Last spring, 555 students enrolled in CHEM 0350: “Organic Chemistry I.” But during pre-registration this fall, prospective students were met with a new course cap: Only 410 students were able to register for CHEM 0350 next spring, leaving many students scrambling to adjust schedules and meet requirements.
As the first course in the organic chemistry sequence, CHEM 0350 is a requirement for most life science concentrations and medical schools. In the past, CHEM 0350 has only been offered in the spring, while CHEM 0360: “Organic Chemistry II” has only been offered in the fall.
But starting in fall 2026, the Department of Chemistry will offer both courses every semester. Instead of holding two CHEM 0350 sections every spring and two CHEM 0360 sections every fall, the courses will now each offer one section every semester.
To accommodate these changes, the department reduced the number of organic chemistry seats to make sure all students in CHEM 0350 this spring will have a seat in CHEM 0360 next fall, according to Associate Teaching Professor of Chemistry Jesse Morin PhD’11.
The changes to the chemistry sequence also include a new half-credit lab course, CHEM 0370, that will replace the lab sections previously incorporated in both CHEM 0350 and CHEM 0360. Now, each course will only be offered as lecture courses, and students can take CHEM 0370 concurrently with or after CHEM 0360. CHEM 0370 will be offered every semester starting next fall.
Amit Basu, professor of chemistry and director of the department’s undergraduate studies, wrote in an email to The Herald that this new sequence “addresses a major complaint with the prior curriculum” — namely, that it did not align with medical schools’ requirements.
If students took both introductory chemistry courses — CHEM 0100: “Introductory Chemistry” and CHEM 0330: “Equilibrium, Rate and Structure” — over their first two semesters at Brown, they would have to wait until their sophomore spring to take CHEM 0350. These students would then be one year behind their peers who were able to skip CHEM 0100 and instead took CHEM 0330 in their first-year fall and CHEM 0350 the following semester.
Students will now be able to complete the entire general and organic chemistry sequence in four consecutive semesters, Basu wrote. Starting next fall, students who take both CHEM 0100 and CHEM 0330 will be able to take CHEM 0350 their sophomore fall and finish the sequence by the end of their second year at Brown.
“When we were thinking through all the implications of this curriculum change … we wanted to make sure that we would not be putting students at a disadvantage whether they started in CHEM 0330 in the fall or in the spring,” Morin said.
The department also considered historical data, lab space and teaching assistants’ availability when deciding on the caps, which “are designed to minimize the number of denied enrollments once the new curriculum is in place,” Basu wrote.
Students have long called for the chemistry department to offer CHEM 0350 and CHEM 0360 both semesters, The Herald previously reported. But now that the change is set to take effect, some students are “disappointed” that the new course cap prevented them from getting a seat in CHEM 0350 next spring, Basu wrote.
Olivia Tran ’29 did not get into CHEM 0350 during course registration this fall. Now, she plans on taking a gap year before applying to medical school, she told The Herald.
To Tran, the new offerings do not provide a solution for students who want to go straight to medical school without taking a gap year.
After taking CHEM 0360, most pre-medical students then enroll in BIOL 0280: “Biochemistry,” a course that is recommended or required by most medical schools. Biochemistry makes up a significant portion of the Medical College Admission Test, so pre-med students usually take the exam after they’ve completed BIOL 0280.
But the changes to the organic chemistry sequence did not affect BIOL 0280, which is still only offered in the spring.
Under the new system, students who take CHEM 0350 next fall will either have to take BIOL 0280 before or concurrently with CHEM 0360 or wait until spring 2028 to take the course.
Although Ben Huang ’29 secured a spot in CHEM 0350 next semester, he said he was stressed about getting in during course registration. Had he been unable to enroll in CHEM 0350 next spring, Huang would have taken CHEM 0360, BIOL 0280 and BIOL 0800: “Principles of Physiology” concurrently in order to be prepared for the MCAT by the beginning of his junior year.
Tran said that she knew students who planned to take the three courses concurrently. “It genuinely seems terrible mentally,” she said.
Instead of taking CHEM 0360 concurrently with biochemistry, some of Tran’s friends plan to self-study the content before sitting for the MCAT, she said.
Sarah Linjawy ’29 said she found it “annoying” that the new half-credit lab course would prevent students from taking a fifth class, as students can only take a maximum of five credits every semester.
“I do not like how it is going to limit your autonomy when it comes to picking a schedule,” she said.
But Morin said the half-credit is a “strength” for the new curriculum.
“I think students are leaning towards taking too many classes in a given semester,” she said. The half-credit allows students to show their “extra work” on their transcript without over-exerting themselves.
Basu wrote that creating a separate lab course frees up lab space concerns that previously stopped the department from offering CHEM 0350 and CHEM 0360 concurrently.
In order to condense two semesters of lab into one, Morin said that CHEM 0370 will meet every week of the semester, rather than only having the six weeks of lab that CHEM 0350 and CHEM 0360 required.
According to Basu, CHEM 0370 will be similar to CHEM 0360’s lab section, which was more project-based than CHEM 0350’s section.
Morin said the “more cohesive project-based experience … will emphasize the skills students are required to develop to get into research labs.”
The new lab course will “make students take lab more seriously,” Huang said.
Because most medical schools require two semesters of organic chemistry with lab, Morin wrote in an email to The Herald that the University sends a “letter that explains some of the unique curricular features” at Brown. This letter will now explain that CHEM 0370 is the equivalent of two semesters of lab.
The chemistry department has also been considering altering their general chemistry sequence to better match medical schools’ requirements. While CHEM 0100 counts as a general chemistry course, it does not include a lab component, and most medical schools recommend applicants take two semesters of general chemistry with lab.
The department is considering offering a new lecture-based course titled CHEM 0320, which would be taken before CHEM 0330 and would replace CHEM 0100, according to Brenda Rubenstein ’07, professor of chemistry and physics.
Rubenstein wrote in an email to The Herald that this potential change would accommodate “growing interest” in general chemistry that now exceeds the lab space and available TA staff.
This is not yet a decided change and the department is “formally and informally polling” students, Rubenstein wrote.
