Skip to main content

Advising & How-To Guides

Welcome to Biological Sciences Undergraduate Advising!
We’re here to support you throughout your academic journey. Our advising team can help you choose your courses, explore extracurriculars, plan for your career, and think ahead to life after graduation.

You don’t have to be a Biology major to meet with us—  any current Pitt student with questions about Biology classes or majors in the department is welcome to reach out!

Prospective students and families should to reach out to the Admissions Office for tours and more information.

How To Contact Advising

Fall and Spring Advising

  • Email BioAdv@pitt.edu with quick questions and we will get back to you within 1 business day.
  • Zoom Drop-ins are available for current Pitt students. Declared majors will recieve the schedule in the Tuesday e-newsletters for declared students.  Undeclared? Email BioAdv@pitt.edu for the schedule, we are happy to provide!
  • To discuss long-term plans, complex problems, or have an advising hold lifted, current Pitt students can sign up for appointments with any Bio Advisor using Navigate360 Student.

Summer Advising

  • Email BioAdv@pitt.edu with quick questions and we will get back to you within 1 business day.
  • To discuss long-term plans, complex problems, or have an advising hold lifted, current students can sign up for appointments with any Bio Advisor using Navigate360 Student.
  • We do not offer drop-ins during the summer
How to use Navigate360 for Scheduling Advising Appointments

Options to access Navigate360 Student

  1. The app is available in the App Store or Google Play Store as a free download. Once you download the app, you can be prompted to select your school (type in: University of Pittsburgh). You will be asked to sign in with your Pitt username and password and authenticate your login using two-factor authentication.
  2. Access the web version at https://pitt.navigate.eab.com/app/

 

Biology Advising Appointment types

10 minute Appointments

  • Perfect for quick questions or check-ins.

  • Non-majors are welcome to make these appointments except during peak enrollment periods (October and March).

General Advising Appointments 

  • Designed for in-depth discussions of academic planning, career goals, extracurriculars, and more complex issues.

  •  Non-majors are welcome to make these appointments except during peak enrollment periods (October and March). 

Pre-Enrollment Appointments

  • This is a 30-minute appointment designed for planning and discussion of class scheduling and for lifting advising holds.  

  • Reserved for declared majors only.

Please Note: Not all appointment types are available at all times. Appointment types vary throughout the semester, based on anticipated student needs.

 

To schedule an appointment:

  • Click on the purple “Appointments” icon at the bottom of the home screen
  • Click the blue “Schedule (or Drop in for) an Appointment” button
  • Choose “Advising” as the type of appointment
  • Start typing “BioSci” as the Service
  • Pick a date for the appointment or leave it as the default
  • Click the blue “Find Availability Time” button
  • Choose how you would like to meet (In-Person or Virtual)
  • Choose the date/time that works for you
  • Be sure to click the “Schedule” button to confirm your appointment

To cancel or re-schedule an appointment:

  • In Navigate360, simply go to Appointments > Details >Cancel Appointment.
  • Then you can use the link sent to you by your advisor or the app or web version to schedule another appointment
Advising Expectations

In order to better serve our students, we want to clarify our expectations for advising.  

What we expect of our bio majors:

  • Meet with a bio advisor at least once/term to get hold lifted for course enrollment. Enrollment appointments typically take place in September-October in the fall for spring course planning and in February-March for fall course planning.
  • Take ownership of your academic career: track your requirements for graduation and make a plan to meet those requirements.
  • Explore career opportunities and extracurriculars
  • Stay informed. Make sure you read our weekly newsletter that is emailed every Tuesday to stay on top of deadlines and requirements.
  • Let us know if there are problems. Keep us informed of how things are going.

What you should expect from bio advising:

  • Provide personalized guidance on your academic path. We will provide you resources to track your requirements for graduation and will support you as you make a plan to meet those requirements.
  • Support and supplement your academic and career interests. We are also excited to help you explore additional opportunities and build your network.  Please check out our videos on getting involved in research and UTAing, etc...
  • Connect you with other resources on and off campus. We work with a number of other offices and are happy to help you find those connections - prehealth, career, etc...
Request a BIOSC course permission number

To streamline permission #s (and get them to you quickly!) , please use this BIOSC Permission Number form. 

For all other courses (CHEM, PHYS, STAT, etc, etc), contact the department offering the course.

Enroll in Research and UTA Credits

For Fall 2025 enrollment, the survey has closed.  Email bioadv@pitt.edu to submit your completed form.

For Spring 2026 enrollment, the survey is now available.

The deadline for enrolling in research or UTA credits is 3:00pm on the last day of add/drop.  

instructions:

  1. Download a fillable form from the Forms webpage.
        ◦    We recommend using the fillable PDF functionality and saving as a PDF.
        ◦    If you need to print for some reason, please use a PDF generating app to scan back to PDF with your phone for submission.  Our free recommendations:  Adobe Scan or Genius Scan.
  2. Complete the personal info and project portions, making sure to sign your name.
  3. Complete the bottom of the form with your research mentor (and BIOSC co-sponsor for external research labs) – making sure you get all necessary signatures/initials.
  4. Save the completed and signed file with your name (ex: lastname_BIOSC 1690).
  5. Submit the form. You will receive an automatic email confirmation that your form was submitted.
  6. Wait for an email from a Bio Advisor that you have been enrolled, this may take multiple business days.
  7. Once you receive an email from a Bio Advisor, check your Student Center to confirm that your enrollment is correct.

notes:

  • Enrollment is a manual process (completed by a real live human advisor!) and will be completed once weekly (or less frequently depending on volume of submissions). An advisor will email you once you are enrolled.  If you submit by the deadline, you will be enrolled in time for the semester.
  • If you are doing multiple experiences (for example, UTA and research), you must submit separate surveys for each.
  • You must have all signatures or initials on the submitted form to be enrolled.
Choose the Correct Research Form

There are three different BIOSC research ‘courses’. Read a little more about the options here to make sure you choose the correct one! Still have questions? Email bioadv@pitt.edu to get answers.

1.   BIOSC 1901: Independent Study. For students choosing to do a biology-related internship at a company (Zoo, Aviary) or just beginning research in a lab where they will be learning the techniques and the project. This form can be used for working on projects inside or outside the Department of Biological Sciences

2.   BIOSC 1903: Undergraduate Research: For students continuing in research and participating in an independent project. Students complete different forms for doing research in a lab within the Dept of Biological Sciences (INTERNAL) or in a lab outside of the Dept of Biological Sciences (EXTERNAL)

3.   BIOSC 1904: Undergraduate Honors Research. Only for students who have been accepted into the BIOSC Dept honors program. Students complete different forms for doing research in a lab within the Dept of Biological Sciences (INTERNAL) or in a lab outside of the Dept of Biological Sciences (EXTERNAL)

Find a Co-Sponsor for External Research

If you already know someone in the Bio Dept., such as someone you might ask for a letter of recommendation at some point, or want to UTA for, then this is a great way to have a secondary relationship with them. Think if there’s anyone like that. 

Or, you can ask a professor you know slightly but would like to interact with more.

Otherwise, we have a “default” faculty who can co-sponsor any student who needs someone. If you are not familiar with our faculty, this could be a good option. You can change to someone else in a later term if it seems to make sense. Email BioAdv@pitt.edu for details on our default co-sponsor.

Set up a Swap for a Waitlisted Class

You can use the Swap feature to waitlist a preferred course in your enrollment shopping cart. This feature will automatically drop a course in which you are enrolled (your second-choice course), allowing you to move off the waitlist and into your preferred course without being stopped by a time conflict. You must set up the swap at the same time that you enroll in your second-choice course. Follow these instructions.

Get Permission for an Off-Campus (Transfer) Biology Course

If you’d like to take an off-campus biology course and use it towards your Bio degree requirements, you must first have the course approved by the Department. 

Important:

  • You will also need to request permission from the DSAS Dean’s Office to take an off-campus course.
  • You must take at least half (typically about 16 credits) of your BIOSC credits for your major at Pitt’s Pittsburgh campus.
  • You must have less than 90 credits total to take an off-campus course.

1. Check the pre-requisites to determine if the course might be comparable to Pitt’s BIOSC courses.

  • To be considered an Upper Division course, it must have a minimum of one year college-level Introductory Biology (like BIOSC 0150 & BIOSC 0160).
  • To be considered a Higher-Level course, it must have the same pre-reqs as the comparable Pitt BIOSC course (e.g., pre-req for Immunology is BIOSC 0350)

2. Provide BIOSC Advising the following info:

  • Syllabus – including topics, textbook info, exam style, etc. (you may have to reach out to the school or instructor to obtain a syllabus).
  • Course Description – course name and number, summary of course, website link.

3. A Bio Advisor will notify you of the decision once the review is completed. The review process takes time, please plan ahead.

NOTE: Approval for Chemistry, Physics, etc. courses is done through those departments.

Important Dates

Please refer to the Academic Calendar for all important deadlines

Other Resources for Success

If you can't find the information that you need here, please reach out to bioadv@pitt.edu. Is there an advising topic that you think should be included on this list? Let us know!