Course Planning Resources

SIB courses are prioritized by current year in school and major/minor requirements. You may only submit a request for one course at a time—for multiple courses, please submit this form again for each course.

Complete Form 

Please refer to the document linked below to understand common restrictions and errors found during registration. Each department is responsible for their own course restrictions, IB cannot help you with restrictions in MCB, CHEM, PHYS, etc. If you are encountering errors or restrictions please do the following steps first:

• First refer to the "Section Info" on Course Explorer for the section you are trying to add. If there are restrictions they are usually outlined there.
• Make sure to read all of the instructions outlined in the description of the course in Course Explorer as many errors can be resolved by referring to the description and the instructions outlined there. 
• If you are getting errors and you have already done the steps outlined above and you believe you should still be able to register for the course please contact advising for the department that the course is housed. 
  • ex. IB 270 Restriction: Contact IB Advising, MCB 150 Restriction: Contact MCB Advising

Restrictions & Errors 

Variable credit classes will default to the lowest possible number of hours when you first register for the class. To change your credit hours for IB 390 or IB 490 you will go back into UIUC Self-Service website you use to register for courses. Credit hours can be updated on the Schedule and Options tab of the Register for Classes section of Enhanced Registration. The Hours value is underlined if it is a variable credit hour section. Click the underlined number listed to adjust the credit hour value.

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Merit-style teaching consists of using a highly trained facilitator-instructor to stimulate student-student interactions by providing challenging problem sets or other activities for the students. The facilitator provides feedback as the students work together in small groups, and also encourages everyone in the group to interact and discuss each student’s strategies.

Merit options are available for Math, Chemistry, Integrative Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology intro and second year core courses. 

Merit Program in IB 

Junior Checklist PDF

• Stay on Track: Degree Audit Overview with IB Academic Advisor 

  • Make appt. with an Advisor.
  • Check out the Typical 4YR Plans below.

• After Graduation Planning: 

  • Undecided: Consider taking IB 392 and make a Career Connections appt. 
  • Professional/Grad School: Double check admission requirements & deadlines.

• Have Extra Time: 

  • Study Abroad: Plenty of programs in Integrative Biology and outside the major. 
  • Consider adding a Minor or a Certificate.

• Continue Building a Resume:

  • Research: Research is a great opportunity to build transferable skills for all fields.
  • Student Organizations: UIUC has 800+ Student Organizations CHECK IT OUT.

• Networking: 

  • Check out Discord, Newsletter, & Handshake for employer info sessions, career fairs, internships, and jobs opportunities.
  • Alumni Mentor: reach out to the Alumni Mentor Coordinator to get connected

• Not Interview Ready?

  • Get Prepared: Visit Writers Workshop and the Career Center for 1:1 appointments, workshops, & Mock Interviews.

Going Professional School?

• Get Prepared for the Entrance Exams: MCAT, DAT, PCAT, GRE, PA-CAT, etc. 
• Letter of Recommendation: Start asking for letters from faculty now.
• PRO TIP: Always provide plenty of time as well as additional relevant info to aid them in writing your letter such as: resume, educational/career goals, personal statement, and links to the forms.

Don't forget you must register to participate in the university-wide Illinois Commencement ceremony at Memorial Stadium as well as the School of Integrative Biology Convocation ceremony. Please use links below for additional information. 

Consider using the Senior Checklist below to guide you through preparing for graduation!

Senior Checklist PDF

Please check out the IB Student Forms webpage for all IB & LAS related forms including but not limited to: 

• IB Waitlist
• Declare IB
• Declare Minor
• Change Major
• Credit/No Credit
• Late Add/Drop
• Credit Hours Change

IB Student Forms

We have created a handy list to highlight just some of the career fields & professional schools our alumni have gone on to pursue: 

IB Careers & Professional Schools

IB Careers Website

This site will provide you with a variety of career options with all different levels of education, whether you want to start your career right out of undergrad or after you have attended graduate school, received your PhD, or went to a professional school. 

IB Careers

Considering Pre-Health Professions?

The IB Pre-Health site is a great resource to see how your course schedule might look for the four years in IB as well as additional information about getting involved and preparing for professional school. 

Pre-Health in IB

Looking for personalized one-on-one advising on career options? Consider making a Career Connections appointment!

Career Connections is our in house career counseling service with specific insight and specialized resources just for you as an IB student. Take advantage of this service and get connected with an alumni mentor who is currently in your field.  

Make An Appointment

IB majors are highly competitive in gaining admission to professional schools, including medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy. After this additional schooling, jobs are numerous and bring a comfortable salary. While you can gain admission to a professional school via a wide variety of majors, many students choose to major in Integrative Biology because our courses prepare students well for the necessary admissions test (i.e. MCAT, DAT, GRE) and also provide a solid foundation for the demands of future schooling. Most pre-health requirements are either required for the IB major or can be used as advanced IB courses. Therefore, very little course work outside the IB major is needed to fulfill the prerequisites for health programs.

Pre-Health in IB 

If you plan on taking a course outside of UIUC you can use the Transferology website. Transferology is a website that will let you look to see how a course you take at a different institution might transfer back to UIUC or other institutions. Please use the attached PDF Transferology tutorial to check your courses. 

You can search multiple courses and Transferology will tell you what each course comes back to UIUC as specifically. Some of the common courses take are: 

• MATH 220 or MATH 221 (Calculus)
• PHYS 101 & PHYS 102 (Physics 1 & 2) 
• OR PHYS 211 & 212 (Calculus Based Physics 1 & 2) – Mostly for IBH
• SOC 100 (Intro to Sociology)
• PSYC 100 (Intro to Psychology) 

You can also take CHEM 232 (Orgo 1) or CHEM 233 (Orgo 1 Lab) but it is sometimes harder to find and might not be a wise course to take somewhere else if you plan to take additional advanced CHEM courses or MCB 450 (Biochemistry). 

Transferology Tutorial

UIUC Academic Calendar

These calendars contain information regarding registration periods and official academic dates, including the deadlines for adding and dropping classes.

Certificate topics include: Animal Behavior, Biology of Global Change, Forensic Science, Infection Biology, Integrative Health, Computational Science & Engineering.

We have created course guides for our three most popular certificates so that you can easily see prerequisites and other important information regarding the certificate: 

Forensic Science Certificate

Integrative Health Certificate

Animal Behavior Certificate

Interested in competing one of our certificate programs? Please read the specific instructions & requirements for each certificate at the link below:

Certificates in IB 

IB Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Honors Sample Sequence

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Year Three

Year Four

IB Pre-Med Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Pre-Physician Assistant Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Pre-Dental Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Genetics Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

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Year Four

IB Forensics Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Secondary Education Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

IB Honors Pre-Med Sample Sequence

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four