Registration & Advising
Information For Registration For Fall Semester 2008
Please see the list of departmental majors and faculty advisors with the office (in French Family Science Center or LSRC) of each advisor in parentheses beside his or her name. If your name does not appear on the advising list, please emaill the DUS office, dus@chem.duke.edu, immediately so that an advisor can be assigned prior to the registration period.
Second majors should make appointments with the advisor appointed to them in their first major and must get their PIN numbers from that advisor. Those needing advising concerning their second major, chemistry, should make an appointment with Dr. Roy by calling 660-1518 or should take advantage of the "Walk-In" Advising option described below.
Advising And Registration Schedule
March 24
Bookbags. Bookbags, ACES, course synopsis all become available today.
Advising appointments. Make an appointment for advising by signing
up on the sheet posted on your advisor's door.
Appointments will usually be available during the period March 26
-
April 4. Whenever possible, a major has been assigned to his/her previous advisor.
This year, however, we had to reassign most of our majors due to faculty
leaves of absence, changes in administrative officers of the department
and/or changes in pre-major advising assignments. Please check the list of
advisors to be sure you know who your advisor is. Do not assume that
it is the same as last year. New majors have been assigned to advisors
who had openings in their groups. If, for good reason, there is a desire
to change advisors for the next registration; majors should consult with
Dr. Roy in Room 1222 FFSC.
Mar. 26 - April 4
Advising. Your advisor will review your Advisement Report with you to ascertain
progress in your chemistry degree program. At the conclusion of your advising
session, your advisor will provide you with your *PIN number*.
Walk-in Advising. The Co-Directors and/or Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies
will be available for Walk-In advising from 1-3 PM daily. Majors who have any questions and/or who are having difficulty arranging
an appointment with their regular advisor may seek
assistance at the Office of the Director of Undergraduate Sudies, room
1222 of French Family Science Center, during Walk-In hours. For Walk-In advising, come to suite 1219 (rooms 1216, 1222, or 1223) in the French Family Science Center.
April 3-11
Registration. Register using ACES when your registration
window opens or any time thereafter.
Information for Course Planning.
- NEW HALF-COURSE. Starting this fall, Chemistry 197, Introduction to Independent Study, will be offered for all majors who are enrolling in their first semester of independent study in chemistry (Chemistry 191B) or a related area. The catalog description for the course follows.
Chemistry 197. Introduction to Research Independent Study. NS. Includes research methodology,
retrieval techniques for, and use of, the chemical literature, safety in the research laboratory,
and the ethical conduct of research. Co-requisite: registration for a first course in research
independent study in chemistry (191B) or a related area. Lecture/discussion. Pass/fail
grading only. Half course. Instructors: Bonk and Langley.
Since the portion of the course dealing with the retrieval of chemical information parallels that of Chemistry 110, we have scheduled Chemistry 110 to coincide with Chemistry 197. The two classes will meet together for part of each class period while our chemistry librarian, Anne Langley, covers systematic methods for retrieving research articles on your independent study project from the over 85 million exisiting chemical publications. For the remainder of each class period, Dr. Bonk will cover additional aspects of doing research.
Since Chemistry 110 and 197 are meeting together, we can also offer the option of taking the equivalent of Chem 197 as a regular graded course (A, B....) and also receiving 0.5 cc of writing credit (W) by enrolling in Chem 110 instead of Chemistry 197. These students will attend Chem 197 and do individual writing assignment(s) for Chem 110 that apply directly to their independent study research problem such as writing a research proposal, a progress report, a review, etc. Contact Dr. Bonk if the Chemistry 110 as an equivalent option is of interest to you. - Degrees and Concentrations
BS Degree. A BS degree is particularly recommended (but not absolutely required) for majors who plan to go to graduate school in chemistry or a related area and/or who plan to pursue immediate employment in the chemical industry.
BS Degree certified by the American Chemical Society. A BS degree certified by the American Chemical Society is recommended (but not absolutely required) for majors who plan to go directly into the chemical industry, or plan to go to graduate school in chemistry, or those who plan to pursue a MD/Ph.D degree. Certification offers little advantage for those going to graduate schools in other areas than chemistry or those who plan to pursue a MD degree, but not a Ph.D.
AB Degree. An AB degree is recommended for all others including those who plan to attend medical school.
Concentrations. A concentration in biochemistry, pharmacology or environment is not required and should be pursued out of interest or in preparation for a related graduate program.
- Physical Chemistry.
Chemistry 161 vs Chemistry 165
Majors who are candidates for an AB degree with or without any concentration generally take Chem 161 in the fall of the junior year followed by its laboratory, Chem 163L, in the spring semester of the junior year.
Majors who are candidates for a BS degree with or without any concentration must take two semesters of physical chemistry. A candidate for the ACS-certified BS degree generally takes Chemistry 165/167L in the fall semester of their junior year followed by 166/168L in the spring semester of their junior year. BS candidates in any concentration may take either 165/167L in the fall semester of their junior year followed by 166 in the spring semester of their junior year; or Chemistry 161 in the fall semester of their junior year followed by Chemistry 163L and Chemistry 176, Biophysical Chemistry, in the spring semester of their junior year.
Prerequisites. (Those majors who are unable to complete the physics and/or math prerequisites should request permission to take P-chem directly from the P-chem course instructor.)
Physics prerequisites: Phy 61L and 62L, or Phy 53L and 54L. Majors are strongly encouraged to fulfill this physics prerequisite before taking a P-chem course.
For those majors who started at organic chemistry as first-year students, we recommend you complete physics your sophomore year and delay P-chem until the junior year. The sophomore year is also a good time to pursue any required biology courses and possibly even Biochemistry 227, but you must have permission from the course instructor to enroll.
Physics transfer courses. Course(s) transferred as Phy888 may be substituted for required physics courses: Phy 61L, 62L, 53L, or 54L, in either the A.B. or the B.S. chemistry major, provided the physics course(s) are (1) calculus-based, (2) taken at an institution that is accredited by the American Chemical Society, and (3) are the courses which are required for an ACS-certified degree at that institution.
Math prerequisites: Chemistry 165 has a required prerequisite of Math 103, while Math 103 is recommended, but not required, for Chemistry 161.
- Analytical Chemistry
Chemistry 131 is usually taken fall of the senior year and Chemistry 133L, the laboratory course associated with Chem 131, may be taken either fall of the senior year or spring semester of the senior year.
- Independent Study
Chemistry 191A or 191B. Available any semester.
Majors who wish to begin independent study in the Spring semester, should consult the listings of research directors and their areas of research on the World Wide Web at the following URL: http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/research/is_reg.php. Students who are continuing with Independent Study in this department or who want to start Independent Study this semester in this Department should fill out the form for independent study that is available outside the DUS office or from the web site at http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/research/isform[1].pdf. You should turn in the completed form to Dr. Roy in room 1222. Dr. Roy will provide you with a permission number to add independent study to your ACES schedule. Note that the first semester of Independent study (Chem 191) is divided into Chem 191A for 0.5 cc or Chem 191B for 1 cc. Be sure to request the permission number for the course having the proper number of credits. Unless you and the research director have specifically agreed to 0.5 course credits, you should sign up for Chem 191B. If the project is with a faculty member outside the Chemistry Department, you must obtain from that faculty member the course number, section number, and a permission number for his/her independent study. You then add the independent study using ACES. We also recommend that you also enroll in Chemistry 197 (see above).
Chemistry 192, 193, or 194. Available any semester.
Majors who wish to sign up for a continuing Independent Study course must fill out a form available from the chemistry web site http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/research/isform[1].pdf and turn it in at the Undergraduate Studies Office, room 1222 of French Family Science Center. If the project is with a faculty member in the Chemistry Department, Dr. Roy will provide you with a permission number so that you can add the course to your ACES schedule. If the project is with a faculty member outside the Chemistry Department, you must obtain from that faculty member the course number, section number, and a permission number for his/her independent study. You then add the independent study using ACES.
Requesting Writing Credit (W) for Independent Study. May be requested only once and that should be your final semester of independent study when you will write your research thesis. The procedure for W-credit for Independent Study is as follows. Prior to the end of Drop/Add of your final semester of participation in independent study, you can go to the following URL: http://www.aas.duke.edu/faculty/forms/c2000.html#forms and print a form for requesting W-credit for one Independent Study course. Fill out the form, have your research mentor and DUS sign it, and deliver the completed form to room 011 Allen Building prior to the end of Drop/Add.
- Advanced Courses
Chemistry 117, inorganic chemistry, is usually taken the spring semester of the senior year.
Chemistry 180L is the advanced laboratory techniques course which is usually taken concurrently with Chem 117 in the spring semester of the senior year. It is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon this spring semester. Because the techniques taught in the course are advanced, the completion of an experiment occasionally requires time in addition to the scheduled laboratory period. For the smooth working of everyone's schedule (students, TA's, and faculty) we have set aside Thursday afternoon as a regularly scheduled additional laboratory time period for the course. Although we do expect that some additional laboratory time will be necessary for the successful completion of the course, we compensate for this by minimizing (wherever possible) the amount of out-of-class time required of the students in Chem 180L. If keeping Thursday afternoons open in your schedule creates a severe hardship for you, please contact Dr. Woerner as soon as possible and explain the nature of the hardship.
Chemistry 275 (1 course) and 276 (half-course) are Advanced Studies courses that are usually taken in the senior year. They provide a mechanism by which highly qualified undergraduates may take a graduate level course. Undergraduates interested in pursuing this option should see Dr. Bonk for information concerning the availability of graduate courses, contents and scheduling of these courses. Permission of the course instructor and of the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required in order to enroll in these courses.
Biochemistry 227. Historically, during summer session, Term I, the department of Biochemistry offers Biochemistry 227. This is an excellent way to lighten a fall course load for those who need to take both physical chemistry and biochemistry.
Pharmacology. Historically PHR 150 has been offered both fall and spring semesters, while PHR 160 has been offered in spring semester only.
Other Information.
- Summer Internships. Flyers containing descriptions of summer job or summer research opportunities
will be posted on bulletin boards on the first floor of FFSC as they are
received. The National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society have
extensive listings of summer research opportunities. Other online listings are available from http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/research/.
- Career Information. Information on careers in chemistry is available at http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/advising/careers.php.
Majors who are interested in employment should be listed with the Career
Center see http://career.studentaffairs.duke.edu/.
Majors who will be graduating, or seeking summer employment, or planning on taking part in summer research programs should be working on their resumes with the staff in the Career Center (CC). CC also offers a valuable training program in interview techniques that can include a videotaping of a mock interview and then reviewing it with you. These services are available to help you with the transition to the "real word".
- Majors' Handbook. Additional information is available from the Handbook.