Chemistry & Biochemistry

Overview

The purpose of the Chemistry Placement Assessment is to determine which Chemistry class you can enroll in during registration. According to the SDSU General Catalog, enrollment in Chemistry 200 or Chemistry 202 requires satisfying one of the following prerequisites:

1. Completion of Chemistry 100 (Introduction to General Chemistry with Laboratory) with a grade of C or better,

OR

2. Satisfaction of the Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning Assessment Requirement and passing the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment

If you passed the AP or IB Chemistry exams, please see the section below the final table for more information.

Assessment and Registration Details

Students who plan on taking Chem 200 or 202 in the Spring 2021 semester--- but who have not taken Chem 100--- are strongly encouraged to register for the online Chemistry Placement Assessment, which is free of charge.  The Placement Assessment will have two parts: Math and Chemistry assessment portions.  Additionally, we provide you with a Chemistry prep, also free of charge. The Chemistry prep is optional and is provided to help you review before taking the actual assessment.

You will have one chance to pass the assessment. The table below gives the registration dates and the week that the assessment will be available to you. Please sign up for one assessment time using the google form: https://forms.gle/Zj6JFE46GsYrRjy59

If you take the Placement Assessment no later than Cohort 2 and do not pass then you will still have time to enroll in Chem 100 for Summer 2021 so that you will be ready to take Chem 200 in Fall 2021. If you take the Placement Assessment after Cohort 2 and do not pass, then you will need to take Chem 100 in Fall 2021 before you can take Chem 200.

Note that the assessment is not proctored, but we would like to emphasize that it is not beneficial to you to cheat — if you take Chem 200 or 202 without the proper chemistry and math background, you stand a good chance of doing poorly in the course and would then need to repeat it.

Assessment Cohort	Registration Deadline	Time Frame of the Assessment:
Cohort 1	June 07 2021 at 08:00 am	June 07 at 10:00 am — June 14 at 10:00am
Cohort 2	June 14 2021 at 08:00 am	June 14 at 10:00 am — June 21 at 10:00 am
Cohort 3	June 21 2021 at 08:00 am	June 21 at 10:00 am — June 28 at 10:00 am
Cohort 4	June 28 2021 at 08:00 am	June 28 at 10:00 am — July 05 at 10:00 am
Cohort 5	July 05 2021 at 08:00 am	July 05 at 10:00 am — July 12 at 10:00 am
Cohort 6	July 12 2021 at 08:00 am	July 12 at 10:00 am — July 19 at 10:00 am
Cohort 7	July 19 2021 at 08:00 am	July 19 at 10:00 am — July 26 at 10:00 am
Cohort 8	July 26 2021 at 08:00 am	July 26 at 10:00 am — August 02 at 10:00 am
Cohort 9	August 02 2021 at 08:00 am	August 02 at 10:00 am — August 09 at 10:00 am
Cohort 10	August 09 2021 at 08:00 am	August 09 at 10:00 am — August 16 at 10:00 am

Who needs to take the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment?

SDSU recommends that students in the following majors enroll in Chemistry 200 (General Chemistry) or Chemistry 202 (General Chemistry for Engineers) during their first semester at SDSU.

MAJOR	COURSE
Athletic Training	CHEM 200
Biology	CHEM 200
Chemical Physics	CHEM 200 or CHEM 202
Chemistry	CHEM 200
Engineering (Aerospace, Civil, Construction, Environmental, Mechanical)	CHEM 200 or CHEM 202 for most majors (Go to the SDSU General Catalog and mymap for requirements specific to your major)
Environmental Sciences	CHEM 200
Geological Sciences (with emphasis in engineering geology, environmental geosciences, geology, geophysics, and hydrogeology)	CHEM 200 for most majors (Go to the SDSU General Catalog and mymap for requirements specific to your major)
Kinesiology (pre-physical therapy)	CHEM 200
Microbiology	CHEM 200
Physical Science	CHEM 200
Physics	CHEM 200

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit

If you received a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Chemistry Exam, you should receive credit for Chemistry 200 and 201 and should not need to take the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment.

If you received a score of Higher 5-7 on the IB Chemistry exam, you should receive credit for Chemistry 100 and should not need to take the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment.

Passing a high school chemistry class, even an AP or IB class, does not fulfill the required prerequisite(s).

If you intend to enroll in Chemistry 100 your first semester rather than Chemistry 200 or 202, you do not need to take the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment.

Students Requesting Accommodations

Students requesting accommodations for the Chemistry Department Placement Assessment should have their accommodations approved by the SDSU Student Ability Success Center (SASC). SASC information can be found at http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/sds/ .

Information contained herein is subject to change without notice.