Public health is the prevention of illness and promotion of wellness in communities both large and small. The Global and Public Health Sciences (GPHS) major teaches the tools of public health research and action and their application to population health issues in the U.S. and globally.

The work of public health professionals is distinct from the work of clinical professionals, who typically treat individuals after they have become sick or injured. Public health actions often involve educational and/or governmental approaches that influence many people simultaneously, for example, to address issues such as obesity and diabetes, food security, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, quality of food, water and air, and access to health care. Sustained improvement of the health of populations often requires a multidisciplinary approach involving the biomedical, behavioral, social, political and environmental sciences, and careful consideration of the importance of cultural and ethical contexts.

The GPHS major is intended for students who are interested in:

• Health problems of communities as small as a village and as large as a country, and the actions that will protect or improve the lives of large numbers of individuals within communities
• Advanced study leading leadership positions in governmental or non-governmental organizations that deal directly with current and emerging health concerns in the U.S. or internationally

Public health actions often address such issues as obesity and diabetes, food security, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; quality of food, water and air; and health care access.

GPHS majors develop a strong background in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology. These courses provide a foundation with which to understand the biomedical basis of public health issues. GPHS students also complete several core courses, a supervised Experiential Learning Opportunity, and a range of upper-level selectives, described in more detail below.

Core Courses

• NS 1600 Introduction to Public Health
• NS 2600 Introduction to Global Health
• NS 2060 Preparation for Engaged Learning in GPHS (NOTE: For GPHS majors, please note that NS 2060 must be completed prior to pursuing an ELO to fulfill the major requirement.)
• NS 3600 Epidemiology
• NS 4600 Explorations in Global and Public Health

NS 1600 and NS 2600 introduce students to the principles of public health practice and research in the U.S. and internationally. Using case studies, students learn about achievements, challenges, and controversies in the field of public health and a range of career opportunities. NS 2060 helps to prepare GPHS majors for their Experiential Learning Opportunity (described below). NS 3600 introduces students to epidemiology, often referred to as the cornerstone of public health. Epidemiology and biostatistics (preferably STSCI 2150 Introductory Statistics for Biology) should be completed within the first five semesters. Upon completion of the Experiential Learning Opportunity, seniors enroll in NS 4600 Explorations in Global and Public Health, the capstone course in the major. This course includes a reflective document and presentation connecting the experiential component with the core principles of public health as presented in core coursework.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of population health problems, students are required to take one advanced course in each of the following three areas: Social and Behavioral Health, Biological Aspects of Public Health, Environmental Health, and Health Policy & Practice. Students choose from a list of courses in each area according to their interests and course schedule. Topics include public health microbiology, public health nutrition, nutrition and disease, nutrition and global health, social inequalities in physical and mental health, the U.S. healthcare system, reproductive health, and risk analysis and management.

• Integrate knowledge from the biological and social sciences and experiential learning to address public health problems facing populations
• Demonstrate an understanding of the complex and evolving nature of scientific knowledge in the promotion of health and the etiology and prevention of disease
• Demonstrate the ability to use epidemiological principles to evaluate critically scientific information from the primary research literature investigating influences on human health and disease
• Develop positions on public health issues. Communicate positions on public health issues to colleagues and lay/target audiences
• Demonstrate knowledge of ethical principles, considerations and dilemmas relevant to the research and practice of public health

Opportunities in public health are numerous and growing. The GPHS major provides an excellent foundation for a wide variety of careers in public health, public service, research, social entrepreneurship, medicine and other health careers both domestically and globally:

• Public health fields such as epidemiology, biostatistics, health education and behavior, international health, health policy and management, environmental health, and many more
• Medicine and other health careers such as physical therapist, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical pharmacy
• Research including careers that use biochemical, physiological, genomic, clinical, and social science methods to improve human health and well-being domestically and globally

In many cases, these career paths will require appropriate graduate or professional training, such as a Master’s in Public Health. Students are encouraged to meet with advisors and career counselors to ensure appropriate undergraduate preparation, as specific requirements differ among the various fields.

Transferring into the GPHS major

Cornell first-year and sophomores (not juniors or seniors) are eligible to submit an application to transfer into the GPHS major after completing either NS 1600 or NS 2600 with a grade of B (NOT B-) or higher, one required chemistry course with a grade of C (NOT C-) or higher, and one required biology course with a grade of C (NOT C-) or higher. The GPHS major application must be submitted by May 1st of a student's sophomore year.

There are two different pathways for transferring into the GPHS major:

1. Major Change: Students who are currently enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and want to remain in CALS, but change their major to GPHS; as well as students who are currently in the College of Human Ecology (CHE) and want to remain in CHE, but change their major to GPHS.
2. Internal Transfer: Students who are enrolled in another Cornell College or School other than CALS or CHE, OR CALS or CHE students who wish to change Colleges along with changing majors (a CALS student who wants to internally transfer to CHE/the GPHS major or a CHE student who wants to internally transfer to CALS/the GPHS major). Must complete the Cornell Internal Transfer application.

All students who are interested in transferring into the GPHS major, regardless of whether this is through the CALS or CHE major change pathway or the Internal Transfer pathway, must complete the required GPHS major application. This includes a draft undergraduate plan demonstrating the ability to complete the GPHS major on time and with the required sequence, regardless of starting major/College or School. 

Students interested in changing their major to or internally transferring to the GPHS major should contact dnsstudentservices@cornell.edu for advising questions, and submit the required application. The GPHS major application must be submitted by May 1st of a student's sophomore year.

Additional Information for Internal Transfer Students

Students who are pursuing Internal Transfer to CALS/the GPHS major or CHE/the GPHS major must first successfully complete the GPHS application process before applying for Internal Transfer. Internal Transfer candidates should also learn about the process and requirements, as well as contact the Admissions office of their target College (CALS or CHE).

• CALS Internal Transfer:
• https://cals.cornell.edu/education/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/internal-transfer
• CHE Internal Transfer: https://www.human.cornell.edu/admissions/undergraduate/Internaltransfercoursework

Adding GPHS as a second major

Students in the GPHS major may double-major with department approval ONLY in the College of Agricultural Life Sciences. Students in the College of Human Ecology may NOT double-major; an alternative to consider is the Global Health minor, which may be combined with any non-GPHS major in any college. The GPHS major application must be submitted by May 1st of a student's sophomore year.

See current GPHS Curriculum Sheets here

The following three additional courses may be used to fulfill the following GPHS Selective requirements:

GPHS Biological Aspects of Public Health Selective: 

• NS 4210 Precision Nutrition and Health (3 cr)
• NS 5510 Nutrition Assessment (3 cr)

GPHS Health Policy & Practice Selective: 

• NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

GPHS Social and Behavioral Health Selective: 

• NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

If these courses do not appear on your Curriculum Sheet as fulfilling these selective requirements, please submit a Human Ecology Curriculum Substitution Form, which will be approved by the Division. 

Current GPHS Selectives

 Social & Behavioral Health Selective   (3-4 credits)

Course should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from a social and/or behavioral health perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from a social science perspective (e.g. sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, communication, and other social science disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above.

Choose from the following options, must take a minimum of 3 credits:

NS 2450 Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition (3 cr)

NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

ANTHR 2468 Medicine, Culture, and Society (3 cr)

COMM 2850 Communication, Environment, Science, and Health (3 cr)

COMM 4760 Population Health Communication (3 cr)

GDEV / LSP 2200 Sociology of Health and Ethnic Minorities (3 cr)

GDEV 3020 Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr)

HD 3325 Theory and Practice of Contemporary Clinical Psychology (3 cr)

HD 4600 Professional Development in Geriatric and Palliative Research (1.5 cr)

PUBPOL / SOC 3180 Health Disparities (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 3280 / GDEV 3280 Fundamentals of Population Health (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 4280 / ECON 3710 The Economics of Risky Health Behaviors (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

SOC 4120 Health and Social Context (4 cr)

Biological Aspects of Public Health Selective   (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from a biological perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from a biological perspective (e.g. biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, neuroscience, and other biological sciences disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above. 

Choose from the following options, must take a minimum of 3 credits:

NS 3060 Nutrition and Global Health (3 cr)

NS 3150 Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight (3 cr)

NS 4200 Diet and the Microbiome (3 cr)

NS 4210 Precision Nutrition and Health (3 cr)

NS 4300 Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition (3 cr)

NS 4410 Nutrition and Disease (4 cr) BIOMG 4390 Molecular Basis of Disease (3 cr)

NS 5510 Nutrition Assessment (3 cr)

BIOMG 4870 Human Genomics (3 cr)

BIOMI 2600 Microbiology of Human Contagious Diseases (3 cr)

BIOMI 2950 Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems (3 cr) BIOMI 3210 Human Microbes and Health (3 cr)

BIOMI 4040 Pathogenic Bacteriology (2-3 cr)

BIONB 3920 Drugs and the Brain (3 cr)

ENTOM 4000 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (4 cr)

PLBIO 2100 Medical Ethnobotany (3 cr)

Environmental Health Selective   (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from an environmental perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from an environmental perspective (e.g. entomology, design and environmental analysis, microbiology, and other related disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above.

Choose from the following options, must take a minimum of 3 credits:

DEA 2700 Healthy Places: Design, Planning and Public Health (3 cr)

GDEV 3020 Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr) (GDEV formerly DSOC)

GDEV 3400 Agriculture, Food Systems and Society (3 cr) (GDEV formerly DSOC) BIOMI 2500 Public Health Microbiology (3 cr)

BIOMI 2950 Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems (3 cr) BIOMI 4310 / BIOMS 4310 Medical Parasitology (2 cr)

COMM 2850 / STS 2851 Communication, Environment, Science and Health (3 cr) ENTOM 2100 / BSOC 2101 Plagues and People (2-3 cr)

ENTOM 3520 Medical and Veterinary Entomology (3 cr)

FDSC 3960 Food Safety Assurance (2 cr)

PLBIO 2100 Medical Ethnobotany (3 cr)

PLBIO 2400 Green World, Blue Planet (3 cr)

Health Policy & Practice Selective   (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from a health policy and/or practice perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from a health policy and/or practice perspective (e.g. policy analysis and management, developmental sociology, economics, government, nutritional sciences, and other public policy and practice disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above.  See the Requirements for GPHS majors in CHE for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.

Choose from the following options, must take a minimum of 3 credits:

NS 4450 / 6450 Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries (3 cr)

NS 4500 Public Health Nutrition (3 cr)

NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

NS 4570 / ECON 3910 Health, Poverty and Inequality (3 cr)

AMST / GOVT 2225, GDEV / ILROB / PUBPOL / SOC 2220, PHIL 1950 Controversies about Inequality (4 cr)  (PUBPOL formerly PAM) ANTHR / EDUC / FGSS 4458 Women, Girls and Gender in Education (4 cr)

CRP 3430 Affordable Housing Policy and Programs (3 cr)

GDEV 2050 International Development (3-4 cr) 

GDEV 2090 / PUBPOL / SOC 2208 Social Inequality (4 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

GDEV 3020 Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr) 

GDEV 3700 / SOC 3710 Comparative Social Inequalities (3 cr) 

GDEV 4230 Gender and Health: Concepts, Data, Theories and Evidence (3 cr)

GOVT 3032 Politics of Public Policy in the U.S. (4 cr)

HD 4600 Professional Development in Geriatric and Palliative Research (1.5 cr)

PUBPOL 2030 Population and Public Policy (3-4 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 2350 The US Health Care System (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 3110 Pharmaceutical Management and Policy (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 3780 Sick Around the World? Comparing Health Care Systems Around the World (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

PUBPOL 3870 / 5870 Economic Evaluations in Health Care (3 cr) (PUBPOL formerly PAM)

Spring 2025 Addition

The following three additional courses may be used to fulfill the following GPHS Selective requirements:

GPHS Biological Aspects of Public Health Selective: 

• NS 4210 Precision Nutrition and Health (3 cr)
• NS 5510 Nutrition Assessment (3 cr)

GPHS Health Policy & Practice Selective: 

• NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

GPHS Social and Behavioral Health Selective: 

• NS 4510 Nutrition and Health Equity (3 cr)

The requirements listed below pertain to all students matriculating in August 2024 and January 2025. Please see the corresponding edition of the Cornell University Courses of Study for previous requirements.

All of the following sections (1-19) are required to be completed to graduate.

​1. Global & Public Health Core Courses (14 credits)

NS 1600 - Introduction to Public Health (Fall, 3 cr)

NS 2060 - Preparation for Engaged Learning in Global and Public Health Sciences (Fall, 2 cr)

NS 2600 - Introduction to Global Health (Spring, 3 cr)

NS 3600 - Epidemiology (Spring, 3 cr)

NS 4600 - Explorations in Global and Public Health (Fall, 3 cr)

2. Supervised Experiential Learning in Global & Public Health (variable credit)

Approval required. May be completed anytime from spring semester sophomore year onward. Must be completed before the fall semester of senior year.  This experience may be obtained through one of several options, including (but not limited to):

• Cornell Cooperative Extension (Tompkins County and others) (NS 4060)
• Cornell in Washington (NS 4997)
• Global Health Summer Programs 
• Public Health Research or Internship (NS 4060)
• Study abroad programs with a public health focus/internship (NS 4060)
• Weill Cornell Clinical & Translational Science Center (NS 4060)

3. Social & Behavioral Health Selective (3-4 credits)

Course should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from a social and/or behavioral health perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from a social science perspective (e.g. sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, communication, and other social science disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above. 

Choose one course from the following options:

NS 2450 - Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition (3 cr)

ANTHR 2468 - Medicine, Culture, and Society (3 cr)

COMM 2850 Communication, Environment, Science, and Health  (3 cr)

COMM 4760 - Population Health Communication (3 cr)

GDEV 2200 / LSP 2200 - [Sociology of Health and Ethnic Minorities] (3 cr)

GDEV 3020 - Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr)

HD 3325 - Theory and Practice of Contemporary Clinical Psychology (3 cr)

HD 4600 - Professional Development in Geriatric and Palliative Research (1.5 cr)

PUBPOL/SOC 3180 Health Disparities  Heath Disparities (3 cr)

PUBPOL 3280 / GDEV 3280 - Fundamentals of Population Health (3 cr)

PUBPOL 4280 / ECON 3710 - The Economics of Risky Health Behaviors (3 cr)

SOC 4120 - Health and Social Context (4 cr)

4. Biological Aspects of Public Health Selective (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from a biological perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from a biological perspective (e.g. biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, neuroscience, and other biological sciences disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above. 

Choose one course from the following options:

NS 3060 - Nutrition and Global Health (3 cr)

NS 3150 - Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight ( 3 cr)

NS 4200 - Diet and the Microbiome (3 cr)

NS 4300 - Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition (3 cr)

NS 4410 - Nutrition and Disease (4 cr)

BIOMG 4390 - Molecular Basis of Disease (3 cr)

BIOMG 4870 - Human Genomics (3 cr)

BIOMI 2600 - Microbiology of Human Contagious Diseases (3 cr)

BIOMI 2950 - Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems (3 cr)

BIOMI 3210 - The Gut Microbiome (3 cr)

BIOMI 4040 - Pathogenic Bacteriology (2-3 cr)

BIONB 3920 - [Drugs and the Brain] (3 cr)

ENTOM 4000 - [Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases] (4 cr)

PLSCI 2100 - Medical Ethnobotany (3 cr)

5. Environmental Health Selective (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of public health (including nutrition) from an environmental perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of issues of public health from an environmental perspective (e.g. entomology, design and environmental analysis, microbiology, and other related disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at the 2000-level or above.

Choose one course from the following options:

DEA 2700 - Healthy Places: Design, Planning and Public Health (3 cr)

GDEV 3020 - Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr)

GDEV 3400 - [Agriculture, Food, Sustainability and Social Justice] (3 cr)

BIOMI 2500 - Public Health Microbiology (3 cr)

BIOMI 2950 - Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems (3 cr)

BIOMI 4310 / BIOMS 4310 - Medical Parasitology (2 cr)

COMM 2850 / STS 2851 - Communication, Environment, Science, and Health (3 cr)

ENTOM 2100 / BSOC 2101 - [Plagues and People] (2-3 cr)

FDSC 3960 - Food Safety Assurance (2 cr)

PLSCI 2100 - Medical Ethnobotany (3 cr)

PLBIO 2400 Green World, Blue Planet  (3 cr)

6. Health Policy & Practice Selective (3-4 credits)

Choose one course from the following options:

NS 4450 / AEM 4450 - Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries (3 cr)

NS 4500 - Public Health Nutrition (3 cr)

NS 4570 / ECON 3910 - Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective (3 cr)

AMST 2225 / GOVT 2225 / ILROB 2220 / PUBPOL 2220 / SOC 2220 / PHIL 1950 - Controversies About Inequality (4 cr)

ANTHR 4458 / EDUC 4458 / FGSS 4458 - [Girls, Women, and Education in Global Perspective: Feminist Ethnography and Praxis] (4 cr) (3-4 cr)

PUBPOL 2208 / SOC 2208 - Social Inequality (4 cr)

GDEV 3020 - Political Ecologies of Health (3 cr)

GDEV 3700 / SOC 3710 - Comparative Social Inequalities (3 cr)

GOVT 3032 - [Politics of Public Policy in the U.S.] (4 cr)

HD 4600 - Professional Development in Geriatric and Palliative Research (1.5 cr)

PUBPOL 2030 - Population and Public Policy (3-4 cr)

PUBPOL 2350 - [The U.S. Health Care System] (3 cr)

PUBPOL 3110 - Pharmaceutical Management and Policy (3 cr)

PUBPOL 3780 - Comparative Health Care Systems (3 cr)

PUBPOL 3870 / PUBPOL 5870 - Economic Evaluations in Health Care (3 cr)

7. Introductory Chemistry (4-8 credits)

Choose one of the following:

(a) CHEM 2070 - General Chemistry I ^{1, 2} (4 cr) AND CHEM 2080 - General Chemistry II (4 cr) (two-course sequence required for pre-health)

(b) CHEM 2070 - General Chemistry I ^{1, 2} (4 cr) (not for pre-health)

(c) CHEM 1560 - Introduction to General Chemistry ¹ (F/Su, 4 cr) (not for pre-health)

(d) CHEM 2150 - Honors General and Inorganic Chemistry ^{2, 3} (F/Su, 4 cr) (not for pre-health)

¹ Students may use an AP Chemistry score of 5 to place out of CHEM 2070. However, GPHS students must take at least one semester of general chemistry at Cornell—i.e., students who use AP credit toward their general chemistry requirement must take an additional general chemistry course (i.e., CHEM 2080, CHEM 2150, or other, but not CHEM 1560). Students interested in the pre-health track should take two semesters of chemistry at Cornell.

² Students who take CHEM 2070 forfeit AP credit. Students who take CHEM 2150 may keep AP credit.

³ Students should only select option (d) if they are very strong in chemistry and are not considering a pre-health (e.g. pre-med) track.
 

8. Introductory Biology (8 credits)

Choose one of the following labs:

(a) BIOG 1500 - Investigative Biology Laboratory (2 cr) OR

(b) BIOSM 1500 - Investigative Marine Biology Laboratory (3 cr)

AND choose two out of the three lecture options¹:

(a) BIOMG 1350 - Introductory Biology: Cell and Developmental Biology (3 cr)

(b) BIOG 1440 - Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology (3 cr) OR²

BIOG 1445 - Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction (autotutorial) (4 cr)

(c) BIOEE 1610 - Introductory Biology: Ecology and the Environment (3 cr) OR²

BIOEE 1780 - An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity (3 cr)

¹Students may use an AP Biology score of 5 to place out of one introductory biology lecture. Pre-health (e.g. pre-med) students should not use AP scores to fulfill biology requirements.       

²Cannot take both courses within one category to fulfill this requirement.

9. Organic Chemistry Lecture (3-8 credits)¹

Choose one of the following:

(a) CHEM 1570 - Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry (3 cr, not for pre-health) OR

(b) CHEM 3530 - [Principles of Organic Chemistry] (4 cr, not for pre-health) OR

(c) CHEM 3570 Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences I AND CHEM 3580  Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences II (3 cr each) OR

​(d)CHEM 3570  Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences I 

(e) CHEM 3590  Honors Organic Chemistry I (4cr) CHEM 3600 Honors Organic Chemistry II (4 cr) , must take both, CHEM 3590 alone will not fulfill the requirement)

¹Students interested in pre-health tracks should take a two-course sequence of organic chemistry lectures (option c or e above), in addition to an organic chemistry lab.

²Students who select option E must take both courses in sequence; one course alone will not fulfill the requirement.

10. Physiology (3-4 credits)

Choose one of the following:

(a) NS 3410 - Human Anatomy and Physiology (4 cr) OR¹

(b) [BIOG 1440 - Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology (3 cr) OR²

 BIOG 1445 - Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction (autotutorial) (F/S, 4cr)] OR

(c) NS 1150 - Nutrition, Health, and Society (3 cr)

¹Pre-health students might also consider taking NS 3420 - Human Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory (S, 2 cr).

²Cannot take both to fulfill this requirement. Can only be used to fulfill physiology requirement if not used to fulfill introductory biology requirement.

11. Biochemistry (4-6 credits)

Choose one of the following¹:

(a) NS 3200 - Introduction to Human Biochemistry (4 cr) OR

(b) BIOMG 3300 - Principles of Biochemistry, Individualized Instruction (4 cr) OR

(c) BIOMG 3310 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism (3 cr) AND BIOMG 3320 - Principles of Biochemistry: Molecular Biology (2 cr) OR

(d) BIOMG 3310 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism (3 cr) AND BIOMI 2900 - General Microbiology Lectures (3 cr) OR

(e) BIOMG 3350 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology (4 cr)

¹Students who take only one semester of introductory chemistry should talk with faculty advisors and biochemistry instructors as early as possible to determine which biochemistry course is best for them and how they may access resources for the best chance of success.

12. First Year Writing Seminars (6 credits)

Note: The 2 required first year writing seminar courses must be completed during the first two semesters at Cornell.

13. Communications (9 credits)

Complete 9 credits of courses in written and oral expression, at least 6 of which must be written expression. Select courses from First-year Writing Seminars and COMM or ENGL classes as per CALS distribution requirements. Note: Potential courses to fulfill this and any CALS distribution requirement may be found in “DUST.”

14. Social Sciences and Humanities (12 credits)

Complete 12 credits, including four courses of at least 3 cr each:

• The four chosen courses must include at least 3 different categories from the following list: Cultural Analysis (CA), Human Diversity (D), Foreign Language (FL), Historical Analysis (HA), Knowledge, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning (KCM), Literature and the Arts (LA), and Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA).
• At least one course must be in Human Diversity (D).

15. Statistics (4 credits)*

Choose one* of the following:

STSCI 2150 - Introductory Statistics for Biology (4 cr)

BTRY 3010 - Statistics I (4 cr)

*Must be taken at Cornell; AP Statistics is not accepted for the GPHS major.

Note: Other Statistics courses with forbidden overlap may not be used to fulfill this requirement.  

16. All CALS and University Graduation Requirements

Please see the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Graduation Requirements. Includes minimum total credits to graduate, CALS credit and distribution requirements, Physical Education (PE), and the Swim Test.