Our Department recognizes the transfer course equivalencies previously approved by the University. If a student plans to take a course at another institution in the future, and it is not listed at the above site, that student should follow the advice of the Academic Advising Program and submit a Course Approval Form before taking the course.

If a course has already been completed at a different institution but is not listed as previously approved, equivalency can be gained as follows:

For Introductory Chemistry (Chem 101, Chem 102 and the associated labs), students must take a placement/competency exam given by the chemistry department. Passing this exam demonstrates knowledge of the course material, and the department will issue an explanation letter to the appropriate academic unit, for example Registrar’s office, Academic Advising, or Graduate program in Pharmacy.

The UNC Department of Chemistry will offer Placement Exams for the following courses on ONE day during the spring semester. These will fall on the weekday before classes begin.

Exams will be held in-person at Murray G202 at 1:00pm EST on Friday, August 18, 2023. Exams begin promptly at 1 p.m. EST.

Students may choose to take ONE of the following exams:

1. Chem 101, 101L Placement Exam
2. Chem 102, 102L Placement Exam
3. Chem 101, 101L/102, 102L, COMBO Placement Exam

All exams are 70 questions with a 110 minute time limit.

Students who have previously taken and not finished or not passed one of the above courses may NOT earn the credit via exams. Students who already have credit for the lecture may not use these placement exams to earn lab credit.

ALL STUDENTS PLANNING TO TAKE ONE OF THE ABOVE EXAMS MUST SIGN UP BY 11:45pm ON August 17, 2023, using this link.

Additional information will be sent to each student who signs up prior to the exam date.

Results of the exams will be available to students prior to the first day of classes on August 21, 2023.

The exams will only be given if there are students interested in taking them. Students should email chemus@unc.edu to ask questions about the exams. There is no fee for this service, but students may only attempt each exam once.