Biochemistry Majors can earn a B.A. degree through the Department of Biochemistry. An honors program is available. Below you can find information about these degrees and special programs.

Advising

All majors are expected to schedule regular appointments with their academic advisor. For more information please look at the Undergraduate Advising page.

Notice of Course Change

Course pre-fixes were updated from CHEM to BCHM for several courses starting in Fall 2019. For questions or concerns about how these changes effect your degree status, please schedule an appointment with an academic advisor.

Program Requirements

Academic Planning:

Students who declared a biochemistry major before Fall 2017 should follow the requirements as listed in their audit.

Course pre-fixes were updated from CHEM to BCHM for several courses starting in Fall 2019. For questions or concerns about how these changes effect your degree status, please schedule an appointment with an Academic Advisor.

Grades

All required courses and ancillary courses must be completed with a grade of C- or better. In addition, the College of Arts and Sciences requires at least 30 hours of C- or better in the major and requires an average GPA of 2.00 or higher in all classes attempted in the major department.

Credit Hours

Students who do all their major courses at CU Boulder will more than meet the College requirements for the minimum total (30 credits) and upper division (18 credits) hours in the major.

AP, Advanced Placement in Chemistry

The following will be allowed for advanced placement in chemistry. Score of 5: credit for general chemistry 1 with lab (CHEM 1113 and 1114 or). Students may register for general chemistry 2 with lab (CHEM 1133/1134). Students should consult a departmental advisor before registering for a second semester general chemistry course.

IB, International Baccalaureate in Chemistry

The following will be allowed for IB-higher in chemistry. Score of 7: credit for general chemistry 1 and 2 with lab (CHEM 1113/1114 and 1133/1134).; students may register for CHEM 3311/3321 or 3451/3371. Score of 6: credit for general chemistry 1 (CHEM 1113/1114); students may register for CHEM 1133/1134. Students should consult a departmental advisor before registering organic chemistry or for a second semester general chemistry course.

Transfer Credits

Students may transfer courses in chemistry that are equivalent to courses given at CU Boulder but carry fewer credit hours. They must take sufficient courses in chemistry so that the total credits for graduation is at least 30. An academic advisor should be consulted regarding this type of deficiency.

Transfer Students

Transfer students should note that the College of Arts & Sciences requires at least 18 hours of upper-division credits in the major. Lower division courses at other institutions will transfer as lower division credit, even if the corresponding CU Boulder courses are upper division. For example, organic chemistry taken at a community college or as lower division at a four-year college will only carry lower division credit if it is accepted by the department to satisfy CHEM 3311, 3321, 3331, and 3341. A biochemistry major with such transfer credit will need to take additional upper division chemistry courses to complete the required 18 hours in the major and 45 upper division hours.

Transfer students who plan to complete a B.A. degree in the Biochemistry Department must complete at the Boulder campus a minimum of 12 credit hours of upper-division courses in chemistry covering at least 2 of the sub-disciplines in their major.  The sub-disciplines for a biochemistry major are organic, physical, and biochemistry. Course work to satisfy this minimum requirement may NOT include CHEM 4901 and must be completed after matriculation into the College of Arts and Sciences.

Undergraduate majors in the Biochemistry Department must plan their courses carefully since there are specific prerequisites for advanced courses that must be completed in an orderly sequence during the freshman through the junior years. In addition, the College of Arts & Science Core curriculum must be worked into the schedule. Suggestions for majors include:

  • Math should be started the first year and continued without a break.
  • Math courses are a serious hurdle for many biochemistry majors. It is much better to start Pre-Calculus Math 1150, doing a fair bit of review work, and earn A's or B's than to try Calculus l, (MATH 1300 or APPM 1350) and receive a D or F. Even students that have some calculus in high school may have difficulty with MATH 1300 if their algebra, geometry, and trigonometry backgrounds are weak. When biochemistry students fail to achieve a good grade record their first year at CU Boulder it is most commonly due to a weak math background.
  • Chemistry should be taken the first year, and should take precedence over general biology if biology is also required in the student's course work.
  • Students are very strongly advised against taking General Physics 1 until they have completed Calculus 1, and preferably both Calculus 1 and Calculus 2.
  • Most first year students should take no more than 16 hours per semester and preferably less. Students who are working may want to consider taking even fewer hours per semester. Taking 16 hrs/sem while working more than 20 hrs/week is likely to hurt academic performance.
  • Quality is better than quantity. Thus, undergraduates who complete a degree with a grade point average greater than 3.4 will have many job and graduate school opportunities even though they may have taken only 12-14 hours each semester. Whereas students who take 18-22 hours each semester, with a G.P.A. less than 3.0 while working 10 hrs/week, will find few or no graduate school openings. Students, who must work outside of school, should consider taking a lighter course load.
  • University study requires an intensive effort on a student's part for at least nine months a year. Students should therefore use their summers wisely. Summer may be a good time to catch up on coursework or credits; many required and elective courses are taught during summer school. On the other hand, many students find it advantageous to have a change of pace during the summer, and many need to earn some money. A chemistry-related job can be a great experience. Some large and small chemical or health-related companies hire undergraduates during summers. Career Services can be helpful in locating a suitable position. Some schools around the country have undergraduate research participation programs open to outside students. CU Boulder offers the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and the Biosciences Undergraduate Research Skills and Training (BURST) program to a limited number of students.
  • The majors organic chemistry courses are also only taught once a year. Plan ahead for these courses. The elective course CHEM 4021 (Inorganic Synthesis Lab) is also taught only in the Spring semester. Most graduate courses are taught once a year, with a few taught every other year.
  • Students taking biology should realize that EBIO 1210/1230 are taught only in the Fall semester, and the second-semester biology courses, EBIO 1220/1240, are taught only in the Spring. The EBIO sequence is also taught during the summer.  The MCDB sequence is not taught in the summer.