The next opportunity to take the Chemistry Equivalency Exams will be during NSO for Fall 2025. The exact dates/times will be posted below by July. Please register for the exam here in June.
Please note: If you have already taken an equivalency exam and did not pass you may NOT retake the exam.
For additional exam registration inquiries, please contact Candice Adams in the undergraduate office at chemugrad@sas.upenn.edu
Preparing for the Chemistry Equivalency Exam
These exams will cover material from CHEM 1012: General Chemistry I and CHEM 1022: General Chemistry II at the same level of difficulty as presented at Penn.
The exam questions will range from concept-oriented to problems requiring a specific numerical solution.
We do not offer old exams or sample problems. To prepare for the exams you should review material from the following text:
Zumdahl: Chemical Principles - 8th Edition
General Chemistry I: Chapters 1 through 5, 12, 13, 14, 16.
General Chemistry II: Chapters 6 through 11, and 15.
Exam Registration
General Chemistry I Exam:
Date: TBD
Duration: 2 hrs.
Location: TBD
General Chemistry II Exam:
Date: TBD
Duration: 2 hrs.
Location: TBD
Registration closes August 19 at 11:59pm
https://www.chem.upenn.edu/content/chem-101-102-placement-exam-registration
Please arrive ~15 minutes before the start of the exams
You MUST bring your valid Penn ID to be admitted to the exam.
The equivalency exams will be administered in-person. Please bring a non-internet enabled calculator, and bring a pen / pencil. A simple scientific calculator (<$10) will suffice. It should do both base 10 and base e logs, scientific notation, and basic math functions. Graphing calculators are also fine. The only restriction is that your calculator must be a non-internet enabled device, i.e., cell phones.
The exam will be closed notes/closed book. Any pertinent information (constants, data, etc.) necessary to answer a given question will be provided at the time of the exam.
For exam inquiries, please contact Candice Adams in the undergraduate office at chemugrad@sas.upenn.edu.