General Chemistry I & II with Lab for Vet School: The Complete Prerequisite Guide- Can you complete General Chemistry I and II with lab online and have it count toward veterinary school? Here is the honest, school-by-school answer — plus how the gen-chem sequence feeds the organic chemistry and biochemistry requirements that follow it.
Target keyword: general chemistry for vet school online • Last verified May 2026 against each program’s current admissions page
| The short answerYes — you can complete General Chemistry I and II with lab online and have it count toward veterinary school, but only at programs that explicitly accept online laboratory coursework. Kansas State University states that prerequisites “can be fulfilled by courses from any accredited institution, including online courses and labs,” and LSU states plainly that “online laboratories are accepted.” Colorado State and Iowa State also accept online chemistry with lab. Tufts and Purdue do not — Tufts’ general chemistry requirement carries the explicit note “online or at-home labs not allowed,” and Purdue requires all labs to be completed onsite. Confirm acceptance with each target program in writing before you enroll, because policies differ sharply and change yearly. |
General Chemistry with lab is the second-highest-volume prerequisite in the pre-veterinary course landscape, behind only general biology — and it carries an added strategic weight that biology does not: it is the gateway to the rest of the chemistry sequence. Nearly every veterinary school in the United States requires a full year of general (inorganic) chemistry with a laboratory component, usually 8 semester credit hours, and that year is the prerequisite for the organic chemistry and biochemistry that almost every program also requires.
So the planning question is bigger than “can I do this one course online?” It is: how do I sequence the entire chemistry chain — general chemistry, then organic, then biochemistry — so that the credits transfer and the timeline works? This guide answers the online-acceptability question first, then maps the full chain so you do not finish gen chem only to discover that the upper-division courses it unlocks need a different plan. Where PrereqCourses.com genuinely fits, we will say so; where the chain runs into upper-division or in-person-lab requirements that we do not serve, we will tell you that plainly and point you elsewhere. You can compare programs through the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).
Yes, at many programs — and as with biology, acceptance turns on the distinction between an online lecture and an online laboratory. Online chemistry lectures are accepted almost everywhere. The chemistry lab is the dividing line. Some programs accept fully online or at-home chemistry labs; others require them to be completed in person.
Chemistry labs are sometimes scrutinized a little more closely than biology labs because of the hands-on titration, measurement, and reaction work involved — which is precisely why a few programs draw an explicit line against online chemistry labs while remaining quieter about other subjects. The takeaway is the same: screen every target school on the question “Does this program accept an online chemistry lab?” before you enroll, and build your school list around the answer.
| The distinction that decides everythingOnline lecture ≠ online lab. Most vet programs accept online chemistry lectures. The dividing line is whether the program accepts an online or at-home chemistry laboratory — and chemistry is one of the subjects most likely to carry an explicit in-person-lab rule. Screen every target school on this question first. |
The following programs accept online laboratory coursework for chemistry, drawn from each program’s current admissions materials. These are the schools where completing General Chemistry I and II with lab online makes the most strategic sense.
Kansas State University states that requirements “can be fulfilled by courses from any accredited institution, including online courses and labs,” and confirms this applies to chemistry labs equally with biology, microbiology, and physics. K-State also explicitly accepts chemistry courses packaged as “3 semester credits lecture and 1 semester credit lab” totaling 4 credits — the most common online chemistry structure — and no longer requires the GRE. For applicants completing chemistry online, K-State is the highest-confidence target. See our Kansas State vet school prerequisites guide for the full breakdown.
LSU’s veterinary program states that courses may be completed through a four-year institution, community college, or online program, and adds the explicit line that “online laboratories are accepted.” LSU accepts prerequisites for up to 10 years from completion to matriculation. This makes LSU one of the most straightforward targets in the country for online chemistry coursework. See our LSU vet school prerequisites guide.
Colorado State University accepts online coursework when it is taken for credit with a grade and appears as completed on an official transcript, and excludes only coursework from vocational and proprietary schools. CSU launched an online post-baccalaureate pre-health program specifically to let applicants complete prerequisites online, including chemistry. Note CSU’s 10-year recency window on certain upper-division requirements when sequencing the chain. See our Colorado State vet school prerequisites guide for the full list.
Iowa State University requires a full general chemistry sequence with lab (the ISU equivalents are CHEM 177/177L and CHEM 178) and accepts prerequisites from any regionally accredited institution, including online. ISU’s published pathway notes that most prerequisite courses, including general chemistry, can be taken at a community college or online, with biochemistry and genetics being the usual upper-division exceptions. See our Iowa State vet school prerequisites guide for details.
| Best-fit target schools for online chemistryKansas State, LSU, Colorado State, and Iowa State all accept online general chemistry with lab from a regionally accredited institution. If your school list includes these programs, completing General Chemistry I & II online through a regionally accredited provider is a sound, defensible plan — verify the current language with each one before you enroll. |
Several programs require chemistry laboratory coursework to be completed in person and will not accept online or at-home labs. Chemistry is, if anything, the subject where these in-person rules are stated most explicitly. If one of these programs is your only target, an online chemistry lab will not meet the requirement — plan to complete the lab at a community college or four-year institution near you.
| Do not waste a semesterIf Tufts, Purdue, or Cornell is your only target program, an online chemistry lab will not count toward the lab requirement. Complete that lab in person. Online prerequisites are a powerful tool for the right schools and the wrong tool for these — match the course to the school list, not the other way around. |
Most veterinary programs require a full year of general chemistry with lab — standardly 8 semester credit hours across two courses, each carrying its own lab. The two-semester structure is genuinely sequential: the first course covers atomic and molecular structure, bonding, stoichiometry, and reaction types; the second extends into kinetics, equilibrium, thermodynamics, acids and bases, and electrochemistry. Both are prerequisites for organic chemistry, which is in turn the prerequisite for biochemistry.
| Program | General chemistry requirement | Online lab? |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas State | Gen chem I & II with lab (4-credit lec+lab accepted) | Accepted |
| LSU | Gen chem sequence; online labs accepted | Accepted |
| Colorado State | Gen chem with lab; online for credit/grade | Accepted |
| Iowa State | Gen chem I & II w/ lab (CHEM 177/178) | Accepted |
| Tufts | Two semesters with lab | Not allowed |
| Purdue | Gen (inorganic) chem I & II with lab | Onsite only |
| Cornell | Full year chemistry with lab | On campus |
Always verify each figure against the program’s own current admissions page before relying on it — credit-hour counts and course equivalencies are revised yearly.
This is the section that separates a good chemistry plan from a costly one. General chemistry is rarely the end of a veterinary program’s chemistry requirement — it is the foundation of a three-link chain: general chemistry → organic chemistry → biochemistry. Each link is the prerequisite for the next, and the programs vary in how many links they require and at what level.
Here is the honest planning consequence. General chemistry and a first organic chemistry course are foundation-level and well-suited to a self-paced online provider. Biochemistry, by contrast, is an upper-division course that most programs expect from a four-year institution — and several programs (Colorado State, Kansas State) apply a tight recency window to it. PrereqCourses serves the foundation links of the chain; the upper-division biochemistry link is served elsewhere, typically a four-year university. Plan the full chain up front so you complete the foundation efficiently online and route the upper-division work to the right institution rather than discovering the gap late.
| Plan the whole chain, not just the first linkGeneral chemistry and introductory organic chemistry: foundation-level, well-suited to a regionally accredited online provider. Biochemistry: upper-division, expected from a four-year institution and often held to a 10-year recency window. Sequence all three before you start, so the foundation is fast and the upper-division work lands at the right school. |
Grade minimums. Most veterinary programs require a grade of C or higher in every chemistry prerequisite, and many do not accept a C-minus. Kansas State disqualifies an applicant for a D or F in any prerequisite at the time of application; Colorado State requires a C-minus or better; Cornell requires a C or higher. Because chemistry grades weigh heavily in the science GPA that drives admissions cutoffs, treat a B as your practical floor.
Recency windows. Chemistry prerequisites commonly carry a 6-to-10-year recency window. Kansas State requires its science prerequisites within six years of enrollment; Colorado State and Minnesota apply a 10-year window; LSU accepts prerequisites for up to 10 years, sometimes longer for lower-level courses case-by-case. Recency matters even more in chemistry than biology, because expired general chemistry can block you from registering for the organic chemistry that depends on it — refreshing the foundation is sometimes the only way to re-open the upper chain.
| If your old chemistry credits have expiredRetaking expired general chemistry online through a regionally accredited provider is often faster and cheaper than waiting for a community college semester — and it can be the step that re-opens organic chemistry and biochemistry for you. This is a core scenario where online prerequisites genuinely fit, provided your target schools accept online chemistry labs. Confirm both the recency window and the online-lab policy with each program first. |
Applicants are most skeptical about online labs in chemistry specifically, because so much of a chemistry lab is hands-on measurement and reaction work. Accredited online chemistry labs meet the same learning outcomes through a deliberate combination of methods:
As with biology, transferability depends on the accreditation behind the course, not the delivery method. A chemistry lab completed at a regionally accredited institution carries the same transcript weight as a campus lab. At programs that accept online chemistry labs, the credit is the same line item as any other transfer credit — the genuine risk is not committee disapproval but applying to a non-accepting school with an online lab, which is entirely avoidable with a few minutes of verification per program.
The factor that makes an online chemistry course transferable is regional accreditation. Veterinary programs evaluate prerequisite coursework based on the accreditation of the institution that grants the credit. PrereqCourses.com courses are delivered through Upper Iowa University, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) — the same regional accreditor behind many major central-U.S. public universities, including several of the veterinary programs discussed here.
Because the credit is granted by an HLC-accredited institution and appears on an official university transcript, it is evaluated like any other transfer credit — which is precisely why coursework from non-accredited, vocational, or proprietary providers is rejected (Colorado State, for example, explicitly excludes it). The accreditation, not the format, is what carries the credit across.
| The accreditation test, in one sentenceIf the credit is granted by a regionally accredited institution and appears on an official transcript, it is evaluated like any other transfer credit — the online delivery is irrelevant to schools that accept online chemistry labs. |
If your target schools accept online labs, the cleanest plan is to complete the general chemistry year through a single regionally accredited provider so the credits read consistently on your transcript. PrereqCourses.com offers self-paced general chemistry coursework with lab through Upper Iowa University — General Chemistry I (CHEM 151) and General Chemistry II (CHEM 152) — designed so applicants can complete the year-long requirement on their own schedule. The same provider also offers the introductory organic chemistry course (CHEM 251) that general chemistry unlocks, so the foundation links of the chemistry chain can be completed in one place.
Treat General Chemistry I and II as a single planning decision, and treat the whole chemistry chain as a plan you make before you start. Sequence gen chem back-to-back, confirm both semesters carry the lab designation, then route organic chemistry and — critically — upper-division biochemistry according to each target program’s requirements. For the full requirement map across programs, see the complete guide to veterinary school prerequisites and the companion General Biology for vet school guide.
| When PrereqCourses is the right fit — and when it isn’tRight fit: your target schools (e.g., Kansas State, LSU, Colorado State, Iowa State) accept online chemistry labs, and you want a fast, self-paced, regionally accredited path through the foundation of the chemistry chain — general chemistry and introductory organic.Not the fit: your only targets (e.g., Tufts, Purdue, Cornell) require onsite chemistry labs — complete the lab in person; or your remaining need is upper-division biochemistry — complete that at a four-year institution. We would rather tell you that now than have your credit rejected later. |
Can I take General Chemistry lab online and have it count for vet school?
Yes, at programs that explicitly accept online labs — Kansas State, LSU, Colorado State, and Iowa State are clear examples. At programs requiring onsite labs, such as Tufts, Purdue, and Cornell, an online chemistry lab will not count. Tufts states “online or at-home labs not allowed” directly. Confirm with each target school before enrolling.
How many chemistry credits do I need for vet school?
Most programs require a full year of general chemistry with lab — standardly 8 semester credit hours across two courses, each with a lab. This year is also the prerequisite for organic chemistry and, in turn, biochemistry.
Do I need organic chemistry and biochemistry too?
Most programs require organic chemistry (one semester to a full year, depending on the school) and an upper-division biochemistry course. General chemistry is the prerequisite for organic, and organic is the prerequisite for biochemistry. Plan all three as a chain.
What grade do I need in chemistry prerequisites?
Most programs require a C or higher, and many do not accept a C-minus. Because chemistry weighs heavily in the science GPA, aim for a B or better.
Do chemistry prerequisites expire?
Many programs apply a 6-to-10-year recency window. Kansas State uses 6 years for science prerequisites; Colorado State, Minnesota, and LSU use roughly 10 years. Expired general chemistry can also block registration for organic chemistry, so refreshing it may be necessary to re-open the upper chain.
Can PrereqCourses cover my whole chemistry requirement?
PrereqCourses covers the foundation links — general chemistry (CHEM 151/152) and introductory organic chemistry (CHEM 251) — through HLC-accredited Upper Iowa University. Upper-division biochemistry is expected from a four-year institution at most programs and is served elsewhere. Verify each program’s lab and recency policies first.
General Chemistry I & II with lab is the second-highest-volume vet prerequisite — and the gateway to the entire chemistry chain.
Kansas State, LSU, Colorado State, and Iowa State accept online general chemistry with lab from a regionally accredited institution. Tufts, Purdue, and Cornell require onsite labs — Tufts says “online or at-home labs not allowed” outright. Complete the gen-chem year through a single regionally accredited provider, route introductory organic alongside it, send upper-division biochemistry to a four-year institution, and confirm each program’s lab and recency rules in writing before you enroll.
Ready to start? Explore the self-paced chemistry sequence (CHEM 151, CHEM 152, and introductory organic CHEM 251) through HLC-accredited Upper Iowa University, and pair it with General Biology for vet school to plan both year-long sciences together.
Plan your full prerequisite sequence:
Every program-specific requirement in this article should be re-verified against the program’s current admissions page before you rely on it. Veterinary prerequisite policies — including online-lab acceptance, credit-hour counts, grade minimums, and recency windows — change yearly. This guide is general information only and is not a guarantee of credit transfer or admission.
