All entering freshmen must be enrolled in an English class, a University 1010 class, and in any required developmental courses. These courses take priority over all other courses, including courses in the students' majors. Freshmen may not enroll in 3000 or 4000-level courses.
Developmental Courses: Students may not withdraw from developmental courses. Students who experience difficulty with developmentals should be advised to drop another course to lighten their load. The rationale for this is simply that these courses are considered essential for continued success at Xavier. They are designed to prepare students for their regular college courses.
Loads: Freshmen in the Chemistry Department are purposely given light loads (15 semester hours and no more than two math/science courses) in the first semester to give them a chance to adjust to college. If they do okay the first semester, they can and should take heavier loads in the future. They shouldn't worry about light loads now. Instead, have them concentrate on getting a "4.0" this term. Entering freshmen who must take developmental courses (and some other students) are given restricted schedules for similar reasons.
Honors courses: This is a note especially for advisors of Premeds--that is, all Chemistry advisors. An "A" in an honors course looks good on a transcript. However, a "B" in an honors course is worse than an "A" in a regular course. Therefore, we suggest that you urge students to look closely at the benefits before enrolling in honors courses. If a student gets something extra (like a scholarship or bypassing a course), or if the "honors" part doesn't affect the grade, an honors course is probably worthwhile. Otherwise, maybe it's not. Before making a decision, we suggest that you have students talk to two or three upper-level students. A special note about Honors History: We think that this course has no exams and lots of papers. You might mention this to students who are considering whether or not they want to take the course.
Usual courses taken and acceptable substitutes: Freshmen in all Chemistry disciplines generally take the following courses. Chemistry (A.C.S.) students should not substitute General Biology if ineligible for General Chemistry - an additional non-science core course is preferable.
Chemistry Courses:
University Orientation (UNIV 1010 in the first semester and UNIV 1020 in the second semester).
A Mathematics course (Math 1030 unless the Academic Data Sheet says otherwise) (no substitutes)
An English course (ENGL 1010 unless the Academic Data Sheet says otherwise) (no substitutes)
An activity course (not an academic course) from the courses acceptable for the Physical Education requirement (PHED). For a list of activity courses see the Xavier Catalog (look in the index under Physical Education).
A 3-hour non-science course chosen from the following:
Becoming a Sophomore: Freshmen must have completed all required developmental courses, ENGL 1010 and 1020, and at least 29 degree credit hours to be classified as sophomores.