How to Apply to Biology at Hamilton College: Apply to the College Under the Open Curriculum, Declare Your Concentration in Sophomore Spring, and Every Biology Student Completes a Senior Research Project, with Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Neuroscience Nearby, for Domestic, International (Including Chinese) and Transfer Applicants

Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, is an undergraduate liberal arts college. It calls majors concentrations and says it has 44 majors and 58 areas of study in all. Biology is taught by the Biology Department; the closest neighbors are the Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Neuroscience concentrations, which this guide covers briefly as the college groups them. It follows the college website and covers domestic applicants, international applicants, applicants from China and transfer students. Chemistry is outside this guide except where it overlaps. The full list of required courses for each concentration is in the course catalogue that the college website links to; the department pages cited here do not list it, so check the official site.

1. Degrees and tracks

• Biology concentration: the department page says the Biology Department aims to inspire and prepare students for lifelong learning as professionals in the biological sciences and as scientifically informed citizens, and to advance understanding of the natural world through original research; classes are small, with an emphasis on lab work and research; many students do summer research with professors, and all biology majors complete a research project through the Senior Program. The pages cited here do not name the degree awarded or list named tracks within biology.
• Learning outcomes (department page): analyze and interpret original and published biological data; apply the scientific method in a way that demonstrates comprehension; communicate effectively about fundamental biological concepts using scientific language.
• Sample courses (department page): Explorations in Biology: The Secret Life of Plants (a thematic course on five features shared by all biological systems); Biodiversity: Crisis and Solutions (with a lab quantifying biodiversity in campus forests); Developmental Genetics; Cellular Neurobiology; Seminar in Disease and Behavior; Seminar in Bioinformatics.
• Biochemistry/Molecular Biology (BMB): the BMB page says that while biology and chemistry courses introduce the life sciences, the program offers scientific grounding for those planning graduate study or the health professions, with laboratory work and research that can lead to publication and conference presentations. Sample courses include Biological Chemistry, Biochemistry, Principles of Chemistry and Physical Chemistry I and II; Biological Chemistry carries the cross-listed numbers Chemistry 270, Biology 270 and BMB 270 (see the chemistry department course page).
• Neuroscience: the neuroscience page says the program uses interdisciplinary approaches to help students understand the nervous system and build rigorous research, analysis and communication skills, drawing on biology, chemistry and psychology; sample courses include Sensation and Perception and Fundamentals of Neurobiology.
• Required courses and credit totals: the biology, BMB and neuroscience pages each point their “Requirements” link to the college’s course catalogue, so the number and names of required courses are not given in the pages cited here and are not published there; check the official site.
• College-wide requirements: the open curriculum page says graduation requires 32 units (almost all courses are one unit), including three writing-intensive courses, at least one quantitative and symbolic reasoning course, the physical education requirement, and the concentration requirements (including a course on how social categories structure the world); every concentration includes a Senior Project.

2. How admission works: admitted to the college, declare in sophomore spring

• What you apply to: the application goes to the college. The application pages cited here do not require choosing a major at application and do not describe a separate admission process, extra declaration requirement or seat limit for biology.
• When you declare: the open curriculum page says many students start without a clear concentration and many change their proposed concentration during the first two years; you declare in the spring of sophomore year, and may choose more than one concentration or a concentration plus a minor.
• Moving into biology: the declaration procedure and any prerequisite or grade conditions are not stated in the pages cited here.

3. Prerequisites, course starting points and AP/IB

• High school requirements: the admission pages cited here do not list specific high school biology, chemistry or mathematics requirements; this is not published there, so ask the admission office (admission@hamilton.edu).
• Starting courses in college: the biology page lists Explorations in Biology: The Secret Life of Plants as a thematic sample course; the entry-course sequence and prerequisites for the major, and whether chemistry or mathematics are required prerequisites, are not stated in the pages cited here. The BMB page’s sample courses include Principles of Chemistry, which the department says satisfies the first semester of the one-year general chemistry requirement for post-graduate health professions programs.
• AP/IB/A-Level credit: the international admission page says credit policies vary by department; see the College Registrar’s website. How the biology department treats AP or IB biology is not stated in the pages cited here and is not published.
• Biology competitions: the pages cited here do not say how competitions such as the Biology Olympiad are viewed in admissions.
• Preparing for medical school: the chemistry department’s site says students who take Chemistry 270 as their 200-level course for medical school preparation may also need Bio 346 to satisfy medical schools’ biochemistry requirement (that site is labeled 2018-2019, so verify). Medicine and similar degrees are outside this guide; see the college’s health professions advising.

4. Timeline and materials

• Platforms: first-year applicants use the Common Application or the Coalition application (via Scoir); eligible students may also use QuestBridge. You apply to the college, not to a major.
• Three rounds: Early Decision I (binding) is due 15 November with notification by 19 December; Early Decision II (binding) is due 4 January with notification by 15 February; Regular Decision is due 4 January with notification in late March. The Early Decision page says both ED plans are binding and differ only in timeline; admitted students must withdraw other applications and pay an enrollment deposit within two weeks; Regular Decision applicants can convert to ED II by filing the agreement by 11:59 p.m. on 1 February 2027. The deadline pages do not print the entry year, so check that these are for fall 2027. January Admission and early-assurance/dual-degree graduate programs are also described on the first-year page.
• Materials: $65 application fee (waivers available), high school transcript, school counselor recommendation and a teacher recommendation; optional items are a second teacher recommendation, test scores, an interview, a supplemental short answer, a 60-second “Hamilton Hello” video and a studio/performing arts supplement. The pages cited here do not say which subject the teacher must teach.
• Testing: the testing policy page says the SAT or ACT is not required, the choice is yours, and applications without scores get full consideration. Hamilton superscores both the SAT and ACT, accepts official or self-reported scores (enrolling students send official scores by 1 July), and uses code 2286 for the SAT/TOEFL and 2754 for the ACT. For the class of 2029 (entering 2025-26) the middle 50% of those submitting scores was SAT 1440 to 1510 and ACT 33 to 34, and roughly half of enrolled students submitted scores; applicants with at least 1400 SAT or 32 ACT are encouraged to submit.
• Admit data (class of 2030): the class profile reports 8,156 applications, a 14.3% acceptance rate, 1,168 admitted and 474 enrolled, 60% of students receiving financial aid, 9.5% foreign nationals, and a middle 50% testing range of SAT 1430 to 1520 and ACT 33 to 35. It gives no data by major.
• Interview: optional; virtual interviews are offered to international applicants.

5. Domestic applicants

• Costs (2026-27): the cost page lists tuition $75,210, housing $10,540, food $8,750 and a student activity fee of $750, for a comprehensive fee of $95,250; estimated costs add books and supplies $800, miscellaneous personal expenses up to $1,000 and travel up to $1,800. All students must carry adequate health insurance, which may cost some families extra.
• Aid: the college says it meets the full demonstrated need of every accepted and enrolled student, through a mix of family contribution, scholarships, loans and campus employment. The pages cited here do not describe merit scholarships or any effect of state residency on admission or cost.

6. International applicants

• How to apply: the international admission page says there is no separate international application; the procedure is essentially the same, through the Common Application or Coalition application. Documents not in English must be translated, preferably by an official agency; external credential evaluations are not required. Every international applicant submits the Certification of Finances in the applicant portal, whether or not applying for aid.
• English proficiency: the English proficiency page says non-native speakers must submit TOEFL iBT, IELTS or Duolingo English Test results. There is no fixed cut-off, but competitive applicants typically score at or above: TOEFL taken before January 2026, 100; TOEFL taken January 2026 or later, minimum 5.0 and recommended 5.5 (new scale); IELTS 7.5; Duolingo 130. No superscoring is accepted for any English test, including TOEFL MyBest; the TOEFL Home Edition is accepted; official scores are required and self-reported scores do not count. Study at a secondary school where English is the main language of instruction can also show proficiency, and waivers are requested through a form on the applicant portal checklist. The college does not grant fee waivers for the language tests.
• Standardized tests: SAT/ACT are not required, but most international students must show English proficiency.
• Financial aid: the international financial aid page says the college meets the full demonstrated need for four years of international students who apply for aid and show need, but admission is not need-blind for non-U.S. citizens, so a family’s ability to pay may affect the decision. Students who want aid must apply at the time of the admission application; aid applications are not accepted after decisions, and those who do not apply or qualify at admission are not eligible for aid in any of the four years. A CSS Profile may also be needed. Students on aid may qualify for on-campus jobs, and most limit work to about 10 hours a week.
• Credit: the international admission page says credit policies for AP, IB, A-Levels, Abitur and similar vary by department; see the College Registrar’s website.
• Scale: the same page says international students make up 8% of the student body, and 16% are international citizens including dual citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

7. Applicants from China

• Gaokao: the pages cited here do not mention the gaokao; whether and how it is used is not published. Contact the admission office (admission@hamilton.edu) or the director of international recruitment.
• Transcripts and school-exam documents: the college only says applicants from different education systems are welcome and are evaluated within the context of their system and school; requirements specific to Chinese transcripts or school-exam documents are not published.
• English: see the previous section; the TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo levels listed apply, as do the Certification of Finances and the aid-at-application rule.
• International curricula: for AP, IB or A-Level students, credit policies vary by department and are set out on the Registrar’s website; the pages cited here do not describe the chemistry or biology department practice.

8. Research, the Senior Program and funding

• Senior Program: the biology Senior Program page says the core is the senior project, an intensive two-semester field or laboratory research project carried out with a faculty member, concluding with a written project and an oral presentation in the second semester of senior year; it is a chance to synthesize and focus previous coursework and produces an original work of scholarship on an empirical or theoretical issue.
• Sample projects (department page): associative learning and cognition in American crows; kinesins in chromosome segregation; methane production, purple sulfur bacteria and photosynthetic pigments in Green Lake; spermatophore phenology in redback salamanders; transgenerational lead exposure and retinal degeneration in Drosophila; and the effect of pH on phenol oxidase activity in salt marsh soils.
• Summer and college-wide funding: the student research page says approximately 120 students receive summer research grants each year and every student graduates having completed a capstone experience, typically significant research or an original artistic creation; a news item on that page describes students spending 10 weeks at the Masonic Medical Research Institute in Utica on biomedical research.
• Outcomes: the biology department pages cited here give no outcome or employment data.

9. Transfer students

• Scale and deadlines: the transfer page says the college enrolls about 10 to 20 transfer students in the fall and 5 to 10 in the spring. The spring 2027 deadline is 1 November 2026 and the fall 2027 deadline is 15 March 2027; spring transfer decisions are typically released in early December and fall decisions in early May. International students without a currently active U.S. study visa are not eligible for spring transfer; this does not apply to fall transfer.
• Materials: the Transfer Common Application or Coalition application with the college’s questions; a Transfer College Report from every college where you were a degree-seeking student; a mid-term report (Transfer Mid-Term Report or College Curriculum Report) on current courses; one Transfer Instructor Evaluation from a college professor (a high school recommendation cannot replace it); and official high school and college transcripts. Interviews are optional but strongly encouraged.
• Grades: there is no minimum GPA; successful applicants have typically earned a college GPA of 3.33 or higher.
• Credit transfer: only admitted transfer students receive an official credit evaluation. Credit is given only for liberal arts courses; no credit for pre-professional courses (business, engineering, criminal justice, computer applications, journalism and similar), college courses taken in secondary school, or online courses; grades must be C or higher; one Hamilton unit equals four semester hours and other credit is converted proportionally. Students with more than four semesters of full-time study must complete four semesters at Hamilton, so at most two years of credit transfer, and many disciplines require at least half of major courses to be taken at Hamilton.
• Financial aid: aid is typically available to transfer students and depends on the overall budget. The college is need-aware for transfers, so applicants seeking aid face a more selective process; aid must be requested at the time of application. Admitted transfer students who applied for aid, including international transfers, have their full need met.
• Housing: all students, including transfers, live in campus housing.

Sources: Biology Department; Biology Senior Program; Biochemistry/Molecular Biology; Neuroscience; Chemistry department site: course information; Open curriculum; Student research; First-year applicants; Early Decision; Testing policy; Class profile; International admission; English proficiency; International financial aid; Cost; Transfer admission. Some pages do not print an entry year: the first-year deadline page gives none (the Early Decision page mentions 1 February 2027, so this is inferred to be the fall 2027 round; please verify). Costs are for 2026-27; the chemistry department site cited is labeled 2018-2019 and may have changed. Check the college website and course catalogue for the latest.