For information about the admission process, including deadlines, visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Applications can be submitted via the Common Application.
Supporting documents not submitted online should be mailed to:
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
The George Washington University
800 21st St NW Suite 100
Washington, DC 20052
For questions visit undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/contact-us.
The following requirements must be fulfilled:
The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Undergraduate Programs.
Program-specific curriculum:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational courses | ||
| BISC 1006 | The Ecology and Evolution of Organisms | |
| or BISC 1112 | Introductory Biology: The Biology of Organisms | |
| GEOG 1002 | Introduction to Physical Geography | |
| GEOG 1003 | Society and Environment | |
| GEOG 2104 | Introduction to Cartography and GIS | |
| STAT 1053 | Introduction to Statistics in Social Science | |
| or STAT 1051 | Introduction to Business and Economic Statistics | |
| or STAT 1111 | Business and Economic Statistics I | |
| or STAT 1127 | Statistics for the Biological Sciences | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements for the major | ||
| GEOG 2196 | Field Methods in Geography (or equivalent) | |
| ENVR 4195 | Environmental Studies Capstone * | |
| Three of the following science courses: | ||
| ANTH 3407 | Conservation in a Changing World: Human and Animal Behavior | |
| BISC 2010 | Global Change Biology | |
| BISC 2401 | Biodiversity in A Changing World | |
| BISC 2452 | Animal Behavior | |
| BISC 2454 | General Ecology | |
| BISC 3454 | Marine Ecology | |
| BISC 3458 | Plant Comparative Structure and Function | |
| BISC 3459 | Field Biology ** | |
| BISC 3460 | Conservation Biology | |
| or BISC 3460W | Conservation Biology | |
| BISC 3461 | Plant-Animal Interactions | |
| BISC 3464 | Ecology and Evolution of Societies | |
| CHEM 2085 | Environmental Chemistry | |
| GEOG 2129 | Biogeography | |
| or GEOG 2129W | Biogeography | |
| GEOG 2136 | Water Resources | |
| GEOG 3108 | Weather and Climate | |
| GEOG 3128 | Geomorphology and Natural Hazards | |
| GEOG 3218 | Arctic Systems | |
| GEOL 2106 | Oceanography | |
| GEOL 2151 | Introduction to Paleontology | |
| GEOL 3128 | Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | |
| GEOL 3138 | Hydrogeology | |
| GEOL 3191 | Geology of Energy Resources | |
| Three of the following society courses: | ||
| ANTH 3407 | Conservation in a Changing World: Human and Animal Behavior | |
| ANTH 3502 | Cultural Ecology | |
| ECON 2136 | Environmental and Natural Resource Economics | |
| GEOG 2124 | Urban Transportation | |
| GEOG 2125 | Transportation Systems and Networks | |
| GEOG 2127 | Population Geography | |
| GEOG 2133 | People, Land, and Food | |
| GEOG 2134 | Energy Resources | |
| or GEOG 2134W | Energy Resources | |
| GEOG 2137 | Environmental Hazards | |
| GEOG 2140 | Cities and Societies | |
| GEOG 2141 | Cities in the Developing World | |
| GEOG 3132 | Environmental Quality and Management | |
| GEOG 3143 | Urban Sustainability | |
| or GEOG 3143W | Urban Sustainability | |
| GEOG 3810 | Planning Cities | |
| HIST 3001 | Special Topics (an environmental topic) | |
| IA 3350 | ||
| PHIL 2281 | Philosophy of the Environment | |
| PPPA 2701 | Sustainability and Environmental Policy | |
| PUBH 3132 | Health and Environment | |
| PUBH 3150 | Sustainable Energy and Environmental Health | |
| SUST 2002 | The Sustainable City | |
| Electives | ||
| Two additional upper-level courses selected from the science and society course lists, above. | ||
*Offered in the fall semester only.
**May count as either a science requirement or the field method requirement, but not both.
In addition to the University General Education Requirement, undergraduate students in Columbian College must complete a further, College-specific general education curriculum—Perspective, Analysis, Communication (G-PAC) as well as the course CCAS 1001 First-Year Experience. Together with the University General Education Requirement, G-PAC engages students in active intellectual inquiry across the liberal arts. Students achieve a set of learning outcomes that enhance their analytical skills, develop their communication competencies, and invite them to participate as responsible citizens who are attentive to issues of culture, diversity, and privilege.
Coursework for the University General Education Requirement is distributed as follows:
-
One course in critical thinking in the humanities.
-
Two courses in critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, or scientific reasoning in the social sciences.
-
One course that has an approved oral communication component.
- One course in quantitative reasoning (must be in mathematics or statistics).
- One course in scientific reasoning (must be in natural and/or physical laboratory sciences).
- UW 1020 University Writing (4 credits).
- After successful completion of UW 1020, 6 credits distributed over at least two writing in the discipline (WID) courses taken in separate semesters. WID courses are designated by a "W" appended to the course number.
Coursework for the CCAS G-PAC requirement is distributed as follows:
- Arts—one approved arts course that involves the study or creation of artwork based on an understanding or interpretation of artistic traditions or knowledge of art in a contemporary context.
- Global or cross-cultural perspective—one approved course that analyzes the ways in which institutions, practices, and problems transcend national and regional boundaries.
- Local or civic engagement—one approved course that develops the values, ethics, disciplines, and commitment to pursue responsible public action.
- Natural or physical science—one additional approved laboratory course that employs the process of scientific inquiry (in addition to the one course in this category required by the University General Education Requirement).
- Humanities—one additional approved humanities course that involves critical thinking skills (in addition to the one course in this category required by the University General Education Requirement).
- CCAS 1001 First-Year Experience
Certain courses are approved to fulfill GPAC requirements in more than one category.
Courses taken in fulfillment of G-PAC requirements may also be counted toward majors or minors. Transfer courses taken prior to, but not after, admission to George Washington University may count toward the University General Education Requirement and G-PAC, if those transfer courses are equivalent to GW courses that have been approved by the University and the College.
Lists of approved courses in the above categories are included on each undergraduate major's page in this Bulletin.