Advising Notes for Chemistry Majors

  • If you consider yourself a chemistry major, you should be sure that the department knows about it and that you have a chemistry faculty member as an adviser. This applies to students at all levels, and is especially important for double majors.
  • Formal admission to the chemistry major usually occurs after the 4th semester and requires a grade of C or better in the following  courses*: CHEM 110 (012), 111 (014), 112 (013), 113 (015), 210 (038), Math 140, Math 141 and Math 231. An overall grade point average of 2.50 or better is required in this set of courses. An overall cumulative grade point average must be at least 2.00. A minimum grade of C is required for chemistry majors in CHEM 110 (012), 111 (014), 112 (013), 113 (015), 210 (038), 212 (039), 213 (036), 423 (426), 425, 431W, 450 (451), 452 and MATH 140, 141, 231 for graduation. A 2.0 grade point average is required for graduation.
  • During the first semester, CAS 100A or a foreign language course are good possibilities to use in place of an elective. For particularly well prepared students, PHYS 211 is another possibility. See note h.
  • This course schedule includes ten 3-credit courses to permit 18 credits of Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, plus at least 10 credits of supporting courses. Among all of these must be included at least 3 credits of US and 3 credits of IL courses to satisfy the US Cultures and International Cultures requirement. Additionally, your selections in the categories of Arts/(A), Humanities/(H), and Social and Behavioral Sciences/(S) must be distributed into a 6-6-6 credit pattern. You may instead petition for a 9-6-3 pattern (any order). Acceptable courses are listed in the Bulletin with symbols GA, GH, GS. Be agressive about finding out from other students and your adviser what the good elective courses are and who the best teachers are.
  • A list of courses that do not count towards graduation as a Chemistry major is provided as part of this web site. Courses such as MATH 21, ENGL 4, or CHEM 101 (011) do not count towards graduation.
  • Health and Physical Activity (GHA) courses are often hard to get into. Have alternative choices selected and be flexible. Try to have this requirement satisfied before your senior year. Note that you cannot repeat a given GHA course.
  • ENGL 015 may be taken either the fall or spring sememsters. University Scholars must schedule ENGL 030 instead of ENGL 015, and may schedule ENGL 030 in either fall or spring. If you have taken ENGL015 in the fall, then schedule a GA/GH/GS course in the spring.
  • CAS 1OOA may be scheduled at any time.
  • CHEM 316 (016) is offered only in the fall semester and should be scheduled at the beginning of your junior year. If you are off-sequence, so that your junior year does not start in the fall, schedule CHEM 316 (016) at the end of your sophomore year. It is especially important that students transferring to University Park from branch campuses at the end of their second year take CHEM 316 (016) immediately since it helps orient them and introduces them to their fellow chemistry majors.
  • CHEM 431W is a lab course that is offered only in fall semester. It is best to take this course in your junior year. Even though the course is listed for Tuesday and Thursday mornings, do not be fooled. Often you will need additional time. It is best to avoid scheduling more than one other course on Tuesday and Thursday when taking CHEM 431W. CHEM 400 is now coordinated with CHEM 431W and should be taken in the same semester. Chem 400 is strongly recommended. At no time should two 400-level Chemistry labs be scheduled in one semester.

There are five ways to meet the requirement:
  • Passing the second semester of a modern foreign language at Penn State
      • Transfer of a course from another institution that is certified by Penn State's appropriate language deparment as equivalent to the "2" level.
      • Sufficient high school exposure to a modern foreign language to that Penn State's policy would place the student at the "3" level for further study. (Currently this is four or more years of high school exposure.) Such exposure will be demonstrated by providing a copy of the high school transcript to the Undergraduate Chemistry Office.
      • Certification, based on examination, by a foreign language department that the student has achieved the desired level.
      • Having a foreign language as a first language. A student who has grown up in another country and who therefore speaks and reads another language at a suitable level already meets the foreign language requirement. The Chemistry Department reserves the right to have such a student tested to verify that the appropriate skill level exists. However, if such a student has had his or her undergraduate education in another language, such testing will presumably be unnecessary.
  • English 202C should be taken in one of the final three semesters. This assures that you will have acquired sufficient techincal knowledge to benefit from this experience. The course familiarizes students majoring in science or engineering with the writing practices appropriate in their disciplinary and institutional communities, and has been found by some students to very useful in their job-seeking activities.
  • The American Chemical Society (ACS) gives its stamp of approval to undergraduate degrees if certain course lab criteria are met. If you desire an ACS-approved degree (which allows you to be a member of the ACS upon graduation instead of an Associate Member during your first three years of professional experience), you should include in your 18 credits of additional chemistry courses CHEM 476 (497A -Biological Chemistry) and either CHEM 410 or 412 (411) and 3 credits from CHEM 489 (or 1 cr of SC 295 plus 1 cr of SC 395 plus 1 cr of SC 495.) If only 2 credits of CHEM 489 (or 1 cr of SC 295 plus 1 cr SC 395) are taken, then CHEM 423 (426) or CHEM 425 (whichever was not taken in the prescribed chemistry courses box) can be used to obtain an ACS degree.
  • It is possible to substitute 400-level courses in biochemistry, polymer science, or other chemistry-related disciplines for some of the 400-level chemistry credits. 500-level courses may also be used. However, these options require explicit approval, in advance, by petition to the Assistant Department Head for Undergraduate Education.
  • CHEM 489, supervised research, requires the participation of a Chemistry Department faculty member. Interested students should discuss this with their advisor and begin interviewing faculty no later than their fifth semester. 400-level chemistry electives may include up to 8 credits for research (less if co-op credits are being used).
  • If you elect to take CHEM 406 (405), Nuclear and Radio Chemistry, it should be scheduled after CHEM 452. Some advanced chemistry courses are offered only in alternate years. Plan well ahead to avoid missing a desired course because it is not offered when you want it.
  • CHEM 457 should be taken after CHEM 450 (451) for 2 credits.
  • CHEM 423 (426) should be taken after CHEM 452 and CHEM 457. CHEM 423 (426) is offered only in the Spring. CHEM 425 should be taken after CHEM 450 (451) and concurrently or after CHEM 457. CHEM 425 is offered in the Fall.
  • Achievement of the "2" level in a modern foreign language is required for graduation in Chemistry. Computer languages, and classical languages, such as Latin or ancient Greek, do not qualify. Some students will have already met or partly met this requirement based on prior language study or by having a first language other than English. They will therefore not need to take eight credits of modern foreign language. However, any credits that they do NOT need to take as language should be transferred to teh Supporting Courses category. In other words, the SUM of credits devoted to Foreign Language and Supporting Courses must equal at least eighteen. If you have already had a modern foreign language in high school and wish to continue with that language, select your course as follows: Fewer than 2 years of high school exposure, Course 001 (4cr); 2 or 3, Course 002 (4cr); 4 or more, Course 003 (4cr). Credit will not be given for courses below the level at which the student must register. The above rules do not apply if four or more years have elapsed between admission to Penn State and completion of high school. A diagnostic test is given in the first few days of the semester to those few students who feel they are qualified to move to a more advanced level than these rules would inidcate. Once you have taken a course at the level of German 002, Russian 002, Spanish 002, etc. or qualify for placement into level 003 or higher, you have satisfied the department's requirement for a foreign language. If you do this without actually taking eight credits, you will need correspondingly more credits of supporting courses to compensate (up to eight, if you qualify for placement into level 003 but do not actually take it.)

* Course numbers changed in Su07. Old course numbers in ().