Students at Stony Brook University are placed in one of three General Chemistry I offerings as their first chemistry class towards their major. The Department of Chemistry uses the Online Chemistry Placement and Preparation (OCPP) process to not only to place students in the most appropriate course, but also to prepare them for a good performance in the class.
The Spring 2026 OCPP Course is an online process implemented with the Mastering Chemistry software from Pearson. While enrollment in the course is free of charge, it is important to note that after enrollment a student has at most 12 weeks (84 days) to complete the required objective(s) (although in most cases the deadlines set up by Academic Advising will be due well before the 12 weeks access code expires).
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Spring 2026: Only General Chemistry IB, CHE 131, is offered in the Spring semester. This option is appropriate for freshman, transfer, continuing, and non-matriculated students that satisfy the requirements and corequisites for the course.
Please note that you will not be able to register in CHE 131 until you complete the OCPP work.
First year students: the deadline for first year students to complete the OCPP work is Friday January 2, 2026.
If you have any questions concerning Academic Advising for first year students, including problems with satisfying the deadline, please contact your general advisor/advising unit.
For students in the Undergraduate Colleges advising unit, please contact ucolleges@stonybrook.edu.
For students in a major in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, please contact CEAS_Advising@stonybrook.edu.
For students in any special programs (Athletics, EOP, Honors College, University Scholars, WISE Scholars, or Simons STEM Scholars), please contact your department for assistance.
Transfer students: Incoming transfer students needing to complete the OCPP Placement and Preparation process for the Spring 2026 registration will see an OCPP item on their checklist in their Stony Brook portal. The requirement for students to go through the OCPP process is based upon a thorough review of their transcripts, the major (and/or pre-health plans) that they are pursuing at Stony Brook University, and whether they need to take the OCPP in their first semester at Stony Brook. Choosing not to take the OCPP when listed on the student's checklist can lead to significant delays in their graduation date. It is in the student's best interest to complete the OCPP as soon as possible (as per the student's checklist instructions) since the student can only receive a date to register for Spring 2026 classes once the OCPP is completed along with any other checklist requirements.
Continuing students: the Spring 2026 OCPP course closes on Monday February 1 at 11:50 PM. However you should plan finishing the OCPP work well in advance of that date, as it is very likely that by late January all seats in the CHE 131 course will be taken.
Specific instructions for registering in the Spring 2026 OCPP course may be found in the section "Registration Instructions to the Mastering Chemistry Spring 2026 OCPP Course" in the webpage "Guidance and Instructions" selected from the menu at the top of this page.