Master of Science in Chemistry |
| What is required for admission to the master's program? |
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Candidates seeking admission to the master's program are expected to have: a bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry or a related field from an accredited college or university; a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the last 60 semester units (or the last 90 quarter units); and a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the major. International student applicants are required to take the GRE Subject exam (Chemistry or Biochemistry) and must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 550 or higher. The GRE Subject exam (Chemistry or Biochemistry) is strongly recommended for all students. Satisfactory performance on the GRE subject exam may result in the waiving of one or more placement exams. |
| For more information, please contact our graduate adviser via e-mail at chemgradadv@fullerton.edu, or mail at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, P.O. box 6866, Fullerton, CA 92834-6866. |
| Applying to the MS program in Chemistry at CSUF |
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The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry accepts applications for the Fall and Spring semesters. Application deadlines: Applications need to be postmarked no later than March 1 for the fall semester and October 1 for the spring semester. However, deadlines may be changed for individual programs based upon enrollment projections. Check the university graduate studies website for current information, http://www.fullerton.edu/graduate. Note that your application will take some time to be evaluated by the University before it is forwarded to our Department so make sure you apply as early as possible and do not wait until the last moment. Evaluation of international applications may take several months.
1.
Applying to University Admissions Two official transcripts in sealed envelopes are required from each college or university previously attended. Students should arrange to have official transcripts sent at the same time applications are submitted. Transcripts should be sent directly to the University Admissions and Records Office: Cal State
Fullerton One copy of each transcript
will then be forwarded to the academic unit offering the degree or
credential program, and the other official transcript will be retained
in the student's permanent record file for use by both the Admissions
and Records Office and the Graduate Studies Office. Students who receive their
baccalaureate degree at Cal State Fullerton and attend elsewhere
subsequent to graduation, or continuing graduate students who change
their declared objective subsequent to admission, must obtain whatever
additional transcripts are needed to provide two complete sets of
transcripts. Cal State Fullerton alumni do not need to request Cal
State Fullerton transcripts. All transcripts must be received directly from the issuing institutions and become official records of the university; such transcripts therefore cannot be returned or reissued. Transcripts that include course work from other than the issuing institution are not sufficient evidence of course work taken elsewhere. Foreign language transcripts must be accompanied by certified English translations.
2.
Applying to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
International Students must take the GRE subject exam (Chemistry or Biochemistry) and the TOEFL exam. Useful codes for the GRE and TOEFL exams: CSUF code (GRE):
4589 |
| Degree Requirements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Placement Exams- The placement exams are used to assess undergraduate preparation in 6 areas: physical, organic, biochemsitry, analytical, inorganic chemistry, and biology. All students are expected to meet four of the five areas. Chemistry students must qualify in analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry and also in inorganic chemistry or biochemistry. Biochemistry students must qualify in analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry and also in physical chemistry or biology. The complete set of exams are offered twice a year, two weeks prior to the start of the fall or spring semester. All four placement exams must be passed within the first year in the MS program. The current placement exam is as follows:
Required Courses- The degree program consists of thirty semester units to be completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Graduate students are required to get grades of "B" or better in all 400-level classes and maintain a B-average in 500-level classes. The following courses are required:
The remaining 18 units are divided into core courses and electives:
Electives (9 units)
Seminar- Graduate students enrolled in Chem 505A and 505B must attend departmental seminars. Students in 505A present several short presentations on different topics. Each student also conducts a thorough literature review of an approved topic and presents a 50-minute seminar to the department (505B). Research- The primary requirement for
the master's degree is an original research project (Chem 599)
culminating in a written master's thesis (Chem 598). Students may begin
research after two placement exams have been completed. |
| Getting Ahead |
| With careful planning, it is possible to get a significant head start on the M.S. degree while completing your bachelor's degree requirments. Certain advanced undergraduate electives (with a B or better) may be used to meet the course breadth requirments for the master's degree program; you may also use up to nine units of such coursework towards the 30 units needed for the master's program, as long as the courses were not used to fulfill requirements for the bachelor's degree. In addition, the qualifying examinations required upon entering the M.S. program may be taken during the semester prior to entering the program, while you are still an undergraduate. Furthermore, significant involvement in one's M.S. research project is possible while still an undergraduate. |
| Why pursue the M.S in Chemistry? |
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Because of its broad scope, contemporary chemistry offers exciting employment opportunities in rapidly growing technical fields, such as materials science, polymers, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutcal and medicinal chemistry, and environmental science. Graduates with a master's degree in chemistry are prepared to enter any of these fields and more, since chemistry is the central science with connections to physics and mathematics, biology and medicine, and environmental sciences. According to the American Chemical Society, which is the national professional association for chemists, "Many predict a growing role for chemistry as we confront the major issues confronting the world in the 21st century: providing energy, responding to regulation, protecting the environment, improving health and feeding the world." The reasons for pursuing a master's degree in chemistry are as diverse as our students. Many obtain there master's degree to gain entry into industrial or government positions that require a greater degree of expertise, respnsibility and independence than can be expected of a candidate with a bachelor's degree. Others use the master's program as a stepping stone to doctorial studies by improving their GPA and enhancing their research experience. Still, other students obtain the master's degree to gain expertise in chemical education-in fact, several of our recent graduates are teaching at local community colleges. |
| What sets Cal State Fullerton's program apart? |
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National reputation- National agencies consider the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Cal State Fullerton to be one of the country's best programs among master's colleges and universities. A recent survey by the National Science Foundation shows that Cal State Fullerton is ranked 4th in the nation among chemistry and biochemistry departments at comprehensive universities in terms of the number of graduates who go on to receive doctoral degrees. In addition, one of our faculty members was honored recently by the American Chemical Society with its pretigious annual award for outstanding research at a predominantly undergraduate institution. Outstanding Research Opportunities- The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Cal State Fullerton has nineteen full-time faculty members. Research interests cover most areas of chemistry and biochemistry, including everything from laser spectrometry and environmental chemistry, to plant biochemistry and x-ray crystallography. Extramural research funding has recently been in excess of $1.3 million per year, with active reasearch support from a variety of sources, including the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Research Corporation and the Camille-Henry Dreyfus Foundation. In addition, we offer excellent reasearch facilities. A variety of modern research-grade instruments, including high-field NMR, are available in the Science Laboratory Center, a new building first occupied in 1994. The department is also home to the W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Molecular Structure, a comprehensive x-ray defraction facility and computational laboratory that serves all 22 campuses of the CSU system. The center is one of the few such facilities of its kind to be found at a predominantly undergraduate institution. High Quality Faculty- Our chemistry and biochemistry faculty members are known for their teaching and research skills. Five of our department members have received Cal State Fullerton's Outstanding Professor Award in the last 20 years-more than any other department on campus. |
| More Information |
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There are numerous sources with additional information available. Click on the links given below to download the information or to go to the desired web pages.
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