Chemistry, M.S.

Admission

Students must meet the CSU requirements for admission to a master’s degree program. Please consult the Graduate Admissions section in this catalog for complete information. In addition, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• An undergraduate degree in chemistry or a selection of science courses deemed as adequate preparation for further study in chemistry by the Department Graduate Committee
• At least a 2.75 GPA in science courses
• For students holding undergraduate degrees from non-U.S.-accredited institutions, the GRE subject examination (Chemistry or Biochemistry), with scores reported to the department

Placement Examinations

All incoming students are required to pass an analytical writing exam. Any student failing to pass will be required to take a remedial writing class. Each student is required to take and pass placement examinations or take and pass the appropriate courses with a “B” (3.0) or better. Graduate students in one of the chemistry options must demonstrate competency by passing four placement examinations in the following five areas of chemistry: analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, and/or biochemistry. Graduate students in the biochemistry option must demonstrate competency in thefollowing areas of chemistry: analytical, organic, biochemistry, as well as either physical or biology.

A student may take each placement examination two times within the first year of enrolling in the graduate program. A student who does not pass the placement examinations within the first year must demonstrate competency by passing with a “B” (3.0) or better the appropriate courses within two years after first enrolling.

The appropriate courses are CHEM 301B  for organic, CHEM 315  for analytical, CHEM 325  for inorganic, CHEM 361A , CHEM 361B  for physical (biochemistry option), CHEM 371A , CHEM 371B  for physical (chemistry option), CHEM 423A , CHEM 423B  for biochemistry and BIOL 273  for biology.

Classified Standing

In order to proceed from conditionally classified to classified standing, a student must meet the following requirements:

• Demonstration of competency in any three of the areas, as described above
• Approved selection of a research director
• An approved study plan
• The university graduate-level writing requirement

Study Plan

Three alternatives are available for the study plan. The student can complete either a laboratory thesis (strongly preferred) a library thesis, or project.

The degree program consists of graduate committee-approved coursework completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all coursework exclusive of CHEM 505A , CHEM 505B  and CHEM 599 . Each student prepares a study plan in consultation with the graduate program adviser, which must be approved by the student’s research director, the department, and the Office of Graduate Studies. All chemistry courses on the study plan must be 400 level or above.

Study plans may contain no more than 2 units of CHEM 505A , CHEM 505B , and no more than 6 units of CHEM 599  (3 units for students electing the library thesis alternative).

Basic requirements

Courses required of all students:

• CHEM 505A - Seminar (Participation) (1)
• CHEM 505B - Seminar (Presentation) (1)
• CHEM 599 - Independent Graduate Research (1-6)

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• CHEM 598 - Thesis (1-6) or
• CHEM 597 - Project (1-6)

Core and Elective Requirements

A minimum of 18 units of adviser-approved coursework are required, at least nine units of which must be the 500 level. Nine of these units must be core courses in the student’s area of specialization, as follows: