Q: Are the prerequisites enforced for all courses?

A: Perhaps not, but the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering will enforce prerequisites for all CHEN courses. You are advised strongly not to take courses whose prerequisites you have not satisfied. If you do not satisfy a prerequisite, you must petition to stay in the course.

Q: How do I determine what the prerequisites are for a course?

A: The Boulder Campus CU catalog lists prerequisites with the course descriptions. The on-line Registration Handbook published each semester may or may not list prerequisites. The curriculum checklist form at the back of this Guide shows prerequisites for the required courses of the curriculum. The Department also maintains a Learning Goals sheet for each CHEN course that includes a description of prerequisites.

Q: When have I satisfied a prerequisite requirement?

A: By taking the prerequisite course and achieving a grade of C- or higher. If you received a grade lower than C- in the prerequisite course, you must retake that course.

Q: Do I have to achieve a grade of C- or higher in all my CHEN courses that are specifically required for graduation?

A: Yes, and your GPA in all CHEN courses must be 2.00 or greater.

Q: Let's say I took CHEN 4440 (Materials) and passed with a C- or above.  Then I took CHEN 4460 (Polymer Engineering) but did not intend on using this class to take the place of the material requirement (because I had already taken and passed CHEN 4440).  I received a D in CHEN 4460.  Does this still count towards my technical elective credit or since it is a CHEN class does it not count since all CHEN courses must be passed with a C- or above?

A: If you are using CHEN 4460 as one of your technical electives within the department (i.e., as one of the CHEN 3000+ requirements) then your D grade in CHEN 4460 will not count towards technical elective credit.  However, you may apply this course as credit towards a non-CHEN 3000+ technical elective.

Q: I recently changed majors to ChE during the fall of my sophomore year, and I missed taking Chemical Engineering Material & Energy Balances (CHEN 2120). Does that put off my graduation by an entire year?

A: Not necessarily, but it is likely to put it off by at least a semester. You will probably take CHEN 2120 in the Spring and MCEN 3021 (Fluids) next fall. Also, CHEN 3200 (Fluids) may be offered in the Summer semester. Consult an advisor.

Q: I've heard that it is impossible to complete the B.S. program in ChE in four years and that all students take at least 4-1/2 and many take 5 years.

A: Not so. The curriculum is designed to be completed in 4 years, and we encourage you to do so. We cannot, however, require you to do so.  Some students do take longer to complete their degree. Reasons for this vary, but include  other demands on the student's time require reduced academic loads, by transferring or changing majors partway through the program, the student has a curricular mismatch, academic difficulty requires the student to repeat one or more courses, and the student wants to explore academic areas outside of the standard ChE curriculum.

Q: How are MAPS deficiencies handled in the context of the ChE curriculum?

A: Minimum Academic Preparation Standards (MAPS) are State-mandated requirements placed on the academic preparation you received in high school and prior to entering CU. They are actually graduation requirements (yes, requirements upon graduation from CU). If you have any MAPS deficiencies, you must remedy them before graduation. University policy requires that you remedy deficiencies by taking appropriate courses, at least one course per semester upon entering CU. That may mean that your progress in the ChE curriculum will be altered or delayed because of the requirement to remedy MAPS deficiencies. There are cases, e.g., foreign language courses, where the course(s) you take to remedy a MAPS deficiency can actually count toward your B.S. ChE degree program. However, there are also situations, e.g., MAPS deficiencies in math, where the preparatory courses taken to remedy the deficiencies will not count toward your degree. It is most important to consult an advisor regarding MAPS deficiencies.

   MAPS requirements are different for the various colleges at CU. For example, Arts and Sciences requires one high school unit of geography and Engineering does not. See page 8 of the 2007-2008 CU Catalog.

Q: My MAPS evaluation states that I have 2.5 credits for one of my MAPS requirements and I need 3.0.  How do I satisfy the remaining 0.5 MAPS credits?  Do I need to take a full class to get the 0.5 credits?

A: 1 MAPS unit = 1 year at the high school level, or 1 semester's worth at the college level.  Since CU does not have half-semester courses, yes -- you need to take a full social science course (like economics, sociology, US or world history, human geography).  If you are smart, you will enroll in a course that fulfills MAPS plus also counts towards college H&SS degree requirements at

     http://engineering.colorado.edu/HOMER/