Undergraduate Advising

Chemistry majors are advised by a team of academic advisors and faculty. Assigned advisors can be found under Academics in the Spire Student Center. Note: If you have multiple majors you will see advising information for your primary major. 

Advising appointments are scheduled via UMass Amherst’s undergraduate student success system called Navigate. Use Navigate to schedule appointments with campus resources, review course progress feedback and connect with your success team. All undergraduate students currently enrolled at UMass Amherst automatically have access to Navigate.

Specific registration times are noted on your Student Center page under Manage Classes > Enrollment Appointment > select appropriate Semester. Registration appointments are defined as the start and end dates/times you can register for classes.

An Advising Hold is placed on all chemistry majors to ensure they meet with an advisor prior to registering for courses. Advising holds will be released during advising appointments.

When meeting with your advisor, please bring:

1. Your proposed schedule; you can visit the registrar's site for a blank scheduling grid.
2. Your course checklist for the BA or BS degree curriculum.

• Course sequence
• Advising holds/registration holds
• Research plans
• Your specific chemistry interests
• Is chemistry a good fit?
• Summer plans
• Internship opportunities
• Long-term goals/Career planning
• Graduate school applications
• Letters of recommendation
• Managing academic challenges and/or personal difficulties

The versatility of a chemistry degree prepares graduates for diverse and rewarding career opportunities in industry or graduate school. 

Chemistry is fundamental to various industries, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy, environmental science, materials science, food and beverage, cosmetics, agriculture, and manufacturing. Within each of these industries, chemists play key roles in research and development, quality control, production, regulatory affairs, and more.

The ACS List of Careers in the Chemical Sciences  list is a valuable resource offering an overview of the career options available to chemists, and provides personal experiences to provide a deeper understanding of each career path.

An advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in Chemistry opens many doors professionally.  If you’re considering pursuing a graduate degree, here are some important things to consider and when. 

Extra-academic activities: Undergraduate research experience and/or summer internships are critically important.  Ideally, students should be looking for research opportunities in the middle of the sophomore year or beginning of their junior year.  This can help provide further opportunities for paid summer research, NSF-sponsored summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) appointments, or internships at private companies (also VERY helpful even if you’re not interested in graduate school!)

Recommendation Letters: You should arrange – before the end of your junior year – for three letters of recommendation from people who are familiar with both your academic and research qualifications. 

Preliminary list of prospective schools: In the summer between your junior and senior year, you should spend maybe an hour per week doing some online shopping for chemistry graduate programs (and specific faculty) that interest you.  This requires you to have a good idea of what kind of research you want to do and where you might like to pursue it (like geographic region, school size, etc.)

Draft Resume/Personal Statements: Your resume (or CV) and personal statements play a critical role in the way graduate admissions committees select applications for admission.  The purpose of these documents is to build a case to the graduate admissions committee for why YOU should be selected (out of a pool of typically several hundred applications) to their program.  Your CV should succinctly summarize your academic and research qualifications.  Your personal statement should clearly state what kind of research you’re interested in, and support the information on your CV. This is your opportunity to expand on the scientific questions your research and describe aspects of your specific project. Expect to revise these documents many times before they’re ready for submission, and to have someone with experience agree to provide comments and suggestions.  It’s recommended that you have solid working drafts of these documents (see templates) before the beginning of your senior year.

Applications:  Applications to US Chemistry graduate programs are due around December 1 for the coming fall semester.  You can expect decisions on your applications between January and February, and if accepted you’ll be invited to an on-campus visit in early spring.  YOUR decision about which offer to accept is due on April 15. 

Please feel free to contact our Chemistry Department Graduate Program Director, Mike Barnes (@email) if you have any questions.