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Chemistry

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Undergraduate Student Affairs Office
4010 York Hall, Revelle College
(858) 534-4856
Chair’s Office
2040 Urey Hall Addition
(858) 534-3577
http://chemistry.ucsd.edu

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.

Major(s)

Capped

Transfer Major Prep

Chemistry (CH25)

No

Yes

Environmental Chemistry (CH34)

No

Yes

Molecular Synthesis (CH36)

No

Yes

Minor(s)

Minor Program in Chemistry and Biochemistry (CH25)

The Undergraduate Program

The Department of Chemistry offers undergraduate programs leading to the following degrees:

  • BS, Chemistry
  • BS, Environmental Chemistry
  • BS, Molecular Synthesis

Entry to the Majors

The degree programs in the Department of Chemistry open to all first-years, transfers, and continuing students. Information for new and prospective students can be found on the Department of Chemistry undergraduate programs website: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate.

Students who plan to transfer to UC San Diego and major in one of the degree programs should refer to the UC San Diego undergraduate admissions website for more information on the courses required for transfer major preparation: https://admissions.ucsd.edu/transfer/transfer-major-preparation.html.

A chemistry major (CH25) with appropriate choice of electives provides a strong background for students intending to pursue careers in the medical sciences.

Premedical students are encouraged to complete a three-quarter general chemistry series (CHEM 6A-B-C) in their first year. Medical schools may not accept Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or A level exam scores to satisfy admissions requirements (see pre-health academic preparation guidance at https://prehealth.ucsd.edu/get-started/academic-preparation.html). Students should complete the organic chemistry series (CHEM 41A-B-C) in their sophomore year. The lower-division biology (BILD 1-2-3) series or equivalent is also required for most medical schools, along with certain upper-division biology courses, some of which may be counted toward the major requirements in chemistry. Students should meet with one of the department’s undergraduate advisers early in order to plan their courses and discuss their options. Career Services offers in-depth advising to prehealth students: https://prehealth.ucsd.edu/.

General Major Requirements

General Chemistry Course Sequences and Placement

Basic Chemistry: CHEM 4 is a one-quarter preparation course for 6A. It is advised to be taken by those who do not have a strong background in chemistry.

General Chemistry: CHEM 6A-B-C sequence is intended for science and engineering majors as well as others who need quantitative courses. It satisfies all pre-professional program requirements.

Advanced Placement: A score of AP3 exempts from CHEM 4, and students may take CHEM 6A-B-C or CHEM 6AH-BH-CH for credit. A score of AP4 exempts from CHEM 6A only, and students may take CHEM 6B-C or CHEM 6AH-BH-CH for credit. A score of AP5 exempts from CHEM 6A-B-C, but students may take CHEM 6AH-BH-CH for credit and are encouraged to do so.

General Information on Undergraduate Major Requirements

Residency Requirement: To receive a bachelor of science degree from UC San Diego and fulfill the campus residency requirement, all chemistry majors (including transfer students) must complete at least forty-eight or more units of upper-division chemistry course work. This course work must be taken while officially enrolled at UC San Diego.

Grade Requirements for Majors: The minimum GPA requirement (for both the major GPA and overall UC GPA) for graduation is 2.0. The minimum passing grade in required chemistry course work is a D, although students may not graduate with more than one D grade in upper-division required major course work and must maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA in the major. All courses for the major, except for independent research (e.g., CHEM 199) and chemistry instruction (CHEM 195), must be taken for a letter grade. These Special Studies classes are taken on a P/NP basis.

American Chemical Society (ACS) Certification: Students completing their degree with a major in chemistry (CH25) or molecular synthesis (CH36) are automatically granted certification by the American Chemical Society. Students completing their degree with a major in environmental chemistry (CH34) can receive ACS certification with the addition of one or more eligible courses (see below).

Special Studies

We strongly encourage undergraduates to participate in research, which provides hands-on experience in the laboratory under the guidance of our outstanding faculty. This experience gives you skills and knowledge that will help prepare you for graduate study or work in industry. The Department of Chemistry offers Special Studies courses (CHEM 196, CHEM 197, CHEM 99/199) in which students can earn academic credit for conducting independent research with a faculty or industry mentor.

For more information on requirements, deadlines, and application procedures, please visit: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/research/research-for-academic-credit.html.

Chemistry Major, BS (CH25)

Unit Requirements for the Major

Lower-division units

66

Upper-division units

56–60

Total units required for the major*

122–126

* See “Graduation Requirements in the UC San Diego Colleges” for complete graduation requirements in each college.

Major Summary

The chemistry major provides a broad introduction in biochemistry, organic, physical, and inorganic chemistry. This major will enable a student to pursue further studies in chemistry or in related fields of science, medicine, or engineering.

Lower-Division Requirements

  1. General chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 6A-B-C or 6AH, 6BH, 6CH, and 7LM or 7L)
  2. Linear algebra (MATH 18)
  3. Calculus (MATH 20A-B-C-D)
  4. Physics (PHYS 2A-B and either 2C or 2D)
  5. Physics laboratory (PHYS 2CL [recommended], 2BL or 2DL)
  6. Organic chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 41A-B-C and 43A or 43AM)

Upper-Division Requirements

  1. Three quarters of physical chemistry (CHEM 130, 131, and 132)
  2. Two quarters of inorganic chemistry (CHEM 120A-B)
  3. One quarter of biochemistry (CHEM 114A)
  4. Five advanced laboratory courses (CHEM 100A, 143B, 105A and two of the following: CHEM 100B, 105B, 108, 109, 123, 143C, or 143D)
  5. Three additional four-unit upper-division courses offered by the Department of Chemistry or the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. CHEM 195 or 199 (four units) may be petitioned to fulfill one elective.

Major Specific Information

Sample academic plans are available at plans.ucsd.edu or on the UC San Diego Department of Chemistry website: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/majors-minor.

Environmental Chemistry Major, BS (CH34)

Unit Requirements for the Major

Lower-division units

62

Upper-division units

52–56

Total units required for the major*

114–118

* See “Graduation Requirements in the UC San Diego Colleges” for complete graduation requirements in each college.

Students have an option of earning a BS in environmental chemistry with or without ACS-Certification. The ACS-Certified version is recommended for those who intend to apply to graduate school in chemistry. The noncertified program is designed to prepare students to enter the industrial, governmental, or legal workforce, or to continue studies in some of the environmental sciences.

Lower-Division Requirements

  1. General chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 6A-B-C or 6AH, 6BH, 6CH, and 7LM or 7L)
  2. Linear algebra (MATH 18)
  3. Calculus (MATH 20A-B-C-D)
  4. Physics (PHYS 2A-B and either 2C or 2D)
  5. Physics laboratory (PHYS 2CL [recommended], 2BL or 2DL)
  6. Organic chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 41A-B and 43A or 43AM)

Upper-Division Requirements

  1. Physical chemistry (CHEM 130, 131, and 132 recommended, or CHEM 126-127)
  2. Three advanced laboratory courses (CHEM 100A-B, and 105A)
  3. Two quarters of environmental chemistry (CHEM 171 and 172)
  4. Atmospheric chemistry (CHEM 173) and marine chemistry (CHEM 174)
  • Electives: Any four with at least two upper-division from among the following: CHEM 114A, 120A, 41C, 143C, BILD 1, 2, 3, BIEB 121, 140, 144, 176, ESYS 101, SIO 50, 101, 102, 103, 144, MATH 183. Other courses, including four units of CHEM 195 or 199, may be considered by petition. (When choosing electives, pay special attention to whether the forty-eight-unit upper-division residency requirement has been met for the major requirements.)

    Nonscience elective courses used to meet general-education requirements or as free electives might be chosen from among: ECON 1, 2, 3, 131, 132, 135, HIUS 105, 154, PHIL 148, 164, POLI 10, 160AA, 162, SOCI 121, 149, 185, USP 2, 101, 102, 124, 144, 170, 171, 173, 180.

For ACS Certification

  1. Increase electives by one to a total of five
  2. For three of the electives, choose CHEM 41C, 114A, and 120A
  3. For two of the electives, choose two labs from among CHEM 143B-C-D, 108, 109, 123, 105B

Major Specific Information

Sample academic plans are available at plans.ucsd.edu or on the UC San Diego Department of Chemistry website: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/majors-minor.

Molecular Synthesis Major, BS (CH36)

Unit Requirements for the Major

Lower-division units

66

Upper-division units

56–60

Total units required for the major*

122–126

* See “Graduation Requirements in the UC San Diego Colleges” for complete graduation requirements in each college.

Major Summary

The molecular synthesis major offers a thorough training in all aspects of the molecular synthesis of organic, inorganic, and biological substances, along with a fundamental understanding of their structure and reactivity. This major provides an excellent preparation for employment in biotechnology, diagnostic, electronic, and pharmaceutical enterprises as well as for graduate programs in organic, bioorganic, and inorganic chemistry.

Lower-Division Requirements

  1. General chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 6A-B-C or 6AH, 6BH, 6CH, and 7LM or 7L)
  2. Linear algebra (MATH 18)
  3. Calculus (MATH 20A-B-C-D)
  4. Physics (PHYS 2A-B and either 2C or 2D)
  5. Physics laboratory (PHYS 2CL [recommended], 2BL or 2DL)
  6. Organic chemistry, including laboratory (CHEM 41A-B-C and 43A or 43AM)

Upper-Division Requirements

  1. Two quarters of physical chemistry (CHEM 126, 127)
  2. Two quarters of inorganic chemistry (CHEM 120A-B)
  3. One quarter of biochemistry (CHEM 114A)
  4. Five advanced laboratory courses (CHEM 100A, 143B, 105A, and two of 143C, 143D, 123)
  5. Synthetic methods (CHEM 152)
  6. Structural or mechanistic organic chemistry (CHEM 154 or 156)
  7. Bioorganic or bioinorganic chemistry (CHEM 125 or 157)
  8. One additional restricted elective course from the following: CHEM 114B-C, 155, 185, or 199 (by petition)

Major Specific Information

Sample academic plans are available at plans.ucsd.edu or on the UC San Diego Department of Chemistry website: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/majors-minor.

Minor Program

A minor in chemistry consists of three lower-division lecture courses, followed by a minimum of four upper-division courses, including at least one laboratory course. Lower-division course requirements may not be satisfied by advanced placement credit, although transfer units may be used to satisfy lower-division minor requirements.

Students may apply two upper-division chemistry courses required by their major toward the minor. Students who wish to minor in chemistry should have their course work plans approved in advance by the Department of Chemistry Student Affairs Office. Upper-division courses for the minor must be taken at UC San Diego in the Department of Chemistry or the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and must be taken for a letter grade. The minimum overall GPA requirement for the minor is 2.0.

Chemistry minors can include a range of upper-division courses across different discipline areas of chemistry such as organic, biochemistry, inorganic, physical, pharmacological, and environmental. Alternatively, chemistry minors can also choose an area of focus by selecting upper-division courses in one disciplinary area such as:

  • CHEM 152-154-156-157 and 143B (organic)
  • CHEM 114A-B-C-D and 108 (biochemistry)
  • CHEM 114A-B-C, 116, and 108 (biochemistry)
  • CHEM 120A-B, 125, 161, and 123 (inorganic)
  • CHEM 130-131-132, 105A, and 100A (physical)
  • CHEM 114A-B-C, 118, and 143B (pharmacological)
  • CHEM 171-172-173-174 and 143B (environmental)

Honors

The Department of Chemistry offers an Honors Program to those students who have demonstrated excellence in any of the majors. Students are eligible to apply for Departmental Honors at graduation if they have met all of the following:

  1. Achieved an overall GPA of 3.2 or higher.
  2. Achieved a major GPA of 3.4 or higher.
  3. Completed a minimum of two quarters of CHEM 199 (eight units). A student who has successfully petitioned to use a CHEM 199 course to fulfill elective credit toward their major may not also use those four units to fulfill the honors requirements as well.
  4. Presented an oral report about their research before a group of at least three faculty. This can be at an undergraduate research conference, such as the ACS-SA Undergraduate Research Symposium each spring. Obtained faculty signatures to submit with the honors application form.

Students who are interested in the Honors Program should contact the Chemistry Student Affairs Office in 4010 York Hall.

Advising Information

The chemistry Academic Advising office serves undergraduate student majors and students enrolled in chemistry courses. For more information about advising services in the Department of Chemistry, please visit: https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/academic-advising/advisingservices.

Study Abroad

Majors are encouraged to explore the programs that allow students to study abroad or at other US universities for a term or longer. Consider especially the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) and UC San Diego’s Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP). Subject to approval by our faculty, courses taken through EAP/OAP may be accepted for credit toward the major. Students interested in studying abroad, should see a departmental program adviser to discuss appropriate courses and programs for their plan of study. More information can be found on the Study Abroad page: https://studyabroad.ucsd.edu/.