If you can score highly on the GRE subject bio and the GRE subject molecular bio and take some good bio with lab courses, then your chances are probably just as good as anyone else's.

but that doesn't mean Excelsior it will be easy, Excelsior didn't get accredited by being a fluff school.

Of course it doesn't mean as much as as degree from MIT of Cornell. But it will most likely mean as much as any 2nd tier school.

You shold really finish your 1st year of basic bio with lab at your current school before even considering transferring into Excelsior

I'll paste the requirements here. As you can see, it's no joke

Minimum credit requirements for a major are 30 semester hours of credit, of which 15 must be upper-level. Appropriate proficiency examinations may also be used to satisfy requirements. Any examination or course used to fulfill major requirements must be worth at least 2 semester hours or 3 quarter hours of credit. The minimum acceptable grade point average within any major is 2.0.

Essential background subjects for a biology major include general chemistry and math through college-level trigonometry or computer science. These courses will not, however, count as part of the biology major. If you intend to continue your study of biology at the graduate level, we recommend you take organic chemistry, a general course in physics, and math through calculus. Biology degree requirements include at least two laboratory courses, one of which must be upper-level.

I. Core requirements
A. Introductory Biology (survey) course covering such topics as population biology, cellular biology, systems, genetics, and development in both plants and animals
B. Cell/Molecular Biology (courses such as Principles of Cell Biology; Cells and Molecules; Organisms and Populations; Immunology; Bacteriology; Microbiology)
C. Biodiversity (courses such as Botany; Plant Anatomy; Plant Physiology; Plant Ecology; Plant Diversity)

II. Intermediate and upper-level courses covering the major themes in biology and including at least one course in each of the following areas:
A. Genetics
B. History of science or bioethics
C. Systems biology, animal or plant (courses such as Anatomy and Physiology; Intermediate Botany; Vertebrate Physiology; Histology)
D. Ecology
E. Development (courses such as Embryology; Developmental Biology)

III. Electives
Additional biology courses such as Evolution; Animal Behavior; Biochemistry; Endocrinology; Ornithology; Biogeography