Advising Information

The Undergraduate Advising Office strives to help students achieve their full potential for success by providing accurate information about requirements, resources, and opportunities. We aim to provide a supportive environment to help students critically assess their talents and abilities in order to develop realistic academic and career goals. We provide information and guidance, but it is the student’s responsibility to make final decisions about their educational plans within the framework of University rules and College and Departmental standards.

1) New course numbers for organic chemistry: CHEM 257 and CHEM258

Starting Fall 2024, the Department of Chemistry combined our Organic Chemistry I and II lecture and lab courses into 4-credit courses with new course numbers.

CHEM 227 (Organic Chemistry I, 3 cr.) + CHEM 237 (Organic Chemistry I Lab, 1 cr.) is now offered as CHEM 257 (Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry I Lecture + Lab, 4 cr.)

CHEM 228 (Organic Chemistry II, 3 cr.) + CHEM 238 (Organic Chemistry II Lab, 1 cr.) is now offered as CHEM 258 (Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry II Lecture + Lab, 4 cr.)

There will be a limited number of seats available in the separate courses for students who have completed only the lecture or the lab. We will not release seats for CHEM 237 and CHEM 238 for Spring 2025. If you have already completed  the Organic lecture courses or currently enrolled in the Organic lecture courses, please send us an email at advising@chem.tamu.edu with  your name, UIN, and which Organic laboratory course you would like to register for, and we will provide an override for you.     

2) Chemistry Seat Release

Seats are added throughout preregistration as courses fill across all sections.  We cannot promise and will not force any student into a particular section. Do not call or email to request forces. In  the Aggie Schedule Builder, the system automatically defaults to “Open Classes Only” for Course Status. If you are planning your courses in advance, we suggest looking at Howdy to see what sections are planned, but double check before you register that these  sections are open with seats available during your registration period.    

3) Lab Safety Acknowledgment

Students wishing to enroll in CHEM119 or CHEM120 or any chemistry laboratory will need to complete the lab safety acknowledgement before registration. Students who haven't done this will get a "Student Attribute Error" upon attempting to register for a laboratory  course.

4) Instructor Assignments

Currently, we do not have instructor assignments for the 100- and 200-level Chemistry courses except for honors and for chemistry majors only. We do not have an exact date when this information  will be released. Please do not call or email to ask when the instructors will be added.

5) Prerequisites

Prerequisites are enforced. The Department of Chemistry does not enter prerequisite overrides for planned or in progress prerequisites from other institutions. Once students have completed the prerequisite course, they may send an unofficial  transcript that clearly shows their name, the institution, course, and final grade to advising@chem.tamu.edu from  their tamu email accounts. Students should include their UIN and indicate the chemistry course(s) they are seeking a prerequisite for. We will enter the prerequisite override but will not force students into closed classes.

6) Restricted courses

For the spring semester, a few sections of chemistry courses are restricted to honors students or chemistry majors:

Restricted to honors students:

CHEM120 (Section Numbers 201, 202, 203 and 204)
CHEM258 (Section Number 201, 202)

Restricted to Chemistry Majors:

CHEM120 (Section Numbers 494, 495, 496 and 497)
CHEM228 (Section Number 501, 200)

Stacked honors section are available for CHEM315, CHEM327, CHEM328, CHEM362, CHEM415, and CHEM446.

7) CHEM107/117

CHEM107 and CHEM117 are two separate courses that are co-requisites. Students must register for the courses in the same registration submission.    

8) BICH Courses

Biochemistry or BICH courses are being offered by the Biochemistry and Biophysics (BCBP) department, not the Chemistry (CHEM) department. Any questions regarding BICH courses should be directed  to the BCBP department. Further information about BICH courses can be found at the Overrides, Force Requests, and Prerequisites page.

• It is understood and expected that you will be working toward a degree in chemistry. CHEM students must take courses listed on their degree plan each semester. All relevant chemistry and math classes must be included in each semester's schedule. Failure to take courses toward your declared degree is a violation of TAMU policy and will result in a registration block until your major is changed.
• It is your responsibility to understand the degree requirements along with deadlines, policies and procedures of the university, college, and department. You will assume accountability for all emails received from the university, college and departmental advisors and all policies stated in this document.
• Students are expected to enroll in the majors (or honors, if qualified) section of general and organic chemistry.
• For incoming first-year chemistry majors to be allowed to continue as chemistry majors, they must complete the first two semesters of chemistry (generally CHEM 119 and CHEM 120) and the first two semesters of calculus (MATH 151 and MATH 152 or MATH 171 and MATH 172) with Cs or better within the first academic year. An exception will be made for students who place into MATH 150 as incoming students, provided they pass MATH 150 with a B or better. Students are expected to enroll in a mathematics course every semester until they have completed the requirements of their degree.
• Grades of B or better are required for transferred MATH or CHEM courses to apply toward a TAMU degree in chemistry.
• Be aware of prerequisites. Courses must be taken in proper sequence (see degree plan/catalog). A "C" or better must be earned in all prerequisite courses before proceeding to the next course.
• A course may not be attempted more than three times. If a required course on the Chemistry Degree Plan is not passed with a "C" or better after the third attempt, the student is no longer eligible to continue as a chemistry major. Q-dropping or withdrawing from a course will count as one attempt. Students attempting a course for a third time will be placed on departmental probation.
• Students Q-dropping a MATH or a science course are required to meet with an advisor before submitting a Q-drop form for approval.
• Students with a semester GPA<2.0 or an overall GPA<2.0 are placed on Academic Probation. Students with an overall and/or major GPA grade point deficit of 8 or more points below a 2.00 may be removed from the College of Arts & Sciences and possibly the University.
• Students with poor midterm grades will be required to meet with an advisor to discuss strategies and resources to improve academic per prior to pre-registration.
• The Chemistry Department cannot force students into courses outside of the department. The Chemistry Department will not force students into classes for reasons of instructor or time preference.
• The Chemistry Department expects that all chemistry courses be taken at TAMU. Please consult with an advisor about AP, dual credit, and/or summer courses.
• Students must submit a research approval form with instructor approval in order to register for CHEM 491. An override will be placed on the student registration account and the student is then responsible for registering for the course with the correct number of credit hours.
• Please schedule advising appointments through Navigate. The advising office is generally open from 8-12 and 1-5 Monday-Friday, though the advisors may not always be available for appointments during these hours because of teaching and other commitments. Please schedule appointments well in advance during busy times of year (pre-registration advising; Q drop).