How to Apply to Biology at Franklin & Marshall College: A Liberal Arts College Where You Choose a Major by the End of Sophomore Year, with Biology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology as Separate Majors, the Barshinger Life Sciences Building and Field Research, 15 November Early Deadline and Test-Optional, for Domestic, International (Including Chinese) and Transfer Applicants

Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania is an undergraduate liberal arts college. Biology is one of its majors, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology is a separate major on the website. Students apply to the College as a whole, not to a separate school. Here is what you need to know, based on the biology page, the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology page and the Office of Admission’s websites, organised for US domestic applicants, international applicants and applicants from China, followed by transfer students. Medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary and other health-professions degrees and the public health major are outside the scope of this article, so please see the College’s website.

1. Degrees and tracks

• Biology: the biology page says that as a biology major you study all forms of life through hands-on exploration, individualized instruction and a collegial learning atmosphere, often designing, conducting and analyzing research in the field or laboratory, supported by the College’s field, laboratory and computing equipment. The page does not say whether the degree is a B.A. or a B.S., or list the major’s courses or tracks; these are in the College’s course catalog, which this article did not read, so please check the website.
• Learning outcomes (biology page): by graduation you will learn concepts from across the breadth of biological disciplines, with depth in focused areas of interest; use quantitative skills to develop and test novel research questions, ethically and in collaboration with others; synthesize and expand on existing scientific theories and models by critically engaging with the literature; and become an effective scientific communicator in writing and speaking.
• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology: a separate major. The page says that through combined coursework in biology and chemistry you learn to manipulate and study biomolecules, understand how molecular structure leads to function and how normal metabolic processes are regulated in a variety of species, and gain a clearer understanding of the principal causes of many diseases in plants and animals; the programme combines classroom, laboratory and independent research experiences and prepares students for graduate work or careers in medicine, biotechnology and bioengineering.
• Related majors: the biology page also lists bioinformatics, neuroscience, animal behavior, earth and environmental science, environmental studies and public health as related majors. Public health is outside the scope of this article, and the others are not covered here.

2. How admission works: apply to the College, choose a major by the end of sophomore year

• At application: the admission checklists do not ask for an intended major or say that admission is decided by major. Whether an intended major entered on the application affects the decision is not stated in the pages read; please ask the Office of Admission.
• When to choose: the Chinese-language international page says students have two years to explore their interests and broaden their academic horizons, and decide on a major by the end of sophomore year; the College offers 52 majors and minors and supports double or joint majors. It adds that each student has an academic adviser from the start, even before choosing a major.
• Conditions to declare, grade requirements in prerequisite courses, caps on places and internal-transfer conditions: not stated in the pages read and not published there; please contact the biology department through the contact on the biology page, or check the College’s course catalog.

3. Prerequisites, laboratories and research

• High school biology, chemistry and mathematics: the admission and department pages read do not state a specific high school biology, chemistry or mathematics requirement. These are not published there; please ask the Office of Admission or the department.
• AP/IB/A-Level: the only credit statement in the pages read is for language study (an AP score of 4 or 5, or a score of 5 or higher in an IB foreign-language course, can meet the language requirement). How AP/IB biology or chemistry scores map to the biology major’s required courses is not stated in the pages read; please ask the Office of Admission or the Registrar.
• Laboratories and facilities: the biology page says the Barshinger Life Sciences & Philosophy Building has 12 student-faculty research laboratories, a greenhouse and animal rooms, with specialized equipment including a confocal microscope, preparative and ultracentrifuges, electrophoresis equipment, a dark room, a cold room, a quantitative thermal cycler, a plant growth facility, a vivarium and controlled environment chambers, plus equipment for terrestrial and aquatic field studies. In the rooftop greenhouse, students can learn to plant, water, fertilize, trim, transplant and assist in pest control. The Biochemistry & Molecular Biology page says the Barshinger and Hackman Physical Sciences buildings together have 24 student-faculty research laboratories, with further equipment such as a mass spectrometer, NMR spectrometers, a gas chromatograph, a fluorometer and UV/visible spectrophotometers.
• Undergraduate research: the biology page says that through independent study or faculty-led projects students work side by side with faculty to test their ideas. Faculty research topics include bioinformatics, biomechanics, cell biology, developmental biology, ecology, genetics and genomics, immunology, limnology, marine biochemistry, microbiology, molecular genetics, muscle physiology, neuroscience, ornithology, plant development, ecology and reproduction, public health and sustainability. Lancaster County’s agricultural countryside, the nearby Susquehanna River, nature preserves managed by the Lancaster Conservancy and F&M’s Spalding Nature Conservancy are used for field research.
• Off-campus study: the biology page says students can study tropical biology in Central and South America, Australia or Africa, do marine biology research in the Caribbean, the Galapagos, Australia or the South Pacific, or take field courses across the US.
• Thesis, honors or capstone requirements: not stated in the pages read and not published there; please check the course catalog or ask the department.

4. Deadlines and application materials

• Rounds and deadlines: Early Decision I (binding) 15 November; Early Decision II 15 January; Regular Decision 15 January. ED decisions come within 30 days of the deadline and RD decisions by 1 April. The deadline to switch to ED I from Regular Decision or ED II is 9 December; to switch to ED II from Regular Decision, 3 February. The admission pages show no year, so check that they apply to fall 2027 entry (the international checklist refers to the CSS Profile for Fall 2027/Spring 2028). The Chinese-language page adds that an applicant may apply ED to only one college; that the two ED rounds are reviewed to the same standard with no priority in scholarships or need-based aid; that applications received by 15 November are decided by 15 December and those received by 15 January by 15 February; and that all results are released by mid-March. Some ED applicants may be deferred, and deferred applications are reviewed again in Regular Decision.
• How to apply and fee: the Common Application or the Coalition Application (powered by Scoir). The application fee is $60, paid electronically through the application platform (the checklists say $60, but the fee schedule on the tuition page also lists an “application for admission fee” of $62; please check what the application platform shows).
• Materials: a high school transcript (including senior-year grades); one academic recommendation from a teacher you had during high school (the page does not say it must be a science teacher); a counselor recommendation; and a mid-year report uploaded by the counselor. ED applicants complete the Early Decision Agreement on the application platform. Optional: supplemental materials uploaded to the application portal, and, for college coursework taken during high school, an official college transcript sent directly by the institution.
• Essays: the checklists read do not list the topic of an F&M supplemental essay; please check the application platform.
• Interview: not required, but the Chinese-language page says it can help the application. It is an informal conversation with admission staff, alumni or current students, available online, on campus or, in the fall, in certain regions, and open only to current high school seniors or gap-year students applying in this cycle.
• Testing: test-optional (the College says for more than 30 years), with a “no harm” approach in which scores are considered only if they strengthen the application. If scores are not submitted, the weight scores would carry is redistributed across the transcript, the academic recommendation and other materials, and the College says this has no negative impact on the likelihood of admission; applicants indicate on the Common Application or Coalition Application that they are applying test-optional. The Chinese-language page says submitted scores are superscored: for the SAT the highest reading and the highest math score across sittings, for the ACT the average of the highest score in each of four sections. The SAT code is 2261 and the ACT code 3574.

5. US domestic applicants

• Tuition (2026-27): the fees page lists tuition of $74,770 ($37,385 per semester), a health services fee of $146, a student activity fee of $200 and a one-time orientation fee of $210; a standard double room is $10,090 (required of first-years) and the All Access meal plan (required of first-years) is $7,240; there is also a non-refundable $500 enrollment fee for incoming students. The cost of attendance page lists tuition $74,770, health services fee $146, student activity fee $200, housing $12,080 (a weighted average of room options), meals $7,240, books and supplies $800, personal expenses $1,350, transportation $400 and loan fees $55, and prints a total of $97,041. A single tuition figure is listed, with no in-state/out-of-state distinction. The rates for 2027-28 are not stated in the pages read.
• Need-based aid: the College says that if you are admitted it will meet 100% of your institutionally determined financial need for all four years on campus; the transfer page prints “65% of F&M students receive some sort of need-based aid”. Applicants check “yes” to the need-based aid question on the Common Application, submit the CSS Profile (code 2261) and the FAFSA (code 003265), and upload tax documents to the College Board’s IDOC system; missing documents can delay the decision or adversely affect the outcome.
• Pennsylvania residents (the Commonwealth Commitment): the website says admitted first-year Pennsylvania residents with a household income below $75,000 and typical assets attend tuition-free, and those between $75,000 and $150,000 with typical assets pay no more than in-state tuition at Penn State. It adds that eligible students entering in fall 2026 pay no more than the 2025-26 in-state tuition at Penn State University Park, $20,468. Whether the same terms apply to fall 2027 entry is not stated in the pages read. Applying requires the FAFSA, the CSS Profile and federal tax documents.
• Merit scholarships: all applicants are considered automatically with no separate application; awards are made at admission and renewable for up to eight semesters in good standing; for applicants entering in fall 2026, merit scholarships are offered up to $40,000 per year. Merit scholarships are not stacked on top of need-based aid; financial need is met through a combination of merit scholarships, need-based grants, loans and work-study. The College also has dedicated programmes (for example Creative Writing and Cultural Leadership Fellows and Entrepreneurship Leadership Fellows) that are unrelated to biology and not covered here.
• In-state priority or guaranteed admission: not stated in the pages read.

6. International applicants

• English requirements: applicants whose native language is not English submit a proficiency score; the College accepts TOEFL, IELTS, the Duolingo English Test (DET) or Pearson PTE Academic. The pages read do not give minimum scores; please ask the international admission office (intladmissions@fandm.edu).
• Waivers: English as your native language; at least three years at a school where the main language of instruction in all courses is English; or enrolment in the IB Diploma Programme with a predicted IB English SL score of 5 or higher, or HL score of 4 or higher. Applicants who believe they qualify email the Office of Admission after applying.
• How applications are assessed: the Chinese-language page says international applications are evaluated on academic record, English proficiency scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations from teachers and counselors, and that a student’s multicultural background and the new perspective it brings to the classroom are also a consideration.
• Materials: the same transcript, academic recommendation, counselor recommendation and mid-year report as domestic applicants, plus English results or a waiver, and financial documents: applicants seeking aid submit the CSS Profile (Fall 2027/Spring 2028) or the International Aid Form; applicants not requesting aid submit a Certification of Finances, available after you submit the application. The Chinese-language page says applicants who cannot afford the CSS Profile fee may complete the College’s International Aid Form free of charge.
• Funding and aid: the website says admitted international students have 100% of institutionally determined need met for four years, with no new CSS Profile needed each year; but aid is limited, and applicants who require a high level of aid face a more competitive admission process. Students admitted without aid in the first year are not eligible for aid in later years. The application is not reviewed until all financial documents (the CSS Profile or the Certification of Finances) are received. International students are also considered automatically for merit scholarships.
• Insurance: the fees page says international students are required to take, and are automatically enrolled in, the student health insurance plan (SHIP, $3,688) and dental insurance ($174); SHIP can be waived with verifiable proof of comparable coverage.
• International student services: the Chinese-language page says the Joseph International Center offers guidance on adjusting to life in the US and help with visa documents, and can be a point of support for language, social or personal questions.

7. Applicants from China

• Gaokao: the admission pages read do not mention the Gaokao. Whether Gaokao results are accepted and how they would be used is not published there; please ask the international admission office (intladmissions@fandm.edu).
• Chinese-language material: the College has a Chinese-language international admission section (academics, international admission, campus, international student services and graduate outcomes), saying the application process for international students is largely the same as for domestic students “with some key differences”; it does not list China-specific requirements, and some links on it are marked as English pages. The international admission page also says overviews of the College are available in Chinese and Spanish for international parents.
• Transcripts and school-leaving materials: no China-specific requirements are published in the pages read; the general international requirements are in section 6.

8. Costs, scholarships and outcomes

• Costs: see sections 5 and 6.
• Department scholarships: the pages read do not mention biology-specific scholarships.
• Research: see section 3.
• Outcomes (biology page): the page says that within six months after graduation, 92% of the Class of 2025 were employed or furthering their education (the same page adds that the national average is typically in the mid-80% range). It says more than half of majors in the biology-related fields go on to graduate or professional school; in any given year about one-third of graduates enter medical school or another health professions graduate programme and another one-third enter other graduate study, with admissions to universities including Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Michigan and Yale. The Biochemistry & Molecular Biology page instead says “nearly 85 percent” of majors in the biology-related fields go on to graduate school, medical school or another health professions graduate programme (the two pages differ; please check the website). The College also has the Benjamin Rush Pre-Health Honor Society for students interested in the health professions. Careers named include sports medicine, genetic counseling, patent law and high school teaching, with positions such as agricultural consultant, biostatistician, conservation engineer, ecologist, environmental research manager, forensic biologist, marine biologist, medical researcher, molecular biologist, pharmaceutical researcher and wildlife biologist, as well as health professions such as dentist, nurse, nutritionist, physical therapist, physician and veterinarian. The page prints no salary data.

9. Transfer students

• Deadlines: fall entry priority deadline 15 April, final deadline 1 July, with applications accepted after the priority date and decisions released on a rolling basis; spring entry priority deadline 15 November and final deadline 1 December.
• Materials: apply through the Common Application for Transfer or the Coalition Application; official transcripts from all colleges (sent directly by the institution) and the final high school transcript; one recommendation from a college-level instructor (one to two; a teaching assistant or academic adviser is accepted if an instructor is not feasible); the transfer college report; a self-compiled list of course descriptions for all completed and in-progress college work, used for the credit evaluation after admission; testing optional; and a $60 fee (a waiver is available to certain eligible transfers). A mid-term report is not required. The College says transfers can receive merit scholarships up to $35,000 per year and need-based aid that meets institutionally determined need; Phi Theta Kappa members automatically receive a $5,000 scholarship if admitted.
• International transfers: also English results (if fewer than three years of English instruction) or a waiver, and the international financial aid form or Certification of Finances (the transfer checklist still refers to the CSS Profile for “Fall 2024/Spring 2025”, which looks out of date; please check the latest). For spring entry, international students must already be studying at a US college or university on an F-1 visa, while all international transfer applicants may apply for fall. Coursework from institutions outside the US and Canada must be verified by a NACES member credential evaluation agency.
• General education and credit transfer: the transfer page says students spend most of their first two years in the general education programme, made up of Connections (a seminar capped at 16 students) and Exploration (nine courses), where natural sciences require two courses and a laboratory; laboratory courses in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, psychology and earth and environment may transfer as natural sciences credit. A minimum transfer GPA, requirements for entering the biology major and the prerequisite course sequence are not stated in the pages read and are not published there; please contact the transfer office (transfer@fandm.edu) and the biology department.

Checklist

US domestic applicants:

• ED I 15 November; ED II and Regular 15 January; $60 fee; one academic recommendation from a high school teacher; testing optional; CSS Profile and FAFSA
• Pennsylvania residents can look up the Commonwealth Commitment

International applicants (including China):

• TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo or PTE scores (minimums not stated), or a waiver; CSS Profile or International Aid Form, or Certification of Finances
• Gaokao use is not published; ask the international admission office

After entry:

• Choose a major by the end of sophomore year; check the course catalog or the biology department for the major’s courses, prerequisites and honors

Transfer students:

• Fall priority 15 April (final 1 July), spring priority 15 November (final 1 December); one college-instructor recommendation

Sources: Franklin & Marshall College, Biology; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Regular Decision checklist; International first-year checklist; International students; Chinese page: international admission; Chinese page: academics; Transfer checklist; Transfer students; Tuition, fees and billing; Cost of attendance; Commonwealth Commitment; Scholarships. The dates on the admission pages show no year, so check that they apply to fall 2027 entry and see the College’s website for the latest.