B.S. in Biochemistry and M.S. Chemistry: Biochemistry SF State Scholars Roadmap
The San Francisco State Scholars program provides undergraduate students with an accelerated pathway to a graduate degree. Students in this program pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree simultaneously. This program allows students to earn graduate credit while in their junior and/or senior year, reducing the number of semesters required for completion of a master’s degree.
This roadmap is a suggested plan of study and does not replace meeting with an advisor. Please note that students may need to adjust the actual sequence of courses based on course availability. Please consult an advisor in your major program for further guidance.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Units | |
| CHEM 115 | General Chemistry I: Essential Concepts of Chemistry (Major Lower-Division) | 5 |
| ENG 114 | Writing the First Year: Finding Your Voice (A2) 1 | 3 |
| MATH 226 | Calculus I (Major Lower-Division, B4) 2 | 4 |
| GE Area A 3 | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CHEM 215 & CHEM 216 |
General Chemistry II: Quantitative Applications of Chemistry Concepts and General Chemistry II Laboratory: Quantitative Applications of Chemistry Concepts (Major Lower-Division) |
5 |
| MATH 227 | Calculus II (Major Lower-Division) | 4 |
| GE Area A | 3 | |
| GE Area E | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| CHEM 233 & CHEM 234 |
Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory (Major Lower-Division) |
5 |
| CHEM 321 | Quantitative Chemical Analysis (Major Upper-Division) | 3 |
| Select One Set of Courses (Major Lower-Divison): 4 | 4 | |
| General Physics I and General Physics I Laboratory (B1, B3) |
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| General Physics with Calculus I and General Physics with Calculus I Laboratory (B1, B3) |
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| GE Area C | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| BIOL 230 | Introductory Biology I (Major Lower-Division) | 5 |
| CHEM 335 | Organic Chemistry II (Major Upper-Division) | 3 |
| Select One Set of Courses (Major Lower-Division): 4 | 4 | |
| General Physics II and General Physics II Laboratory |
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| General Physics with Calculus II and General Physics with Calculus II Laboratory |
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| General Physics with Calculus III and General Physics with Calculus III Laboratory |
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| GE Area D | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Summer Semester | ||
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 6 | |
| Fall Semester | ||
| CHEM 300 | Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences I (Major Upper-Division) 5 | 3 |
| CHEM 340 | Biochemistry I (Major Upper-Division) | 3 |
| GWAR Elective 6,7 | 3-4 | |
| Major Electives (15 Units Total) - Take One 6 | 3 | |
| GE Area D | 3 | |
| Units | 15-16 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CHEM 341 | Biochemistry II (Major Upper-Division) | 3 |
| CHEM 343 | Biochemistry I Laboratory (Major Upper-Division) | 3 |
| Major Electives (15 Units Total) - Take One 6 | 3 | |
| GE Area C - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| CHEM 301 | Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences II (Major Upper-Division) 5 | 3 |
| Major Electives (15 Units Total) - Take One 6 | 3 | |
| GE Area F ± | 3 | |
| GE Area UD-B: Upper-Division Physical and/or Life Sciences (Consider SF State Studies Course) | 3 | |
| GE Area UD-C: Upper-Division Arts and/or Humanities (Consider SF State Studies Course) | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CHEM 879 | Research Methods I (Graduate Core) | 3 |
| Major Electives (15 Units Total) - Take One 6 | 3 | |
| Related Study - Take One 8 | 3 | |
| GE Area UD-D: Upper-Division Social Sciences (Consider SF State Studies Course) | 3 | |
| U.S. and California Government | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Fifth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| CHEM 880 | Research Methods II (Graduate Core) | 3 |
| CHEM 897 | Research (Graduate Requirement - Take 3 units) | 3 |
| Related Study - Take Two 8 | 6 | |
| Units | 12 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CHEM 897 | Research (Graduate Requirement - Take 6 units) | 6 |
| Related Study - Take One 8 | 3 | |
| Culminating Experience - Select One 9 | 3 | |
| Research Project | ||
| Master's Thesis | ||
| Units | 12 | |
| Total Units | 150-151 | |
| 1 | ENG 114 can only be taken if you complete Directed Self-Placement (DSP) and select ENG 114; if you choose ENG 104/ENG 105 through DSP you will satisfy A2 upon successful completion of ENG 105 in the second semester; multilingual students may be advised into alternative English courses. |
| 2 | To determine the best B4 course option, students should complete the online advising activity at mathadvising.sfsu.edu. Questions? Contact Gator Smart Start. |
| 3 | To avoid taking additional units, it is recommended that you meet the SF State Studies (AERM, GP, ES, SJ) requirements within your GE or major. |
| 4 | PHYS 111 and PHYS 112 are prerequisites for PHYS 121 and PHYS 122. PHYS 220 and PHYS 222 are prerequisites for PHYS 240 and PHYS 242. |
| 5 | CHEM 351 may be substituted for CHEM 300 and CHEM 353 may be substituted for CHEM 301 if prerequisites for CHEM 351 and CHEM 353 are met. |
| 6 | Upper-Division Electives (15 units)
Upper-Division Electives in Chemistry Upper-Division Electives in Biology and Computer Science Select a maximum of one: |
| 7 | GWAR Elective (3-4 units of the 15 total Elective units) BIOL 351GW Experiments in Cell and Molecular Biology - GWAR (4 units) |
| 8 | Related Study (9-12 units) Graduate courses in biochemistry, chemistry, physics, mathematics, or biology on advisement of a graduate major advisor. Upper-division courses may be used with permission of a graduate major advisor. Analytical/Environmental/Methods (AEM) CHEM 741/BIOL 741/ERTH 741 Electron Microscopy (4 units) CHEM 800 Special Topics in Chemistry (3 units) CHEM 820 NMR Applications and Techniques (3 units) CHEM 821 Mass Spectrometry - Principles and Practice (3 units) Biochemistry (BIO) CHEM 800 Special Topics in Chemistry (3 units) CHEM 841 Enzymology (3 units) CHEM 851 Biochemical Spectroscopy (3 units) Organic/Medicinal (OM) CHEM 800 Special Topics in Chemistry (3 units) CHEM 832 Organic Synthesis (3 units) CHEM 834 Organic Spectroscopic Methods (3 units) CHEM 842 Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry (3 units) Physical/Inorganic/Computational (PIC) CHEM 800 Special Topics in Chemistry (3 units) CHEM 851 Biochemical Spectroscopy (3 units) CHEM 852 Statistical Mechanics: Molecular Relaxation (3 units) CHEM 870 Computational Methods in Chemistry (3 units) Chemical Education CHEM 885 Teaching College Chemistry (3 units) |
| 9 | Both options also require an oral defense. |
| * | Can be used to fulfill the laboratory requirement. |
| ± | Given catalog rights, fall 2022 transfer students do not need to complete an Area F course. |