Department of Biochemistry & Chemistry

As a biochemistry major, you will work very closely with the faculty and other students on relevant scientific questions in our new (opened Fall 2021), state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. The innovative curriculum, which emphasizes research, communication, and community, will effectively prepare you for success, whether you intend to go on to work in healthcare, industry, or higher education.

Greater than 95 percent of biochemistry grads are accepted to professional health schools (med school, PA programs, pharmacy school, etc.), to graduate programs or find employment in the STEM industry.

 Major Requirements & Courses

 Minor Requirements & Courses

 Guide to Chemistry Course Placement

A degree in chemistry from Westminster will prepare you to be a teacher, go to graduate or professional school, or work in a number of thriving industries, including pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, petrochemical and energy resources, and scientific instrumentation support and development. The American Chemical Society-accredited course of study creates independent thinkers and collaborative researchers.

As a chemistry major, you will complete a hands-on, mentored research experience and/or internship, and will present the results of your research in a professional setting. Experiences like these are the reason greater than 95% of our chemistry majors who begin their working career after graduation find employment in the STEM industry or other industry of their choice, and that we have a greater than 95 percent acceptance rate to graduate programs.

 Major Requirements & Courses

 Minor Requirements & Courses

 7-12 Grade Teacher Certification

 Guide to Chemistry Course Placement

Westminster College provides guidance and education for students interested in a wide variety of healthcare careers. Professional schools seek students who are broadly educated in the liberal arts with strong critical-thinking and communication skills. These skills are nurtured and developed at Westminster, which has resulted in an above 90 percent acceptance rate for students applying into professional schools.

Students who plan to attend medical or other professional schools in the health sciences can pursue any standard disciplinary or interdisciplinary major Westminster offers. Popular majors for our pre-med and pre-health students include biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and neuroscience.

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A Westminster education is a sound foundation for pharmacy school. Students who want to be pharmacists usually major in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, or Neuroscience as the curricula for those majors includes most of the required and recommended courses for admission to pharmacy school.

Chemistry and biochemistry majors in our Pre-Pharmacy program may also be able to save time and money through a Bachelor’s Degree Plus Program offered in partnership with Duquesne University’s School of Pharmacy. Through this program, eligible Westminster students can begin their Doctorate of Pharmacy program after their junior year. Alternatively, students can apply to participate in the Early Entry Program, through which they would spend two years at Westminster and four years at Duquesne's School of Pharmacy.

 Information & Courses

Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary major that will give you the broad scientific background needed to tackle problems of the environment. You will focus on hands-on, collaborative learning and partner with local and regional environmental organizations and businesses on real-world environmental problems. ES majors do their work in both state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and on our expansive 300-acre campus. A required internship and team-based Capstone research gives our students the skills for success in careers and graduate school.

ES majors interested in graduate school can also save time and money through one of our Bachelor’s Degree Plus Programs. Through these programs, you could earn your Westminster degree and be on the fast-track to a master’s degree in Environmental Science or a law degree.

 Major Requirements & Courses

With this flexible interdisciplinary major, students combine environmental studies coursework with a second discipline of their choice to work on problems of the environment. For example, students could combine environmental studies with business administration to focus on corporate sustainability or environmental studies with sociology to explore environmental justice. Students interested in environmental law can combine environmental studies with political science, and could even apply to start law school at the end of their junior year through one of our Bachelor’s Degree Plus Programs.

We focus on hands-on, collaborative learning and partner with local and regional environmental organizations and businesses on real-world environmental problems. A required internship and team-based capstone gives our students the skills for success in careers and graduate school. As a bonus, we get to study the environment on our expansive and diverse 300-acre campus.

 Major Requirements & Courses

 Minor Requirements & Courses

Science majors who are successful in their careers most often find themselves in supervisory or management positions where the fundamental business skills presented in this minor will be extremely beneficial. The minor is available to students majoring in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, or Physics.

 Minor Requirements & Courses

The individual interdisciplinary major allows students to design their own majors. Students identify a core of course work in one program of study (major or minor), and then add coursework from other disciplines to craft an educational experience as unique as their ambitions.

Recent real-life examples of Individual Interdisciplinary majors include:

• Environmental Science Project Management (Environmental Science and Business)
• Scientific Illustration (Fine Art and Biology)
• Film & Media Relations (Film Studies and Communication)

For more information, contact an Admissions Counselor today.