Chemistry, M.A.

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(30 UNITS)

Because of its broad scope, contemporary chemistry offers exciting employment opportunities in rapidly growing fields, such as materials science, polymers, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry, chemical education research and environmental science. Graduates with a master’s degree in chemistry are prepared to enter any of these fields or others, since chemistry is the central science with connections to physics and mathematics, biology and medicine, and environmental sciences. According to the American Chemical Society, the national professional association for chemists, “Many predict a growing role for chemistry as we tackle the major issues confronting the world in the 21st century: providing energy, responding to regulation, protecting the environment, improving health and feeding the world.”

Admission Requirements

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:

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, biochemistry or a related field from an accredited college or university. Those with degrees in other disciplines are encouraged to apply provided they have had at least a year of each of general and organic chemistry courses, including laboratories. Additional coursework may be required to make up the deficiencies
A minimum 2.75 GPA
Take a subject Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Chemistry or biochemistry is preferred; acceptable substitutes are physics and biology. Students should score in the 40 percentile or above

Study Plan

With the exception of CHEM 505A , CHEM 505B and CHEM 597 , all courses must be passed with a “B” (3.0) or better.

Required Courses (5 units)

Adviser-Approved Electives (25 units)

A minimum 16 of the 25 adviser-approved units must be 500-level lecture courses. At least 4 units must be laboratory courses at the 400 or 500 level.

Chemistry, M.A.

Admission Requirements

Study Plan

Required Courses (5 units)

Adviser-Approved Electives (25 units)

Total (30 units)