Chemistry Major
Admission Requirements
Unconditional admission to the M.S. program requires the applicant to have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university, an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or better on a 4.0 scale, two letters of recommendation from science faculty, and a statement of purpose. Additionally, international applicants should submit English proficiency test scores (IELTS or TOEFL) along with their evaluated transcripts. Information about transcript evaluation and other details for international students are present on the Graduate School’s website.
Conditional admission may be gained with an overall GPA between 2.25 and 2.49, but the transcript should reflect a B average in the undergraduate chemistry courses. The student must remove the conditional status by earning at least a B (3.0) average in the first nine hours of graduate courses; failure to achieve which will result in removal from the program. In addition, the applicant must have an undergraduate major in Chemistry, or the equivalent. In some instances, conditional admission may be granted prior to completion of the undergraduate course requirements, but a student must complete these courses before taking any graduate-level courses. Conditional admission may be granted to qualifying domestic students, but not to international students, due to visa regulations.
Degree Requirements
The Department offers both thesis and non-thesis options in the Master of Science degree program. A minimum of 30 semester hours of approved courses are required for the M.S. degree under the thesis option, and a minimum of 35 semester hours are required under the non-thesis option. Students who choose the non-thesis option must pass a comprehensive examination (passing score 70% or above) taken no earlier than the term in which they complete their course work. Students interested in pursuing research careers in the academia, government, or industries are highly encouraged to take the thesis option.
There is no foreign language reading requirement for the M.S. degree in Chemistry.
The M.S. (Thesis option) degree requires students to complete and defend a thesis based upon his or her research.
Program of Study
The degree candidate must file a program of study after completing at least nine semester hours of graduate study but no more than fifteen hours. The program of study lists the courses which will be used to satisfy degree requirements, as well as detailing how other requirements will be met. The student may later change the program of study with the written approval of the Department and the Graduate School.
Admission to Candidacy
The individual must file for admission to candidacy at the same time he or she submits the program of study. The candidate must have a grade point average of 3.0 or above to be eligible for admission to candidacy.
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