Chemistry Major Requirements

(Also see Requirements for a Bachelor's Degree.)  

Lecture and laboratory courses should be taken in sequence. In particular, AS.030.228 Intermediate Organic Chemistry Laboratory must be taken before AS.030.356 Advanced Inorganic Lab. Courses taken at another institution that are not directly equivalent to a JHU course may not apply towards these requirements without permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

To allow maximum flexibility in choosing electives, students should complete both physics and organic chemistry by the end of the sophomore year. One biochemistry course - AS.020.305 Biochemistry or AS.250.315 Biochemistry I - is required for the American Chemical Society Degree.

Majors must complete all courses required for the major for a letter grade and receive a grade of C- or higher.

Writing in the Major

Students must complete at least 6 credits of Writing and Communication Foundational Ability coursework in one major. For this major, students would be able to fulfill this requirement by completing AS.030.356 Advanced Inorganic Lab, a required 3 credit course of the major, and by selecting one of their electives (at least 3 credits) for the major that is designated as a Writing and Communications course.

Requirements

Core Courses
AS.030.101
& AS.030.105		Introductory Chemistry I
and Introductory Chemistry Laboratory I		4
AS.030.102
& AS.030.106		Introductory Chemistry II
and Introductory Chemistry Laboratory II		4
or AS.030.103 Applied Chemical Equilibrium and Reactivity w/lab
AS.030.205Introductory Organic Chemistry I4
AS.030.206Organic Chemistry II4
or AS.030.212 Honors Organic Chemistry II
AS.030.227Chemical Chirality: An Introduction in Organic Chem. Lab, Techniques 13
or AS.030.225 Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory
AS.030.228Intermediate Organic Chemistry Laboratory3
AS.030.301Physical Chemistry I3
AS.030.302Physical Chemistry II3
AS.030.449Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds 23
AS.030.356Advanced Inorganic Lab3
AS.030.246Quantitative Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy lab 33
AS.030.307Physical Chemistry Laboratory 33
Courses Outside the Department
AS.171.101General Physics: Physical Science Major I4
or AS.171.103 General Physics I for Biological Science Majors
or AS.171.105 Classical Mechanics I
or AS.171.107 General Physics for Physical Sciences Majors (AL)
AS.173.111General Physics Laboratory I1
or AS.173.115 Classical Mechanics Laboratory
AS.171.102General Physics: Physical Science Major II4
or AS.171.104 General Physics/Biology Majors II
or AS.171.106 Electricity and Magnetism I
or AS.171.108 General Physics for Physical Science Majors (AL)
AS.173.112General Physics Laboratory II1
or AS.173.116 Electricity and Magnetism Laboratory
AS.110.108Calculus I (Physical Sciences & Engineering)4
or AS.110.106 Calculus I (Biology and Social Sciences)
AS.110.109Calculus II (For Physical Sciences and Engineering)4
or AS.110.107 Calculus II (For Biological and Social Science)
or AS.110.113 Honors Single Variable Calculus
Advanced Elective Courses
Three credits of advanced chemistry courses beyond AS.030.305-AS.030.306 43
Nine credits of advanced chemistry courses, or science electives at the 300-level or higher approved by a Department of Chemistry advisor, and/or mathematics beyond Calculus II 59
Total Credits70
1

The fall semester of AS.030.227 Chemical Chirality: An Introduction in Organic Chem. Lab, Techniques is restricted to Chemistry majors.

2

Course must be completed before AS.030.356 Advanced Inorganic Lab.

3

AS.030.246 is only offered in the fall semester. AS.030.307 is only offered in the spring semester. 

4

None of the advanced course requirements may be fulfilled with research. Courses numbered between AS.030.307 and AS.030.499 apply here, along with biochemistry course offerings AS.020.305 and AS.250.315.

5

Any graded course worth 3 credits or more at the 300- or 400-level in the following departments will fulfill this requirement: Biology (020), Biophysics (250), Chemistry (030), Earth and Planetary Sciences (270), Neuroscience (080), and Physics (171). It also includes AS.280.3xx-4xx courses with area designators N or Q and Math (AS.110) or Applied Math and Statistics (EN.553) courses at the 200- through 400-level. 

Sample Program of Study

A typical program might include the following sequence of courses:

First Year
First SemesterCreditsSecond SemesterCredits
AS.030.1013AS.030.1023
AS.030.1051AS.030.1061
AS.110.1064AS.110.1074
 8 8
Second Year
First SemesterCreditsSecond SemesterCredits
AS.030.2054AS.030.2064
AS.030.225 or 2273AS.030.2283
AS.171.101, 103, or 1074AS.171.102, 104, or 1084
AS.173.1111AS.173.1121
 12 12
Third Year
First SemesterCreditsSecond SemesterCredits
AS.030.3013AS.030.3023
AS.030.2463AS.030.307
Science or math elective3Science or math elective3
 9 6
Fourth Year
First SemesterCreditsSecond SemesterCredits
AS.030.4493AS.030.3563
Additional Chemistry Lab #2 (if not taken in the previous year)3Science or math elective3
Upper level chemistry elective2 
 8 6
Total Credits 69

Honors in Chemistry

To recognize exceptional performance, both in formal course work and in research, chemistry majors can receive a degree with honors. Honors in Chemistry may be achieved by one of two paths: 1. A student with a GPA of 3.75 or higher in (N) and (Q) courses; or 2: A student with a 3.5 GPA in (N) and (Q) courses and with at least 2 semesters of research with a Chemistry faculty member or an approved advisor. These students must write a summary of their research and fill out the Honors Clearance form and the GPA worksheet (see: https://advising.jhu.edu/student-roadmap/seniors/honors/). Students should turn in these forms to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.