How to Apply to Biology at Queen’s University: Arts and Science Science Entry, Biology Plan After First-Year BIOL 102/103 (C+ Average and 1.9 GPA for Automatic Acceptance), and Admission and Prerequisites for Canadian Students, International Students (Including Applicants from China) and Transfer Students

Queen’s University is in Kingston, Ontario. Biology is offered by the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Arts and Science: you apply through a Faculty of Arts and Science entry and, after first-year biology courses, apply into a biology plan. This guide summarizes the pages for 2027 entry for Canadian students, international students (including applicants from China) and transfer students. Where the website does not say, we write “not published” and point you to where to check.

Biology: degrees and directions

• Biology major: the Biology Major is a four-year Honours BSc, plan code BIOL-M-BSH; with enough electives to total 120.0 units it leads to a Bachelor of Science Honours degree. The website says it grounds students in all the major subdisciplines of biology while allowing specialization in the upper years, with specialized seminar courses and independent research in the laboratory and the field.
• Other biology plans (see the program overview): Biology and Mathematics (an SSP combining courses from both departments with specialized “BioMath” courses), Biology and Psychology (the four-year “BioPsych” SSP fusing core elements of both), and Biotechnology (BTEC, a four-year SSP spanning scales from microbes to ecosystems). The detail pages for these three were not read, so check the Department of Biology’s site.
• Biochemistry: the overview page lists it under both Arts and Science and Health Sciences themes, with first two years in biology, chemistry (organic, analytical, physical), molecular biology, mathematics and statistics, and upper years in biochemistry and molecular biology and cell biology with extensive laboratory work. It is described on a Health Sciences site (healthsci.queensu.ca) that was not visited for this guide, so check that site for its admission requirements.
• Teaching and practice: the department’s “Aims of the Program” page lists concept-based lectures, seminars, peer instruction, laboratory practicals including molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, use of the nearby field station QUBS, field courses around the world, small fourth-year seminars, and one-on-one honours thesis and independent research projects. The department’s FAQ also mentions Research Mentorship courses, typically taken in third or fourth year, for which you must secure a supervisor.
• Work experience: QUIP, described on the department’s site, is a paid, career-related 12–16 month internship for second- or third-year students in Arts and Science and other faculties, open to domestic and international students.
• Accreditation and careers: whether the biology degrees carry external professional accreditation is not published on the pages read. The department says its graduates go on to research, teaching, health sciences, professional biology and biotechnology, and also business, law, accounting and management.
• Outside this guide: nursing, Health Sciences (BHSc) and medicine are not covered here, nor is chemistry; see the program overview.

How to get into biology

• At application: apply through a Faculty of Arts and Science science entry. The biology-related entries are Biology and Cognitive Sciences (QSB) and Life Science & Biochemistry (QL) (requirements below); the pages read do not say which entry the Biology major must be applied through.
• Grades for the plan (see the department FAQ): for the Biology Major (MAJ) plan, a C+ average in BIOL 102/103 and a 1.9 cumulative GPA give “Automatic Acceptance”; the “Pending list” standards are a C- average in BIOL 102/103 and a 1.6 cumulative GPA. If you are not accepted, the department suggests retaking BIOL 102 or 103 and reapplying; requests are accepted until the final add/drop date in the fall term, after which you can reapply in the change-of-plan period. Students with in-progress (IP) credits for BIOL 102 and 103 and a cumulative GPA of at least 1.9 are automatically accepted into second-year biology plans. You need 24.0 units to count as second year.
• Where the information is incomplete: these thresholds come from the department’s FAQ, which points to the Faculty’s plan selection page for all requirements; that page was not read, and the thresholds for the Biology-Mathematics, Biology-Psychology and Biotechnology plans were not read either.
• Core course notes: the FAQ says BIOL 243 is a core course of the major, substitutions with exclusion courses are granted only in exceptional cases such as a plan change, and students with AP transfer credit for STATS 263 still take BIOL 243 in second year; MATH 123 and 124 can replace MATH 120 or 121.

Prerequisites

• Entry requirements: see the Canadian applicants section below. Biology and Cognitive Sciences (QSB) needs two of Biology 4U, Chemistry 4U or Physics 4U; Life Science & Biochemistry (QL) needs Biology 4U and Chemistry 4U; both need English 4U and Calculus and Vectors 4U.
• First-year university courses: the department’s pages refer to BIOL 102 and 103 and mathematics (MATH 120/121 or 123/124); whether these have high school prerequisites or placement is not published on the pages read; ask the Department of Biology.
• AP/IB credit: the website has a transfer credits page that was not read; the department’s FAQ gives an AP example (STATS 263), so check the website. No biology admission test or interview is mentioned.

School level: how and when to apply (2027 entry)

• Three ways to apply (see how to apply): the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC), for applicants within Canada and for applicants outside Canada who also apply to another Ontario university; Common App, for applicants from the United States or outside Canada who want to use it; and the Queen’s International Application, for international applicants not applying to another Ontario university. Five to seven business days after applying you receive an acknowledgement with an 8-digit student number and NetID activation instructions; your personal to-do list then appears in SOLUS, and it differs for each applicant.
• Supplementary application: required for Commerce, Nursing and Health Sciences, and auditions for music programs. The Faculty of Arts and Science science options covered here are not listed as needing one, but your to-do list may differ, so check SOLUS.
• Timeline (the deadlines page prints the years): applications open October 1, 2026; applying through OUAC by November 20 is recommended so that you can reach the Major Admission Award application; the Major Admission Award application is due December 8 on SOLUS; February 1, 2027 is the deadline for Commerce, Health Sciences and Nursing, with their supplementary applications due February 15; March 1 is the deadline for all other first-year full-time programs; March 31 is the deadline for all documents including transcripts and English test scores; and on April 30 Queen’s receives Ontario high school grades from OUAC. Whether the Life Science & Biochemistry (QL) code follows the February 1 Health Sciences date is not stated on the page; ask the admission office.
• Application fee: not published on the pages read; check the application system or the admission office.
• Standardized tests: the pages read do not require SAT or ACT scores.

Canadian applicants

• Ontario (see the Ontario page): the general requirement is the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and six 4U/4M courses, which must include ENG4U, with the other five being 4U or 4M (francophone school students may offer EAE4U or FRA4U in place of ENG4U). The website calls the science options “competitive entry streams” and suggests applying to the pathways that appeal to you most. Quoting the page: Physical and Chemical Sciences (QSP) needs English 4U, Calculus and Vectors 4U, and Chemistry 4U or Physics 4U, plus three other 4U or 4M courses; Biology and Cognitive Sciences (QSB) needs English 4U, Calculus and Vectors 4U and two of Biology 4U, Chemistry 4U or Physics 4U, plus two other courses; Life Science & Biochemistry (QL) needs English 4U, Calculus and Vectors 4U, Biology 4U and Chemistry 4U, plus two other courses.
• Competitive averages: the website has a “competitive average” page that was not read, so the grade levels for each code are not published in this guide; check the website.
• Other provinces: the requirements page has separate pages for British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the French Baccalauréat and the IB; those were not read, so check the website.
• In-province versus out-of-province and tuition: not published on the pages read; the tuition fee calculator is linked from the admission site.
• Scholarships: the deadlines page mentions the Major Admission Award (a separate online application in SOLUS, due December 8) and, around February 15, 2027, the online Commitment Scholars and Promise Scholars applications and a recommended date for the Financial Aid and Awards Profile. Eligibility and amounts were not read; see the financial aid pages.

International applicants (including applicants from China)

• International curricula: the requirements page lets you pick a curriculum (AP, British-pattern A-Levels, CBSE/ISC, Caribbean CAPE, French Baccalauréat, Hong Kong HKDSE, IB, West African WASSCE) or a country or region. Only the China page was read for this guide; check the website for the rest.
• International student pages: the website has pages for international students (study permits, border pass, winter entry and so on) that were not read; see the admission office site.
• Credential evaluation, proof of funds, international scholarships and study permits: not published on the pages read; check the website.

Applicants from China (separate section)

• General requirement (see requirements for China): the High School Graduation Certificate. Students currently in high school submit their High School Graduation Examination results (Huikao/Xuekao); graduates must submit Gaokao results. Both Gaokao and Huikao results must be verified by the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC).
• Subjects: Biology and Cognitive Sciences (QSB) lists “Senior III Level Mathematics and two of Biology, Chemistry or Physics”; Life Science & Biochemistry (QL) lists “Senior III Level Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry”; Physical and Chemical Sciences (QSP) lists “Senior III Level Mathematics and two of Biology, Chemistry or Physics”. The website does not say which entry leads to the Biology major.
• Score levels: how Gaokao results are weighed and the grade levels needed for each entry code are not published on the pages read; ask the admission office (admission@queensu.ca).
• Supplementary information: the website says the transcript is just one piece of information, and each applicant has a to-do list showing exactly what else is needed.

English language requirement

• Who must submit a score (see English proficiency): applicants who did not study in an English-speaking country or whose first language is not English must prove proficiency by a test or the QBridge language pathway; your to-do list in SOLUS shows whether a score is required. Queen’s may ask any applicant for a result at any time. Results must be sent by the testing body, are valid for two years, and are due by the March 31 document deadline.
• Minimum scores: IELTS Academic 6.5 with no band below 6.0; the new TOEFL iBT scale 4.5 with no skill below 4.0 (Home Edition included), or 88 with at least 20 in writing, speaking, reading and listening for tests before January 2026; CAEL overall 70 with no band below 60; PTE Academic 60; Duolingo 120; Cambridge English 175 with no component below 170; LanguageCert Academic 70 with no score below 65; or completion of Queen’s School of English QBridge programming.
• Waivers: no test is needed with an IB diploma (SL English B alone is not enough), or if you lived in a country where English is the acknowledged primary language for the most recent three years, or attended an English-medium school full-time for the most recent three years; Queen’s asks the schools for documentation that instruction is entirely in English.
• Falling short: applicants below the minimum who are otherwise competitive are assessed automatically for QBridge, with no separate application. QBridge Accelerated is an intensive eight-week summer course starting in early July, with entry levels on the page including IELTS 6.0, TOEFL iBT 80, PTE 55 and Duolingo 95, and a final grade of B required; QBridge English for Academic Purposes (EAP) lists entry levels including IELTS 5.5, TOEFL iBT 58, PTE 40 and Duolingo 80 and is available for Arts and Science and Engineering programs.

Transfer students

• The “University, College or Other Student” section of the requirements page separates several cases: transferring to Queen’s from another university, applying from a college (including after at least one year of a Canadian college diploma program), a second undergraduate degree, readmission, changing faculty within Queen’s, online or part-time study, and the College to University Pathways; there is also a separate Transfer Credits page. Their detailed requirements (minimum averages, credit limits and deadlines) were not read, so check the website.
• The department’s FAQ only states the grade thresholds for current students entering the biology plans; how transfer students enter and how transfer credit counts are not published on the pages read, so ask the Department of Biology and the admission office.

Costs and scholarships

• Tuition: not published on the pages read. The admission site points to the tuition fee calculator, where domestic and international tuition and any program-specific fees can be looked up.
• Scholarships: see above; the Major Admission Award application is due December 8, 2026. Whether international students are considered, and the amounts, are not published on the pages read; see the financial aid pages.

Sources: Queen’s University website Biology Major; Department of Biology undergraduate FAQ; QUIP internship program; undergraduate programs; admission requirements; Ontario requirements; China requirements; how to apply; deadlines; English proficiency. Dates on the pages carry their years and are summarized for 2027 entry; confirm against the latest website.