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The Chemistry and Biochemistry program offers the opportunity for students to participate in an accelerated curriculum that leads to both the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in either Chemistry or Biochemistry. This curriculum follows the normal B.S. degree for three years, but adds typically two (but up to four) graduate level courses during the fourth year that are also applied to the subsequent M.S. program. The fifth year then includes the remaining graduate courses to bring the total to five, research credits and the Master’s Thesis. Students will generally apply to the Graduate College during the third year for official admission to the M.S. program immediately following completion of B.S. requirements. Admission to this program must precede enrollment in graduate courses.
A limited number of students are accepted to purse Master of Science degrees in Biochemistry. Typically, no financial support is provided for pursuit of these degrees. Please contact the Graduate Coordinator if you plan to apply for these programs.
The MS degree is a research degree requiring a written thesis. All students must pass a final oral examination.
College of Science
University of Arizona - Main - Tucson
Students must have completed a minimum of 75 undergraduate credit hours at the time of application; a minimum of 90 undergraduate credit hours will be required at the time of entry into the program. Typically, this unit requirement means that students will be in their third year at the time of application. Exceptions can be made for fourth year students, depending on progress to the degree.
Students are generally expected to complete the undergraduate degree within four years. The undergraduate degree requirements must be completed before the student is eligible to have the M.S. degree awarded. Therefore, students shall have completed or nearly completed the general education requirements before application.
Students must be a continuing UA student progressing toward a Bachelor’s degree. At least 12 earned undergraduate credits must have been completed at the University of Arizona’s main campus in the major listed above. Units still graded Incomplete, units graded Pass/Fail or units taken as audit will not count toward the requirement of the 12 undergraduate units.
Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 (NO EXCEPTIONS). If the GPA falls below 3.5 at the time 90 units are completed, the student will not be admitted into the program. Courses taken for audit may not be included in the total number of units counted for eligibility or admission.
Students must have a minimum of one semester of research experience and have demonstrated research productivity.
Students must have a thesis advisor who is a primary CBC faculty member.
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After completion of all Bachelors’ requirements, students will be granted graduate status, be charged at the graduate rate, and be eligible for graduate assistantships. The student won’t be eligible to graduate nor will they be eligible for assistantships until all Bachelors’ requirements are completed. While an undergraduate, students are required to keep their graduate coursework cumulative GPA at 3.0, or higher if required by the graduate degree offering unit, to be admitted to the Master’s program.
Should a student have completed 12 graduate credits, but not yet completed the undergraduate degree, they will be considered graduate for financial aid and tuition purposes and coded as ‘graduate’ in UAccess. They will no longer be eligible for undergraduate scholarships, nor will they be eligible for graduate assistantships.
April 15
International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.
4832
12
Graded coursework constitutes 15 units of the Master of Science degree. A plan of study must be approved by the GPC. Suggested core courses of study for the respective areas are:
Up to 15 units of the Master of Science degree may be in thesis research, group meeting, seminar, etc.
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The Master of Science degree requires 30 units (minimum) of graduate work in 500-level courses or above, up to 15 of which may be in thesis research. At least one-half of the required units must be in courses offering regular letter grades. Up to 12 units of graduate credit earned as an undergraduate and not applied toward the baccalaureate degree can be applied for credit toward a master's degree. Required courses for the M.S. degree include Proteins and Enzymes 565 and two other courses from the list below. The student, with approval from the thesis committee, chooses the remaining graduate courses required for the degree.
Mimumum Criteria
Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.
This is an Accelerated Master's Program (AMP).
The Graduate College offers exceptional undergraduate students in selected majors the opportunity to earn both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in as few as 5 years. The Accelerated Master's Program is for the top undergraduates in participating majors who plan to continue in a graduate program in the same, or closely related, UA discipline.
Programs will select from among a qualified pool, based on the following criteria. Individual programs may have more stringent or additional requirements: