[suihi]

Hi there.  I have searched far and wide over the internet, but I have only gone in circles.  I stumbled across these forums, and hopefully someone here will be able to lead me in the right direction.

My case is a little different from most of the topics I have read.  I am actually working towards a degree that is somewhat removed from Chemistry - Pharmacology to be specific - at the University of Toronto.  However, I do have a solid background in Chemistry; I plan to complete a minor in Chemistry in addition to my specialization in Pharmacology, and I have received good grades in all the Chemistry courses I have taken.  I took Organic (2 semesters), Physical (1 semester, plan to do 1 more), Analytical (2 semesters), Atmospheric (1 semester), and a Chemistry research course (2 semesters).  Furthermore, I will be taking a 1-year internship as an Assistant Analytical Chemist beginning in September, which I assume would strengthen my application.

I was wondering if universities (prestigious preferable, of course) would consider undergraduates from my field.  If not, I suppose I should just give up right now and continue in my path.  If so, though, could anyone recommend any schools with good graduate programs?  The area I am currently looking at is Analytical Chemistry.  (I noticed that there is another sub-forum specifically for Analytical Chemistry, but there were no topics of this type.)  Most of the information I found is only about schools in the US, but does anyone have information on institutions outside of the US?

I realize that my questions may be difficult to answer, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jd1828]

There are very few chemistry M.S. schools that I know of.  Most admit PhD students and give out M.S. degrees to students that don't make it thought the program for various reasons.  I am just finishing up my degree at a M.S. only school.  I know that there are a few people here that have undergrad degrees in areas like biology.  This school is not very selective or prestigious but graduates from here end up going to very prestigious schools for their PhD.

[JGK]

Can't be much help I'm afraid, I did my BSc in Biochemistry (Toxicology) in the UK and later applied to do an MSc in Analytical Chemistry and Instrumentation as a part time.

The head of the MSc course was a bit reluctant to take me on as "I hadn't done a full chemistry degree.  However, I uttered the magic words "My employer is paying the fees" and lo, the objections melted away. I had no trouble with the work and passed the finals. The hard part was having to go into work at weekends to work on my project as there was no time during the week.