Penn's Biology Department removes concentrations, prompting mixed reactions from students

Over the summer, Penn’s Biology Department removed all concentrations from the biology major.   

While the decision to remove the concentrations did not impact biology majors who had already declared their concentrations, prospective students were unable to declare concentrations after the date of the July announcement. The removal was voted into action by all faculty members within the Biology Department and was communicated to the student body through email, website updates, and major advisors during appointments.   

Professor Scott Poethig — a Biology professor and the undergraduate chair of the department — said that this decision was made to create more flexibility within the major and to reduce stress for students.   

“We got rid of the concentrations because they didn’t really have an … academic function outside of helping the students decide what classes they might want to take in order to pursue particular interests,” Poethig said. “It was to make life easier from undergraduates — to remove stress so that they would not feel compelled to have to fulfill a series of requirements that were not academically necessary or important.”   

Poethig encouraged students to attend office hours and take advantage of the appointments both professors and advisors made available to them in response to student concerns over accessibility. He also stated that, while students' grade point averages are important for admission to graduate or medical school, it lacks significant importance during the hiring process for jobs.   

“Sometimes, it’s helpful to appreciate that we try to do things for the best interests of our students,” Poethig said. “We’re not in this business to make life more complicated for [the students] by any means.”   

Several students who spoke with The Daily Pennsylvanian voiced varied opinions on the change, including criticism of the decision as well as support for the change and reduced stress on students.   

College sophomore Damjan Karanfilovski, who said that he has yet to declare his major, stated that the decision to remove concentrations has not been properly communicated to the student body.   

“I think it’s a good thing that now there’s a lot more flexibility,” Karanfilovski said. “You’re able to build your own major, but I do think that it was not properly communicated. I don’t think there was enough forewarning for the Class of ‘27, especially ... major[s].”   

Joseph Hochberg, a College senior and biology major concentrating in molecular and cellular biology, expressed that the biology major might be "pretty overwhelming" for students without the structure of concentrations, particularly citing the varied nature of biology.   

“One of the reasons I chose Penn was because they had a specific major in cellular and molecular biology,” Hochberg said. “Having a biology major that specifically suited my interests was very important to me when I was looking through a school.”   

College senior Avi Loren, who is majoring in biology, disagreed and stated that the change was the right decision for the department to make.   

“I think it relieves a lot of stress on the students because I think there were definitely people who felt like they had to take more classes within the bio major more than what was required just so they could get this concentration … just so that they can have this little thing on their transcript to kind of differentiate themselves from other bio majors, when really it has no effect,” Loren said.   

“I think just letting yourself not worry too much about what [your degree] really says and just focusing on ‘These are the classes I want to take’ … is the most important thing,” Loren said.