Chemistry—BA | Chemistry

Tailor a Chemistry Degree for your Professional Path

A Bachelors of Arts in Chemistry will provide you with a firm and broad foundation in the Chemical Sciences with the flexibility to pursue other educational objectives. You can design your path to prepare you for a specializations in a particular career path such as pre-law, pre-pharmacy, pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, pre-veterinary, physical therapy, criminology, or education.

The BA program will provide you with theoretical and experimental knowledge and understanding in basic, organic, and physical chemistry, as well as quantitative and instrumental analytical methods.

In this program you will:

Learn how to work safely in a laboratory to collect, analyze and evaluate experimental data.
Use scientific literature relevant to critical evaluation of research and problem solving.
Demonstrate proficiency, responsibility, and ethics of chemistry as a discipline.
Integrate knowledge of chemical sciences into other disciplines and career paths.

About the Program

Learn in a supportive environment. First-year chemistry majors stick together in the Studio Lab and study under the same instructor during their first two semesters, at least. You’ll develop excellent critical-thinking and lab skills while building lasting rapport with your instructor and classmates.
Undergraduate research is emphasized. All of our faculty members are advancing basic and applied research in chemistry, and all welcome students into their research groups.
Enjoy the freedom to experiment in the lab. Once you master lab processes and techniques, you’ll be let loose to conduct research individually.
Increase your employability. Most chemistry majors participate in research or a co-op/internship experience. Our students have garnered internships with high-profile employers including Los Alamos National Laboratory. Additionally, you may have the opportunity to publish your research.
Get the extra technological edge on your education. You’ll use advanced, state-of-the-art instrumentation in our teaching labs.
Learn from creative, enthusiastic faculty who truly enjoy working with students. And smaller class sizes translate to more personal attention: our department’s student-to-faculty ratio is 5:1.
Our undergraduate degree programs provide excellent preparation for graduate health programs and law school.
The basic chemistry degree pathway allows students the flexibility to take 21–24 credits of free electives. You could use these credits to enroll in foreign language classes, study abroad, or earn a minor or certificate in an area of study outside of chemistry.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Our undergraduate degree programs emphasize undergraduate research experiences. All of our faculty members are advancing basic and applied research in chemistry, and all welcome students into their research groups.

Contact the faculty member you are interested in working with to learn more. Specific positions in each lab depend on availability and funding.

Learn more about undergraduate research.

Learning Goals

When you complete a bachelor's of arts in chemistry you:

will have theoretical and experimental knowledge in basic, organic and physical chemistry, and in quantitative and instrumental analytical methods.
will know how to work safely in a laboratory to collect, analyze and evaluate experimental data.
be able to use scientific literature relevant to critical evaluation of a scientific question, to research, and to solve problems.
communicate scientific ideas to general and scientific audiences using both oral and written methods.
demonstrate proficiency in the societal and environmental implications of chemistry as a discipline, and professional responsibilities as an ethical chemist.
will be competitive in graduate study or professional work in chemistry, education, or other chosen professional fields such as health professions, law, business.
will be able to integrate knowledge of chemistry into your educational or career goals.

Educational and Career Pathways

The Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry gives you the chance to chart your own unique career path in medicine, industry, government, and academia. It offers the flexibility to fulfill the requirements for professional programs in health, law, policy, and education. The degree includes 39 free electives which provide plenty of room to pursue a Minor and enroll in courses that match your career interests. Our faculty and advisors will help you tailor your program to your goals.

Pre-Health Pathways

You may choose to allocate your free electives to prepare for admission into health professional programs.

Pre-Law Pathway

You may choose to allocate your free electives towards a minor in Law and Society and take additional levels in Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology, or Chemistry

Science and Technical Writing Pathway

If you have an interest in science and technical writing, you may choose to allocate you free electives towards a minor in Writing along with other courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology, or Chemistry

Business and Entrepreneurship Pathways

If you are interested in pursuing a career in Business you may choose to allocate your free electives towards a courses leading to a minor or certificate in Business or Economics along with other courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology, or Chemistry

Other Possible Pathways

You may choose to pursue a minor or certificate in Plant Sciences and Ecology Earth Sciences, Public Health or others, you have the flexibility to design your own educational pathway.

Chemistry Career Pathways

There are a variety of possible careers that will benefit from a BA in Chemistry:

Chemical Industrial Law
Criminology
Science writer
Chemistry Education
Chemical Sales
High School Teacher
Physician
Pharmacist
Veterinarian
Physical Therapist
Patent Agent
Science Museum Specialist
Policy Specialist
Entrepreneur