The Department of Chemistry and Physics at Saint Mary's College

Why would you want to study chemistry at a liberal arts college?

There are many reasons!

We are an American Chemical Society (ACS) approved department and students can receive one of our ACS certified degrees; the B.S. in Chemistry and the B.S. in Chemistry with a Biochemical Concentration upon completion of the requirements.

Because we are an American Chemical Society approved school, our program meets the same standards as undergraduate programs at major research universities, but our classes are smaller and taught by faculty with an expertise in that field. Even first year classes have this advantage. Our classes are smaller than can be found at a larger school as well. This allows our students to interact with the faculty, which is a major part of the college experience. The smaller class sizes also allow us to let our students gain valuable experience using chemical instrumentation and other techniques that are only heard about at larger schools. We also get our students involved in the department.

Many of our majors gain valuable experience as assistants in the laboratories. These students assist the faculty member in the laboratory, learning and teaching as they serve. It is this type of interaction that you can only get at a college like Saint Mary's.The Department offers the Chemistry Major (with or without a Biochemical Concentration) and Minors in Chemistry and Physics. Our goal is to prepare our students for life after Saint Mary's, whether in an industrial position, government position, graduate school or professional school (Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Pharmacy, etc.).

Our Alumnae have succeeded in a wide variety of endeavors. Around 43% of our students go into industry or government positions, 35% go directly to graduate school and 15% go on to professional schools. We have alumnae who have attended Stanford, The University of North Carolina, The University of Texas, Kansas State University, The University of Illinois, Duke University Medical School, Georgetown Medical School, Northwestern Medical School and Indiana University Medical School. Students have also continued on in engineering, law, pharmacy and forensics. We also have students who work in labs at hospitals, for consulting firms (Anderson Consulting) and Abbot Laboratories.

We hope that you will explore further on our web site!