<p>Yup, all of those programs are going to have tons of overlap as far as courses go. Luckily that makes it much easier to take your time choosing a science major because the first two years of CLA, CBS, and CFANS biology-related majors are going to be very very similar. Many of the majors require two semesters of general chemistry, one or two semesters of organic chemistry, biochemistry, one or two semesters of physics, and one or two semesters of calculus. CLA and CFANS will require BIOL 1009, a one semester introductory biology course, while CBS requires two semesters of “Foundations of Biology,” or BIOL 2002 and BIOL 2003 with BIOL 2004 lab. Save for the difference in biology core curriculum, students in their first two years have a significant amount of freedom as far as exploring biology-related majors. </p>
<p>Transferring colleges can be tricky if you don’t have the right information. Students who wish to transfer are required to turn in a “Change of College” form to OneStop before their desired college’s deadline. Applications are accepted in both the fall and spring semester. Each college has a set of requirements that must be met in order to be accepted into the college.</p>
<p>For CBS, admission is based on completing 26 semester credits with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0, and achieving a science GPA of 2.5 with a minimum of 3 courses in science that are applicable to a CBS degree program. These courses include specific biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, and statistics classes which can be found at [Effective</a> Fall 2009 | Transferring Within U of M ~ College of Biological Sciences](<a href=“http://www.cbs.umn.edu/studentservices/transfer/within.html]Effective”>http://www.cbs.umn.edu/studentservices/transfer/within.html). Often times students who are not in CBS and desire to transfer in want to stay on schedule for their coursework and desire to take BIOL 2002, 2003, or 2004 before they have been accepted to the college. This can be tricky because students who register for those courses while not in CBS are waitlisted while priority is given to current CBS students. Sometimes this can squeeze students who desire to be in CBS , but more often than not, all waitlisted students can get into those courses with no problems.</p>
<p>As far as I can derive from the website, CLA biology-related programs do not have any transfer admission requirements. CFANS, on the other hand, requires that students have a solid foundation in math and science along with the completion of intermediate algebra at the college level with a passing grade. If a transfer student would like to major in animal science (pre-vet), applied economics, pre-agriculture and food business management, food science, or nutrition, he or she must complete specific requirements detailed here: [Transfer</a> Admission Requirements : College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences : University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/FutureTransferStudents/TransferAdmissionRequirements/index.htm]Transfer”>http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/FutureTransferStudents/TransferAdmissionRequirements/index.htm).</p>
<p>Hope that helps. It can sometimes be a confusing system, but if your daughter does find that she wants to transfer colleges during her undergrad, it’s best for her to talk to her academic adviser and stay well informed of the requirements and deadlines.</p>
<p>I also might add that as a transfer student into CFANS, I was also initially scared away by the “farmer” stereotype of the college. However, now that I’m taking CFANS specific coursework, I’ve realized that there are far fewer students with backgrounds in farming than I had anticipated. I’ve met loads of students from the suburbs and cities who are completing degrees in majors like applied economics, nutrition, environmental science, and recreational resource management just to name a few. I guess I try to encourage anyone who is looking at CFANS to put the “farmer” thing aside and keep an open mind!</p>