Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry Honors Program provides exceptionally motivated, hard-working, and talented students the opportunity to engage more deeply in our already-challenging curriculum. Chemistry honors sections will emphasize student-faculty contact, exploration of course material beyond regular class readings and lectures, and communication skills. Honors students will complete an undergraduate thesis and have the opportunity to explore graduate course work. Honors graduates will demonstrate academic excellence, independent work, and critical thinking and analysis.

Incoming Freshmen

Applications from incoming freshmen are evaluated holistically.

Students may indicate their interest in the Chemistry Honors Program on the ApplyTexas website by choosing "Apply to Any Honors Program." Eligible incoming students are contacted in the spring and invited to apply to the program. The application is a Google Form with some questions to verify the student's eligibility and their interest in advanced study. Students should complete the application before their New Student Conference to be able to register for the Honors Chemistry sections. If you believe you are eligible but do not receive an email, please contact the director at chemhonors@chem.tamu.edu.

Current or transfer students

Current or transfer students with a cumulative TAMU GPR of 3.5 may request admittance to the program by submitting a request including a brief (less than 300 word) statement describing your interest and motivation for joining to the Chemistry Honors Program coordinator. When applying, students should keep in mind that they will need to fulfill all honors requirements.

Remaining in the program

In order to remain in the Chemistry Honors program, students must maintain a cumulative GPR at Texas A&M of 3.5 and honors GPR of 3.5. Students falling below these standards will be placed on probation for the next semester. Students unable to meet these standards for a second semester may be dismissed from the Chemistry Honors Program.

Students wishing to pursue honors distinctions in Chemistry must earn 18 credits in Honors courses which must be completed as follows:

  • Up to 6 credits from CHEM 119H; CHEM 120H; CHEM 227H; CHEM 228H
  • Up to 6 credits from any 300 and 400 level CHEM Honors course (not including CHEM 491H)
  • No more than 6 credits from 600 level CHEM courses (credit must count toward undergraduate credit)
  • 6 credits of CHEM 491H, including an Honors Thesis
  • Non-honors sections may not be contracted for honors credit if an honors section of the course is available in the same semester
  • AP and IB credit may not be used towards Honors credit

In order to graduate with Chemistry Honors, a student must meet the following requirements at time of graduation:

  • Cumulative Texas A&M University GPR of 3.5 or higher
  • Cumulative honors GPR of 3.5 or higher
  • No grade lower than a B in courses counting toward honors. If a student earns less than a B in an honors course, they will still receive University credit. However, they will need to take a different course to fulfill the honors requirement.
  • An Honor Code violation as described in Student Rule 20 will trigger review of status in program, which may include dismissal

All honors courses will be denoted as honors on students' official transcripts. Furthermore, students completing the honors program will have the departmental honors distinction, as well as any earned university or college distinction, noted on the official transcript.