Frequently Asked Questions

You can accomplish any schedule changes through the student tab on your BuffPortal / MyCUInfo account.  Important dates and deadlines can be found here on the registrar’s website.

     The process for declaring or changing a major or minor is different for each college, school, or program.  You can consult directly with your advisor by scheduling an appointment through MyCUHub.  Additional information specific to your situation can be found on the office of the Registrar website.

Twelve credit hours is considered full time for financial aid purposes. To identify your enrollment status for enrollment verification purposes, see Check your Enrollment Status. During open enrollment, IPHY students can register for up to 21 credit hours, including waitlisted classes. Students wishing to take more than 21 hours during a fall or spring semester, or 16 credit hours during the summer semester may submit a credit overload petition.

All students have access to the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) 24 hours a day.  The degree audit is an invaluable tool to see how courses apply toward requirements and what still needs to be completed.  If you are interested in possibly changing majors, you can also run an audit for that major to see how your classes could be applied.  You can access your degree audit through the student tab on your BuffPortal / MyCUInfo account.

You can access your degree audit through the student tab on your MyCUInfo account and it outlines all met and remaining requirements.  The Integrative Physiology Department also has valuable information and clearly outlines major requirements on its website.  This is a useful resource for major requirements, internship, and research opportunities as well as important departmental news.  Your advisor is also an important resource in clarifying requirements and assisting you through your academic career at CU.

For some students with little or no high school chemistry or physics or pre-calculus, or for those students who have been out of school for some time, it may be worth your while to take a preparatory course.

• To prepare for CHEM 1113/1114-5: take CHEM 1021-4
• To prepare for Physics 1: take PHYS 1000-3
• When in doubt, see your advisor!

The Department of Integrative Physiology will strictly enforce all prerequisites and co-requisites. Students currently enrolled in a prerequisite course will be allowed to enroll into the next course in the sequence during the registration period. However, it is the responsibility of the student to verify they have passed the prerequisite course(s). If a passing grade is not received in the pre-requisite course, or if a student fails to enroll in a required co-requisite course, the Department reserves the right to administratively drop a student from the course before the start of the semester. To avoid an administrative drop, please speak to your academic advisor about your upcoming schedule.

The preferred chemistry sequence for IPHY majors is General Chemistry 1 + Lab (CHEM 1113/1114) and General Chemistry 2 + Lab (CHEM 1133/1134). If you are a non-IPHY major, please meet with your academic advisor to discuss your options to complete the chemistry requirement. Review the IPHY chemistry guidance document for more information.

You need 30 IPHY credit hours of C- or better to complete the major.  The number of elective credits you need will vary based upon which IPHY core courses you choose to take.

Yes, two of our writing courses apply towards the written communication requirement: IPHY 1950-3 (Introduction to Scientific Writing in Integrative Physiology) fulfills the lower division written communication requirement and IPHY 3700-3 (Scientific Writing in Integrative Physiology) fulfills the upper division written communication requirement. These courses also help fulfill the 30-hour requirement in Integrative Physiology.

Yes, several of our IPHY courses apply towards certificates in public health and neuroscience. These courses also help fulfill the 30-hour requirement in Integrative Physiology. Please visit the CU Boulder catalog for a full list of certificate offerings and their requirements.

     IPHY 3700 is strongly recommended for certain pre-health majors and as preparation for graduate school.  Visit the Office of Pre-Health Advising if you have additional questions about IPHY 3700’s applicability to graduate health programs.

Pre-approval for a transfer course:

• You may request that courses be reviewed for transferability and applicability to degree requirements before you take them.  We recommend this if you are hoping to fulfill a CU Boulder graduation requirement with a course taken at another institution. Not all courses will transfer as you think they should so plan ahead using the process explained below.
• Check Transferology to see if the course in question has already been reviewed. Over 140,000 courses have been reviewed and the details about how they will (or will not) transfer to CU Boulder are on this website. For instructions on how to create an account in Transferology, visit the Office of Admissions website under “create a Transferology account.”
• If you do not find your desired course(s) in Transferology, click on the button below to access the Course Preapproval Form. The courses that you submit on this form will be reviewed for transferability and applicability to degree requirements.

Approval for a transfer course after it is taken:

• Make a request via this Transfer Credit Evaluation Form; this form and the courses that you submit will be reviewed for transferability and applicability to degree requirements. Detailed information about this process is provided on the form – read it carefully.  

Courses taken on an approved CU-Boulder education abroad program may be submitted to the CU education abroad office for review towards Gen Ed, Core and MAPS requirements. Courses taken on an approved CU-Boulder education abroad program that you would like to be reviewed for major, minor or certificate requirements should be submitted to your academic advisor for the relevant major, minor or certificate.For more general information regarding academics on CU approved education abroad programs, click here.

Yes, some courses offered through Continuing Education have been approved to meet A&S core requirements, just be sure to double check when registering. Look for a course “Format” when searching courses.   You can choose a course that is self-paced and gives you six months to complete it, or a term-based course that has a specific window of time for the course objectives to be completed in.  The CU tuition does not include any courses taken through Continuing Education.  For a list of courses and more information, visit the Continuing Education Program website.

      There are many ways to get involved in research.  One way to get started is to go to the departmental website and check out the research areas in which the faculty are engaged.  When you find an area that interests you, talk to the faculty member to see how you can get involved.  Credit can be gained via independent study, or funding can be provided via Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Minimum prerequisites for independent study are junior standing and an overall GPA of 2.0--more information here.

We offer the opportunity for students to be Teaching Assistants in almost all of our courses.  Students must have earned at least a B- in the course they wish to assist. Contact the instructor of record for the course you are interested in participating as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant.

The School of Education also offers secondary teacher licensure programs for IPHY students interested in teaching science to grades 7-12. 

No, but they are highly recommended.  Those students whose goal is a graduate health program will probably be doing several volunteer internships in situations related to the program of interest.  Visit the Pre-Health Advising Office for guidance.  Prerequisites for IPHY 4930 are junior standing, completion of at least 2 of the upper division major core courses, and an overall GPA of 2.0. For more information go to the Internship for Credit page.

Freshmen and sophomores with an internship possibility can look into IPHY 2910 (Practicum in Integrative Physiology): https://www.colorado.edu/iphy/undergrad/getting-credit-volunteer-work.

Freshmen and sophomores wanting course credit for an internship will enroll in IPHY 2910, Practicum. Jia Shi oversees all IPHY student internships, and her contact information is Jia.Shi@colorado.edu.  Additional resources can be located here. 

      Yes, we offer the opportunity for strong students to pursue departmental honors.  To apply, you need to be a sophomore or junior with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3.  A written research thesis will be required of students in order to graduate with departmental honors.  For more information, go to the IPHY Honors page or contact one of the IPHY Honors Council Representatives. Please go here for information on the College of Arts & Sciences Honors Program.

Different routes to career advice:

• Go to Career Services
• Talk to IPHY faculty
• Watch for emails from Academic Advising
• Join the IPHY Club, Nutrition Buffs Club, or Biostatistics and Public Health Club

The Office of Pre-Health Advising is best suited to answer these types of questions. This is also where you will find information regarding the pre-requisites for various health care career paths. In general, it is recommended to take the more challenging courses, when an option is available. Usually it is not only GPA, but test scores and relevant experience that help improve an applicant’s chances of admittance.

Yes. Bachelor's-Accelerated Master's programs (BAMs) offer currently enrolled CU Boulder undergraduate students the opportunity to receive a bachelor's and master's degree in a shorter period of time. The Department has developed a curriculum that allows both degrees to be completed in 5 years. Based on a comparison of GPAs, a select number of students will be admitted to the program each year. The program is structured to ensure that students finish both degrees within the 5-year period. More information is available on the IPHY-BAM page and from Biology Advising.

Joining the IPHY Club is an effective way to make connections with fellow students and IPHY faculty. The mission of the IPHY Club is "to connect students and professionals outside of the classroom, and to enrich the overall experience of majoring in integrative physiology". If you are interested in joining, please email the IPHY Club (iphyclub@colorado.edu) to join the email list, receive meeting updates, and learn about valuable opportunities. More information is available on the IPHY Club page.