Admission requirements and program policies

This program will be open to all qualified UNT chemistry majors in their third year. UNT undergraduate students who are in their second or fourth year will only be considered under extraordinary circumstances. Other majors with strong chemistry backgrounds may be considered at the discretion of the UNT Chemistry Department. UNT Undergraduate students must meet the following minimum requirements in order to be considered for admission to the master’s program through the grad track pathway in the UNT Chemistry Department:

1. Completion of at least 75 undergraduate credit hours that are counted for the baccalaureate degree. 
2. A GPA of 3.5 or higher in undergraduate chemistry coursework, and an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher in undergraduate coursework.  

Undergraduate students who do not meet the above criteria, but have significant research experience, may also apply. In such case, a holistic review of the application will be conducted, and the admission will be at the sole discretion of the UNT Chemistry Department.
Students seeking this pathway must submit the Toulouse Graduate School’s “Conditional Admission and Advisor Course Approval Form”.

Students are responsible for all applicable tuition and fees during the period leading up to the baccalaureate degree. 

Upon completing the baccalaureate degree, a formal application must be submitted to the graduate program of the UNT Chemistry Department, typically during the fall semester of the student’s senior year. The student’s application fee will be waived, and the student may become eligible for Tuition Benefits. 

The following is the step-by-step process:

1. Students apply for the grad track option in the junior year
2. After the application is approved and have completed at least 90 credit hours, the students can start taking the graduate courses that are approved for grad track as chemistry electives for the BS degree requirement. For the graduate courses to be counted for the MS degree later, the student must meet the minimum grade requirements of the courses in the MS program.
3. The students must enroll in graduate school in the long semester after finishing their BS degree and should take the remaining graduate courses in the following year(s) to complete their MS degree. If the student did not enroll in graduate school in the long semester after finishing their BS degree, those graduate course credit hours will not be counted anymore for the MS degree even if the student comes back for graduate school in the future.

Standards and procedures for monitoring student progress

The core faculty member for the grad track will be the departmental graduate advisor, who is the Chair of the Graduate Affairs Committee. The graduate advisor will oversee admission and advising for the program. Participating students will take the same graduate courses taken by our regular MS and PhD students. 

Program requirements

Up to four of the following graduate level courses may appear on the undergraduate degree plan:

• CHEM 5210 - Advanced Physical Chemistry (offered Spring only)
• CHEM 5500 - Physical Organic Chemistry (offered Fall only)
• CHEM 5570 - Advanced Analytical Chemistry (offered Fall only)
• CHEM 5710 - Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (offered Spring only)
• CHEM 6540 - Chemical Biology Design and Instrumentation (Offered Spring only)
• Graduate-level Selected Topics or elective classes (e.g., CHEM 5390, CHEM 5610, CHEM 5620, CHEM 5640, or CHEM 5650), for which the offerings vary year to year.

In order for the courses to be applicable to the MS degree, the minimum grade requirements for graduate program course work must be met.

All remaining courses for Chemistry, BSCHM  must be completed.

Preparing for graduate study

To eventually earn the MS in chemistry, students must demonstrate proficiency in at least two of the five traditional areas of chemistry (analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and chemical biology), either by passing a standardized exam in the area or by passing a specified course. Students must also complete a minimum of three formal lecture courses from the list under “Program Requirements” above, two of which must be “core courses” in the areas in which the student demonstrated proficiency (the first five listed are “core courses”).

Students are encouraged to discuss eventual MS degree requirements with the departmental graduate advisor.