Chemistry Minor

For assistance please contact chemistry advising at chemistryadvising@ucsc.edu or visit our department website.

How to Declare the Chemistry Minor   

Students electing a chemistry minor may not use the online petition to declare. The steps to pursue a chemistry minor are as follows:

  1. Review a major academic plan and have it signed by your UC Santa Cruz major adviser.

  2. Make an appointment with the chemistry minor adviser and send the link (or PDF) to your signed academic planning form to chemistryadvising@ucsc.edu.

  3. The chemistry minor adviser will review your major academic plan and will add the chemistry minor courses to your plan, if it is viable to do so per double credit counting, enrollment limitations, and time-to-degree guidelines.

  4. The chemistry minor adviser will discuss your chemistry minor plan with you during your appointment.

  5. Once approved as a viable major/minor plan by both the major/department advisor and the Chemistry minor advisor, the Chemistry minor advisor will sign the academic planning form and they will process your minor declaration.

Note: Students need to declare a major before they can declare a minor. Students should prioritize major coursework over minor coursework when necessary.

General information on double majors and minors may be found here.

Course Requirements

All courses used to satisfy degree requirements in the chemistry minor must be taken for a letter grade.       

Lower-Division Courses

Chemistry

Either these courses

CHEM 1AGeneral Chemistry

5

CHEM 1BGeneral Chemistry

5

CHEM 1MGeneral Chemistry Laboratory

2

CHEM 1CGeneral Chemistry

5

CHEM 1NGeneral Chemistry Laboratory

2

or these courses

CHEM 4AAdvanced General Chemistry: Molecular Structure and Reactivity

5

CHEM 1MGeneral Chemistry Laboratory

2

CHEM 4BAdvanced General Chemistry: Molecular Structure and Reactivity

5

CHEM 1NGeneral Chemistry Laboratory

2

and these courses:
CHEM 8AOrganic Chemistry

5

CHEM 8LOrganic Chemistry Laboratory

2

CHEM 8BOrganic Chemistry

5

CHEM 8MOrganic Chemistry Laboratory

2

Calculus

One of the following options
Either these courses

MATH 11ACalculus with Applications

5

MATH 11BCalculus with Applications

5

or these courses

MATH 19ACalculus for Science, Engineering, and Mathematics

5

MATH 19BCalculus for Science, Engineering, and Mathematics

5

Plus one of the following options
Either this course

MATH 22Introduction to Calculus of Several Variables

5

or these courses

MATH 23AVector Calculus

5

MATH 23BVector Calculus

5

OR

AM 30Multivariate Calculus for Engineers

5

Physics

PHYS 6AIntroductory Physics I

5

PHYS 6LIntroductory Physics I Laboratory

1

PHYS 6BIntroductory Physics II

5

PHYS 6MIntroductory Physics II Laboratory

1

PHYS 6CIntroductory Physics III

5

PHYS 6NIntroductory Physics III Laboratory

1

OR

PHYS 5AIntroduction to Physics I

5

PHYS 5LIntroduction to Physics I Laboratory

1

PHYS 5BIntroduction to Physics II

5

PHYS 5MIntroduction to Physics II Laboratory

1

PHYS 5CIntroduction to Physics III

5

PHYS 5NIntroduction to Physics Laboratory III

1

Upper-Division Courses

This course

CHEM 163AQuantum Mechanics and Basic Spectroscopy

5

Students may substitute BIOC 163A for CHEM 163A.

Plus two of the following courses

CHEM 103Biochemistry

5

CHEM 110Intermediate Organic Chemistry with Emphasis on Synthesis and Analytical Methods

5

CHEM 151AChemistry of Metals

5

Electives

Plus two chemistry upper-division electives from the following:

BIOC 100ABiochemistry and Molecular Biology

5

BIOC 100BBiochemistry and Molecular Biology

5

BIOC 163BBiochemical Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

5

CHEM 143Organic Chemical Structure and Reactions

5

CHEM 144Catalysis In Organic Synthesis Using Metals and Metalloids Based Reagents

5

CHEM 151BChemistry of the Main Group Elements

5

CHEM 156CMaterials Chemistry

5

CHEM 163BChemical Thermodynamics

5

CHEM 163CStatistical Thermodynamics and Kinetics

5

CHEM 169Chemistry and Biology of Drug Design and Discovery

5

CHEM 171Chemical Biology

5

METX 101Sources and Fates of Pollutants

5

METX 102Cell and Molecular Toxicology

5

OCEA 120Aquatic Chemistry: Principles and Applications

5

OCEA 121Aqueous Geochemistry

5

PHYS 180Biophysics

5

Students cannot receive elective credit toward the minor for 1) both BIOC 100A and CHEM 103; 2) both BIOC 163B and CHEM 163B

Students may also satisfy the elective requirements by completing a chemistry graduate course with the permission of the instructor and department. To do so, please consult with the department undergraduate adviser prior to enrolling.