There are numerous reasons for wanting to earn advanced graduate school chemistry degrees. As is common knowledge, people working in the chemical field often have interests in the sciences. If you are working in the medical industry, for example, there are many opportunities for you to take classes in advanced study of the human body and its various systems.
There are also plenty of jobs in the industry that require graduate studies in the field of chemical engineering. These include positions at the labs where drugs are made, at large pharmaceutical corporations, and in academia.
For those interested in pursuing careers as teachers in a science-related school, a graduate school chemistry degree will help you in your career options. Your training will be needed by many schools to teach students about the nature of the physical world around us and how it works.
There are a variety of graduate degrees in advanced and general chemistry courses you can take at post-secondary schools. These include courses in biochemistry, elementary biology and chemical physics. The subjects covered in each of these degrees may not be as varied as some other courses, but they cover many of the same types of research and development in the field.
When you start a program in graduate school, you will want to make sure you fully understand the requirements to enroll in the courses that will be required to earn the graduate degrees you are looking for. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is one test that many schools and programs use to determine how well the graduate student’s background and educational history fit the course requirements.
A student should know that GRE’s for the courses in undergraduate chemistry are a four-number scale. Students taking the Graduate Record Exam must score at least 720 on this test to earn a place in the graduate level of the examination. Scores lower than this means the student has lower scores on his or her college test scores as well.
For graduate students, scores on the GRE in the graduate record exam will be based on the former four numbers on the Gregorian scale. This scales from one to five, with one being the highest possible score. Students that do not pass the exam for the first time at their first attempt do not need to retake the GRE, but must wait one year from that time to take it again in order to be re-certified.
For students that complete the GRE for their graduate studies in chemistry, there are two more numbers that must be passed before the final GRE, which is an eight-number scale. These numbers include the student’s scores on the introductory laboratory section of the exam and the final written examination on the theory portion of the study. Students that fail to meet these minimum scores must retake the GRE exam again before they can enroll in graduate level programs for advanced or general chemistry courses.
Graduate students will have the option to take an elective class after completing their graduate degree, as long as it has been approved by the school and has been approved for enrollment. This is referred to as an elective course and can be a different course from the course that was taken in undergraduate chemistry.
If you choose to enroll in graduate level programs, it is important to remember that these programs will cover both advanced and general chemistry courses. Students must take at least twelve credit hours on these courses in order to earn a Master’s degree. They will have to complete a minimum of fourteen in order to graduate.
The requirements for graduate degrees in chemistry vary from school to school and from the number of credits that you will be given for the courses you want to take. Make sure to check the requirements with the school you are interested in attending and the specific requirements for the courses you wish to take when you begin a program.