Pre-requisite Information for First-Year Chemistry Courses

The following information is for any student who is considering taking CH110 without credit in the 12U Chemistry (SCH4U) prerequisite, or who has completed the prerequisite but is concerned about their preparedness for university chemistry.

The prerequisite for CH110: Fundamentals of Chemistry I is either:

• 12U Chemistry (SCH4U) or
• an equivalent course (e.g., from a college or an out of province high school).

You are responsible for ensuring that you have the required prerequisite(s) for any course you are registering for.

Rationale for the 12U Chemistry Pre-requisite

If you have not completed any high school chemistry, or have only taken 11U Chemistry (SCH3U), you may find CH110 to be challenging as it is not designed as a “beginners’ course”.

SCH4U is important to your academic success before CH110 because:

• Without credit in SCH4U, you will be at a disadvantage, and you will need to invest significantly more time engaged in independent study to learn the course material.
• The SCH4U prerequisite is required because the concepts you learn from this course are not reviewed in CH110.
  • For example, the following concepts are used in the very first section of the course without review: formulas that correspond to polyatomic ions, calculating molar mass, converting between mass, moles, and molecules/ions/atoms (using Avogadro’s number).
• High school foundations are also essential for academic success in CH111, which is taught at a faster pace.

Complete Grade 12U Chemistry

If you do not hold credit in Grade 12U Chemistry (SCH4U) or an equivalent course, you should consider completing the course this summer. Consider any of these options:

• Check with your local Board of Education (Ontario listing) for “summer school” courses.
• Complete the high school course online through the Ministry of Education's partnership with tvo’s Independent Learning Centre, which offers flexible and affordable high school courses for credit.
• Look into additional online institutions offering Ontario high school credits, such as Virtual High School.
• Refresh your chemistry knowledge by taking not-for credit free upgrading through tvoLearn. Note this will not count as a prerequisite for CH110 as you must hold credit in the SCH4U course.
• Refresh your chemistry knowledge through the learning modules developed at Trent University which are available through eCampusOntario: Be Prepared! Everything you should know for 1st year Chemistry.

Complete SC102

 If you have not completed 12U Chemistry before you attend Laurier, there is a pathway for you to finish first-year chemistry.

If you have completed one of 12U Advanced Functions, 3U Functions and Relations, or 3M Functions, you can register for SC102: Essential Skills for Chemistry for the fall term:

• This is a 0.5-credit Faculty of Science elective course which is also acceptable as a prerequisite for CH110.
• CH110 will be offered in the winter term and CH111 in the spring term.

If you have additional questions regarding your preparedness for CH110, contact the Departmental Undergraduate Officer (chemadvising@wlu.ca).