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Department of Chemistry
Disque Hall Room 305
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2875
Ph: 215.895.2638
Fx: 215.895.1265

Undergraduate Program

 

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Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry

General Information
The B.S. degree in chemistry is certified by the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training. Chemistry is an experimental science, and as such, you are required to take a number of laboratory courses in addition to the usual lecture and recitation courses. The total number of quarter credits required for the B.S. degree is 191.5. The student may exceed this, however. Note that a cumulative GPA of 2.0 is required for graduation. The chemistry major offers two distinct programs of study:
    Five-year co-op option
    Drexel University has long been known for its co-operative education/internship programs (Drexel Co-op, "The Ultimate Internship"), through which students mix periods of full-time, career-related employment with their studies. This program option features three separate six-month periods of employment interspersed with your studies. After the start of the sophomore year, students study or work through all terms, includingsummers.

    Four-year non-co-op option:
    The chemistry degree can also be completed in four years without co-op/internship employment. Students are not required to pursue studies during any of the summer terms. Students in this non-co-op track may elect to take one six-month period of co-op employment during the spring and summer terms of their junior year. To successfully do this elective courses usually scheduled for the spring term of the junior year need to be taken at another time. The student may take an increased load during other terms on campus or elect to stay on- campus and make up courses during the summer between sophomore and junior years. The student is urged to explore this option with their departmental academic advisor as early as possible.

Note: The two curricula are the same until the start of the 7th term (the spring quarter of sophomore year), when the five-year coop students leave on their first coop cycle. A detailed course of study for the Four-Year Non-Coop and Five-Year Coop option B.S. degrees are given in the linked pages.

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Undergraduate Research
Students who show initiative and laboratory ability are encouraged to develop an individual research project in collaboration with one of the departmental faculty members who agrees to act as the student's research advisor. This research may be done for credit by signing up for the CHEM497 Undergraduate Research course. Generally it is recommended that the student become familiar with the research interests of the department faculty as early as possible. This may be done by reading papers written by the faculty (the faculty web pages are a good place to start), attending the departmental "faculty mini-symposia" held during the fall term of each year, or by simply talking with the individual faculty members. During senior year all students are required to select a research advisor and take three quarters of CHEM493 Senior Research Project. Students in the University Honors Program are required to write a Bachelor's thesis describing the work accomplished during this year; other students may choose to write either a Bachelor's thesis or a Research Report.

Graduate Courses
Most graduate courses in chemistry are also open to qualified juniors or seniors. Prerequisites and descriptions of available graduate courses may be found in the graduate program web pages.

Language requirement
Two terms (8 credits) of any foreign language should be taken to fulfill the chemistry language requirement.

Electives
There are 33 credits (11 courses) of free electives allowed in the chemistry curriculum. At least 6 credits must be classified as a "technical elective" while another 6 credits must be classified as a "iberal studies elective". Technical electives are defined as 200+ level courses from the Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Business, Engineering, or Information Studies. Liberal studies electives include any level course from the Culture and Communication, English and Philosophy, History and Politics, International Studies and Modern Languages, Psychology or Media Arts and Design programs. In the past the department has required the HIST 167/168 (20th Century World I/II) and ECON 211/212 (Economics I/II) sequences as part of the liberal electives. Both of these sequences are recommended. Graduate level chemistry courses may be taken as technical electives.

Exceptions
The Department Head may approve exceptions to specific departmental curriculum requirements. All requests for variations must be reviewed by your departmental academic advisor, who then makes a recommendation to the Department Head.

Teacher Certification
The major in chemistry is sufficiently flexible to allow students to prepare to teach at the secondary level. With proper selection of electives, students can meet Pennsylvania teacher certification requirements.

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  Last Modified: 4/11/2008