|  Advising
Contact Information
The First Year
...and Beyond
Advisors
for the E&EB Area of Concentration
Advisors
for the MCDB Area of Concentration
Recommendations
for Premedical Students
Where to
Get Advice
The advising system for students majoring in
Biology provides a source of clear and readily accessible
information regarding programs of study throughout the students'
four years at Yale. Each student will have three formal advisers
to guide academic choices, but finding the right person for
the problem sometimes requires student initiative.
The First Year...
Upon entrance into Yale University, each student
is assigned to one of the twelve residential colleges on campus.
With this initial assignment, the first-year student encounters
a team of three important advisers who will be helpful in
answering questions and directing the student's choice of
classes.
First, each entering student is assigned a
freshman counselor, who is a senior student living with the
freshman class. The student counselor gives the freshmen a
"student's eye view" of the curriculum, courses
and instructors. Valuable as this is, it should not substitute
for the advice of a faculty advisor. This is particularly
important for freshmen who are considering a major in science.
The second advisor is also a member of the student's residential
college and is usually a faculty fellow of that student's
college and is sometimes a member of the E&EB or MCDB
department. This faculty adviser is responsible for advising
the student about fulfilling distributional requirements in
the first year. The third person on the first-year advising
team is, of course, the student's residential college dean.
The dean has ultimate authority over the student's decisions
for courses and programs of study. If the freshman advisor
is not a member of a science department ! in Yale College,
the student is strongly advised to consult with the director
of undergraduate studies in the field of the student?s primary
interest. There are also meetings for prospective science
majors that are held in the fall before classes get started.
The most important issue for prospective biology
majors is to take chemistry during the first year. This is
because many upper-level courses, particularly in MCDB, have
prerequisites of two years of chemistry followed by biochemistry.
An early start on this sequence is therefore essential. If
the student is going to take a second science course, it should
be in the MCDB/E&EB sequence. It is possible to postpone
the lab for either biology or chemistry until the year after
the course is taken, although this is not recommended. Math
and physics can be taken in later years.
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...and Beyond
 At
the end of freshman year, the student has the option of continuing
with the faculty fellow adviser assigned for the first year
or of choosing a new faculty adviser for the Sophomore year.
Biology majors should find an advisor in the biology program
as soon as they decide on the major. E&EB students are
assigned advisors by year (see below). Students in the standard
MCDB major can select any member of the faculty as an advisor,
either a fellow of their residential college or an individual
with common interests. A list of faculty fellows and their
affiliated colleges is presented on the next page. Students
in the Neurobiology or Biotechnology Tracks, or those interested
in the Plant Sciences should consult the advisers specified
above with the Tracks. The Sophomore year adviser usually
remains a student's adviser for the next two years, but it
is possible to switch if a student prefers another individual.
Note that it is possible to switch areas of concentration,
! especially in the first two years; if a student changes
area, they should also change to an appropriate advisor for
that area.
The biology faculty adviser's role is four-fold.
First, the adviser ensures that the student selects and fulfills
the requirements needed for graduation. Second, the adviser
ensures that the major's distributional requirements are fulfilled.
Third, the adviser gives guidance on the student's curriculum
and future career plans. Finally, the faculty adviser may
be asked to write letters of recommendation if the student
should so desire.
The regular faculty adviser should handle most
routine issues, including signing schedules. Certain matters
require the attention of the director of undergraduate studies.
Each area of concentration in the biology major has a DUS
who can be reached by email or through the undergraduate registrars.
See the first page of this booklet for names, phone numbers,
and email addresses.
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for the E&EB Area of Concentration
 Students
in the EEB area of concentration are assigned advisors by
class. Freshmen are assigned to the DUS, but by the sophomore
year, students should be regularly consulting with an advisor
assigned to their class. This individual assures that you
fulfill the requirements for the degree and is available for
advice pertaining to your career. Assigned advisors sign
the registration forms that you submit to your college dean.
Click here for advisors
by class
Advisors
for the MCDB Area of Concentration
All faculty in the MCDB department are available
as advisors. You are free to choose your advisor, and you
can change advisors should you wish. You are expected to consult
your advisor at the start of each term and obtain their signature
approving your selection of classes. Because of the size of
the major, the DUS does not ordinarily sign schedules but
is of course available to help you with any other academic
issue. The list of all MCDB faculty begins on the following
page.
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