Biology Department Review

The Biology department is one of Stuyvesant’s major STEM departments and is the introductory STEM department to which freshmen are exposed. It does a decent job preparing freshmen for the standardized science tests that freshmen will encounter—the Living Environment Regents plus the AP Biology exam for those who take the advanced course. A Stuyvesant student's first biology course also generally gives a good idea of what to expect for STEM courses as a whole at Stuy. The Biology department provides a vast amount of lab experience to students, introducing them to the most important techniques of Molecular Biology including PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and Gel electrophoresis. Almost every biology class, especially core classes, utilize exams for assessments but also features at least a couple of projects in order to boost student averages.

             Some teachers can go over the 30 minute homework limit, which can leave students overwhelmed. The amount of practical experience students get can also vary depending on the teacher, which can make some students far more prepared to approach internships and research. Additionally, while the school has the tools for an enormous amount of student research, it’s usually not leveraged as effectively as it could be and many particularly niche pieces of lab equipment are lost or broken with little immediate funding available to fix them. Finally, a large number of biology electives were disbanded after a wave of teachers retired due to the pandemic. Many of these electives were extremely interesting and a large population of students would take them if they were to return. Overall, the Biology department provides students with a rigorous introduction to the sciences at Stuyvesant.