The Virginia Tech Chemistry Department is accredited by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to offer an ACS-certified degree. Our B.S. degree fulfills ACS requirements. The B.S. Chemistry degree will provide a graduate with a solid understanding of synthetic methods, analytical and physical measurements, and chemical computation. A chemistry graduate will be able to be productive in a variety of work situations and will be an effective communicator in working with other chemists, professionals, and the general public. A student earning a B.A. in Chemistry will receive the foundation training to pursue a variety of chemistry related careers and will be able to tailor their degree program towards their goals.

Philosophy

We believe that a chemistry graduate, given a "chemical" problem, should be able to:

research the problem
develop an approach to solve the problem, including designing experiments to test the approach and revising the approach based on new data (repeating as necessary)
reach conclusions weighing the pros and cons of the results and state uncertainty/risks correctly
pursue this work in a team if appropriate and be able to communicate well (both 1-way and 2-way)

To help students reach the above abilities we facilitate:

1000-level

developing independent-learning skills
- be able to learn from a textbook
developing problem-solving skills
- begin transition from algorithmic problem solving to conceptual understanding

2000-level

begin to "chunk" information
apply concepts in new applications

3000-level

synthesis of new ideas --> put 2 and 2 together

4000-level

demonstrate creativity and original thinking in completing tasks

Course Syllabi

The following course descriptions are for use of outside students taking Va Tech classes to transfer back to their home institution.