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SWITCHING TO or ADDING CHEMISTRY AS A MAJOR,
 OR ADDING OR CHANGING YOUR CHEMISTRY OPTION

OSU students wishing to change their major to chemistry, add a chemistry major as a second major, or chemistry majors who wish to add an option or change an option should do the following:

1. Consult the chemistry advising WEB page for information and select an option.  We find that students are much more likely to graduate in a timely manner with the chemistry major degree if they have earned no less than a C grade in each CH 221, 222, 223 and MTH 251, 252 and a general physics sequence. 

2. Contact the head chemistry advisor, contact and setup an advising appointment.  It helps if you bring in the checklist for the option you choose with the courses checked off that you have already taken.

3. Submit the "Change of Undergraduate Academic Program" form to officially change your major as described below.  Remember that the BS chemistry degree requires that one (or more) of the options be chosen and this must be shown on the form.  The BA chemistry degree does not require an option but does require second year proficiency in a second language.

Mechanics

1. Obtain and process the form entitled "Change of Undergraduate Academic Program" by seeing Renee or Joey in the main Chemistry Office, Gilbert Hall 153. They will help you fill out the form and help you contact a chemistry advisor if you haven't done this yet.  You can download the form at  Registrar's Form and bring it with you to the Chemistry office if you prefer.

2. Fill out the form and sign it.  Information in the first column indicates your current status.  Hence, indicate that the college is science, your major is chemistry, and mark B.S. or B.A. degree.  The 2nd column is used to indicate what you want to change to and requires code information.  You should indicate the college of science (code 08), major 1 as chemistry (code 520), and the option you have chosen and its code from the table below. Note there are no options for the B.A. degree.

3. After obtaining some advising in chemistry and a signature from a chemistry advisor, return the form to the main Chemistry office and Chemistry will stamp the form, retain a copy and forward the original to the College of Science office for you.  The College Head Advisor will check the form and sign it and forward it on to the Registrar's office for you.  If for some reason you need to rush the form, you can request to hand deliver the form yourself, otherwise it will go by campus mail which will take a couple of days from start to finish to reach the Registrar's office.

^a note that this is the same code as the premed option for general science
 

Rules for students who entered OSU before Winter 2000

General principles

Students who declared chemistry as their major Fall term 1999 or before have the choice of following the old B.S. curriculum or choosing the new curriculum and one of the options.  You cannot mix parts of the old and new curriculum.  If you choose the new curriculum, you must follow all the rules of the new curriculum.

For students following the B.A. curriculum, there are no changes.

You have two choices:

1) Do not change anything.  Your major is chemistry (B.S. degree), the degree code is 520, and you follow the curriculum in the 1999-2000 catalog.

2) Decide to follow the new curriculum. You must then declare one of the options and use the option codes in the table above.  You still maintain the code 520 for a chemistry major.

If you really want to follow a new chemistry curriculum that is essentially the same as the older curriculum, choose the advanced chemistry option. The primary difference between this curriculum and the old curriculum is that you must take one of the approved biochemistry courses. Previously you could take biochemistry or modern physics. If you choose any option other than the advanced chemistry option, you will find that a number of the required courses are different than before.  If you are within a year of graduation, switching to one of these options (other than the advanced chemistry option) might add to the time needed to obtain your B.S. degree.  Hence, you should carefully consider your choice and work with your chemistry advisor to make the decision.

© 2004 Oregon State University and OSU Department of Chemistry. Design by Red Acorn Design.