Chemistry, B.S.

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Transferability of credits from other institutions that are not already approved for articulation to Chapman will be determined at the discretion of the program director.

Students with sufficient high school background or appropriate AP or IB test scores may waive one course or more of the following: CHEM 140 /CHEM 140L , MATH 110 , MATH 111 , MATH 115 , PHYS 101 . (Note, however, that these courses may need to be taken at a college/university to fulfill the requirements for medical school and/or other graduate programs.)

Program Learning Outcomes and Educational Effectiveness Evaluation Plans for B.S. in Chemistry.

Students pursuing the B.S. in Chemistry are required to:

Earn an overall GPA of 2.000 for all required major courses.
Complete all courses in the major for a letter grade, except those where the default grading option is P/NP.
Complete a minimum of 21 credits from upper-division courses in the major.
Complete the exit exam and a capstone requirement.

Majors are required to enroll in FFC 100B - First Year Foundations: Grand Challenges in Science and Engineering to satisfy their General Education requirement.

Grand Challenges Initiative (3 credits)

SCI 150 - Grand Challenges in Science and Engineering I 1 credit
SCI 200 - Grand Challenges in Science and Engineering II 1 credit
SCI 250 - Grand Challenges in Science and Engineering III 1 credit

introductory courses (9 credits)

CHEM 100 - Introduction to the Chemistry and Biochemistry Majors and Career Paths 1 credit
CHEM 140 - General Chemistry I 3 credits
CHEM 140L - General Chemistry I Laboratory 1 credit
CHEM 150 - General Chemistry II 3 credits
CHEM 150L - General Chemistry II Laboratory 1 credit

cognate courses (19-20 credits)

PHYS 101 - General Physics I 3 credits
PHYS 101L - General Physics I Laboratory 1 credit
PHYS 102 - General Physics II 3 credits
PHYS 102L - General Physics II Laboratory 1 credit
MATH 115 - Accelerated Calculus Part I: Differentiation and Integration 4 credits *
MATH 116 - Accelerated Calculus Part II: Series, Differential Equations and Multivariable Calculus 4 credits *
MATH 215 - Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations 3 credits

chemistry foundation courses (20 credits)

CHEM 230 - Organic Chemistry I 3 credits
CHEM 230L - Organic Chemistry I Laboratory 1 credit
CHEM 301 - Inorganic Chemistry, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits
CHEM 310 - Analytical Chemistry I, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits
BCHM 335 - Biochemistry I-Biomolecules, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits
CHEM 340 - Physical Chemistry-Quantum Chemistry, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits

chemistry in-depth courses (12 credits)

CHEM 331 - Organic Chemistry II 3 credits
CHEM 331L - Organic Chemistry II Laboratory 1 credit
CHEM 411 - Analytical Chemistry II, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits
CHEM 441 - Physical Chemistry-Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits

electives (9 credits)

Students must take a minimum of nine graded credits; six credits must be CHEM courses. Electives beyond nine graded credits may be taken P/NP. Note that professional programs may require graded courses.

CHEM 325 - Atmospheric Chemistry 3 credits
CHEM 327 - Environmental Geochemistry 3 credits
BCHM 336 - Biochemistry II-Biometabolism 3 credits
CHEM 338 - Symmetry in Chemistry 3 credits
BCHM 350 - Medicinal Chemistry 3 credits
BCHM 420 - Physical Biochemistry, Lecture and Laboratory 4 credits
CHEM 432 - Advanced Organic Chemistry 3 credits
CHEM 444 - Introduction to Molecular Modeling 3 credits
CHEM 451 - Molecular Spectroscopy 3 credits
PHYS 451 - Quantum Mechanics I 3 credits
FSN 501 Food Chemistry 3 credits/FSN 502 Food Chemistry Lab 1 credit

capstone requirement (0-3 credits)

(see options below)

total credits 72-76

*MATH 110 /MATH 111 /MATH 210 may be substituted for MATH 115 and MATH 116 .

exit exam requirement

All majors will take a standardized exit exam on the Saturday after fall break or spring break in the senior year. The score on this exam will be used by the Faculty to decide whether Degree Program Honors are awarded, in addition to the requirements listed under “Degree Program Honors” under “Schmid College of Science and Technology”. The exit exam can only be taken once.

capstone requirement in-depth research experience

Students are required to complete a capstone project before graduation. Students cannot graduate until the capstone project has been successfully completed and the faculty advisor has notified the Office of the University Registrar that the capstone requirement has been fulfilled. This requirement shall be fulfilled by completing one of the listed options. Students seeking honors must complete option one, two or four.

Option one: Successful completion of undergraduate research experience in between junior and senior year funded by the National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society, Chapman SURF or other national research agency that sponsors undergraduate research. The research experience must be at least eight weeks long, require full-time work in a laboratory setting and lead to the completion of a well-defined research project. A student selecting this option will submit a formal research paper modeled after a formal lab report to the academic advisor by end of the final semester of the senior year and present this research in poster format at the University Student Scholar Symposium. Students will also give an oral presentation of their research to the chemistry faculty at the end of fall or spring semester in their senior year.

Option two: Successful completion of a pre-approved research internship immediately preceding or during senior year that results in the completion of a research project. The student must register for three credits of CHEM 490 and work with a faculty member and research supervisor to identify the student’s research project. A student selecting this option will submit a formal research paper modeled after a formal lab report to the faculty internship supervisor by end of the final semester of the senior year and present this research in poster format at the University Student Scholar Symposium. Students will also give an oral presentation of their research to the chemistry faculty at the end of fall or spring semester in their senior year.

Option three: Successful completion of a significant review of the literature. The student must register for two credits of CHEM 491 or CHEM 499 in the fall semester senior year to begin work on this project and one credit in the spring semester of the senior year. The student shall expect to invest considerable time and effort researching and writing this review, which will be 30 to 40 pages in length and appropriately cited. The review is due to the faculty mentor at the end of the final semester of the senior year and the student must present this research in poster format at the University Student Scholar Symposium. The review will be graded. Students will give an oral presentation of their paper to the chemistry faculty at the end of fall or spring semester in their senior year.

Option four: Successful completion of independent research overseen by a faculty member in the sciences (this will satisfy chemistry in-depth course requirements). The student will register for CHEM 491 or CHEM 499 for a minimum of three credits over two consecutive semesters (or one semester with approval of the program director) in their senior year and complete a faculty-mentored student research project. The student will write a formal research paper modeled after the formal lab report and will present this research in poster format at the University Student Scholar Symposium. The report is due at the end of the final semester of the senior year. When appropriate, a faculty member may substitute a team research project for an individual research project. When a team project is substituted, all members of the team must write a research paper modeled after the formal lab report. The team will present this project in poster format at the University Student Scholar Symposium. Students will give an oral presentation of their research to the chemistry faculty at the end of fall or spring semester in their senior year.