Sophomore Year: Use your Progress Toward Your Degree or Academic Progress Summary to help you keep track of your General Education and Chemistry courses as they are placed into your Plan of Study. You need to meet with an advisor and have them update your Plan of Study and indicate the courses you have taken that count toward the major.

Transfer Credit: When students fulfill program requirements by taking courses at other colleges and universities, it is prudent to determine if that course transfers for an ISU course. Before you take a course elsewhere, it is a good idea to make sure it will fulfill requirements at the appropriate level for correct number of credits at ISU. Advisors and mentors can assist you with this issue.

Change in plan: Sometimes, changes in your life impact your college plans. Students may need to withdraw from the University for a semester, take longer than four years to complete their degree, and so on. When students anticipate a disruption in their academic careers for any reason, advisors can often assist students to minimize the level of the disruption.

When should students talk to their Chemistry Mentor instead of a Chemistry Department Advisor?

Students who wish to discuss the following are encouraged to talk with their research mentors, who are in the best position to help student with career planning:

career options
course choices
areas of interest they would like to pursue, etc,

Who is my advisor/How do I meet them?

Most students will meet with the advisors in University College in the Academic Advising Unit, during their freshmen year. Honors students are counseled within the Honors Program. You should plan on meeting your Academic Advisor once within weeks 2-6 of your first semester, once to plan your General Education courses and math for upcoming semesters, and once during your second semester to evaluate your progress and prepare for your third semester.

Generally speaking, you should plan to meet with your Chemistry Department Advisor at least once during your first semester in Organic Chemistry and to complete your Plan of Study and Request for Physical Chemistry prior to enrolling in Physical Chemistry I. You may need to meet more frequently, if you are experiencing problems within your current courses or if you are thinking about changing majors.

If you have not declared Chemistry/ Chemistry Teacher Education/Biochemistry& Molecular Biology as your major, please fill out the Change of Major form and return it to the Department of Chemistry for mentor assignment.

If your academic background is complicated or if you are unable to contact your Department Advisor, contact the Chemistry Department Lead Advisor or the Chemistry Department Office (309)-438-7661.

Should I see an advisor to help me get into a class that is closed and for which I want an override?

No. If you want to take a chemistry class and find that it is closed, the procedure is to complete an override request. Override request forms should be completed and returned to the Department of Chemistry office, Julian Hall 214. Should there be room in the class or a re-evaluation of your status for a course, you will be contacted through ISU e-mail about the status of your override request. We often wait until the registration period is over before making decisions on overrides, so plan accordingly.

If you want an override into a course from another department, you need to contact that department and follow that department's procedures with the exception of Math and Physics. Chemistry Department advisors will help you with Math or Physics override requests.

Course Load Overrides

Course load overrides for 18 credit hours or greater are processed for ISU students with overall and chemistry GPAs of 2.7 or better. These overrides are not available for new freshmen or transfer students, and must be obtained directly from the Chemistry Department Lead Advisor.

Third Time Enrollments

All requests for third time enrollments in courses are considered by Chemistry Department Lead Advisor, following completion of the Third Enrollment Contract.

What you need to bring to any meeting with your advisor or mentor:

An up-to-date copy of your Progress Toward Your Degree (PTYD) or Academic Progress Summary (APS) from the Student Service and Referral Center in Moulton Hall 107
A comparison of your APS to the Course Checklist for your major
A written academic plan for review with your advisor.

If you do not complete these steps, advisors/mentors will ask you to reschedule

The PTYDs and APSs contain all relevant information about your academic career and, when utilized with the course requirements you need to meet for the Chemistry/ Chemistry Teacher Education/Biochemistry & Molecular Biology major, enable you to plan your academic career.