Mar 28, 2024  
ARCHIVED 2013-2014 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
ARCHIVED 2013-2014 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Chemistry (ACS-Certified Concentration with 4+1 Option), B.S.


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Total number of hours for the program: 120.

Students completing this concentration are certified by the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society.  This concentration is intended for those students who are anticipating pursuing a graduate degree in chemistry or a related field.  The 4+1 option, described in detail below, allows students to earn both a B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from WCU in 5 years.  As this degree concentration requires independent research with faculty advisor, students anticipating pursuing a career as an R & D chemist will also be best prepared to enter the workforce.

Liberal Studies Hours: 42


Liberal Studies Program Requirements 

ACS-Certified Chemistry Concentration


The concentration requires 23 hours as follows:

ACS-Certified Chemistry Concentration 4+1 Option


The concentration requires 23 hours as follows:

Electives


General electives (10-19 hours) are required to complete the program depending on the number of hours in the major that also count for Liberal Studies. Students must take at least 30 hours at the junior-senior level at WCU in order to satisfy general university degree requirements.  Students may wish to consider the following electives to aid in their development as a professional chemist:

4+1 Option


The Four Plus One option in Chemistry allows an outstanding student to complete the requirements for both B.S. and M.S. degrees in a period of 5 years.  Students are expected to meet all of the requirements of the M.S. program.  These include a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study, including a thesis and an oral defense of the thesis.  Once a student has completed the B.S. he/she formally applies to the graduate school.  Students begin research while earning the B.S. degree.  Up to 12 credit hours of 500+ course work taken in the undergraduate program can count toward M.S. degree requirements.  All grades, even those below a B taken at the 500+ level will count toward both the graduate and undergraduate GPA.  All graduate degree program rules apply to all courses taken for the graduate program, including the 500 level courses taken as an undergraduate student. 

Students applying for the 4+1 B.S. program in Chemistry must meet the following guidelines:

  • a minimum cumulative GPA and GPA in the chemistry major of 3.00 at WCU.
  • Completed a minimum of seventy-five (75) and a maximum of ninety-six (96) credit hours in their undergraduate programs, including graduate courses taken as an undergraduate.
  • Completed at least two sections of CHEM 380-Research before completing the B.S. degree.

Applicants must be approved by the Graduate School, Department Head, Departmental Graduate Program Director and the Thesis advisor.  After the student receives the B.S. degree, meets and completes admission requirements, he or she may be officially admitted into the M.S. degree program depending on GRE scores.  After admission to the master’s program, the 500+ courses in which the student completed (and made a grade of C or better) during the B.S. will be applied toward the requirements of the M.S. degree.  These courses also count toward the 120 hours needed for the B.S. degree.

Students need to be aware that making 3 Cs or below automatically dismisses them from the Graduate degree program of study - the courses taken at the undergraduate level in anticipation of counting in the M.S. program also apply to this rule.

 

Additional Information


Visit the department’s website at http://www.wcu.edu/4409.asp to view the 8 semester curriculum guide.

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