Saint Mary's College of California

 
   
  Why Study Chemistry at SMC?
 

The chemistry department at Saint Mary's College of California has designed the curriculum to show non-majors how chemistry impacts their lives as well as to prepare majors with the appropriate background to enter into a variety of fields such as pharmaceutical research, health care, and environmental studies. Many chemistry majors at SMC, approximately 30 %, go on to medical and graduate school. The department offers an environmental emphasis chemistry major in addition to the standard chemistry major. A biochemistry major is offered jointly through the Chemistry and Biology departments.

 

Class sizes reach a maximum at 36 students with upper division classes being much smaller and labs are no larger than 16 students. This gives students the opportunity to work directly with their professors in an atmosphere that allows more individual attention and focus.    
     
Mission
In addition to teaching the core chemical principles, a chemistry degree from Saint Mary's College of California allows students to to become independent thinkers with the ability to generate and analyze data and to apply their knowledge towards solving complex problems.
 

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What is Chemistry?
Chemistry is the study of the conversions of matter. However, this definition does not do justice to the far-reaching importance and scope of this subject. An understanding of chemical principles is integral to the understanding of many fields for instance medicine, pharmacology, biology, physiology, and geology. The number of subdisciplines that have sprung from the roots of chemistry, such as biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, environmental chemistry, and geochemistry, attest to the far reaching impact of the field. Chemistry also affects our daily lives; chemical reactions move our cars, produce our food and drugs, and impact our environment and health.
 

 

You can find more information about specific courses, the faculty, research opportunites for undergraduates, and chemistry alumni through the website or feel free to contact a chemistry department member for further details.
 

 

Contact Information:

phone: 925-631-8222
fax: 925-376-4027
e-mail: jsigman@stmarys-ca.edu