FAQs

The main chemistry office can be found in Renfrew Hall, Room 116. Walk in and you will see the staff through a window. They are happy to help!

We encourage prospective undergraduate students to come for a visit, talk with an advisor, and perhaps sit in on a typical first year course. Call to schedule an appointment (208-885-6552).  You can also contact us by email: chemoff@uidaho.edu

See the section on “Declaring a Major” on the website.

There can be many reasons why you can’t register for a course or courses. You might owe the school some money, you might not meet prerequisites for the course, you might not have an address on file, or maybe you're a transfer student and all your courses from other schools are not yet in the database. Sometimes it's as simple as you've just pushed the wrong button!

Whatever the case, please contact your advisor and ask for help. They may be able to override many things that can cause your registration to fail. If you bring proof (text, syllabus, etc.) that a course you took at another school matches a course listed as a prereq here, they can often override the prerequisite block.

Chemists typically deal with the invention, investigation, and synthesis of chemical transformations on small scales, whereas chemical engineers deal with the scale-up of chemical processes to large-scale production levels. Chemical engineers are also concerned with the economics of the scale-up process. Degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Idaho are offered through the College of Engineering.

Students will find that biochemistry and biology have a great deal in common, whereas chemistry requires more math and chemistry, no biology or genetics, and very little biochemistry. There can be a lot of chemistry in biochemistry, but hardly any biology in chemistry. As a result, chemists are exposed to more chemistry than biochemists, but biochemists see more biology. At Idaho, degrees in biochemistry are found in the MMBB program offered through the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.