Four Year Guarantee

The School of Arts & Sciences guarantees four-year graduation for students with no MAPS deficiencies who meet criteria of adequate progress set by the College and the major department. The plan is only available to students admitted as new freshmen. The MCDB statement of requirements and adequate progress is as follows.

The MCDB major must be started in the first semester. Adequate progress is defined as cumulative completion of at least one fourth of the required coursework for the major during each academic year, including the following specific requirements: a) either general chemistry or the introductory MCDB sequence must be completed during the first year; b) general chemistry and the introductory MCDB sequence must both be completed by the end of the second year; c) organic chemistry and the second level sequence in MCDB (cell biology and molecular biology) must be completed by the end of the third year.

• The MCDB major requires at least 63 hours of required coursework. Thus, at least 17 hours must be completed yearly, including timely completion of advanced course prerequisites.


• The four-year guarantee also requires completion of 30 hours of core curriculum courses by the end of the sophomore year (this includes natural science courses that would be part of the core if MCDB majors were not exempted). Calculus counts as three hours of QRMS.

Although there is no four-year guarantee if the major is not started in the first semester, it is possible for students who start later to complete it in 4 years if they already have some of the Core completed. The MCDB/BCHM double major can also be completed in 4 years (See Sample Degree Plan B ), but the four-year guarantee only applies to one major.