Metadata
Title
AOS Major
Category
undergraduate
UUID
6727f2d8651f4897906e4a97db2e5fa3
Source URL
https://atmos.ucla.edu/students/undergraduate/aos-major/
Parent URL
https://atmos.ucla.edu/students/undergraduate/
Crawl Time
2026-03-11T06:50:51+00:00
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AOS Major

Source: https://atmos.ucla.edu/students/undergraduate/aos-major/ Parent: https://atmos.ucla.edu/students/undergraduate/

Major: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences B.S.

The AOS major is excellent preparation for students interested in a career relevant to the science or policy of the atmosphere, oceans, and climate. This major also includes the option to obtain a certificate of completion for having fulfilled the basic requirements for employment as a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. Contact an advisor for more information!

Courses taken to fulfill requirements must be taken for letter grades[i].

Preparation for the Major

* Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in atmospheric and oceanic sciences or obtaining employment with the National Weather Service or other governmental agencies are strongly urged to select the Mathematics 31, 32, AND 33 sequence and the Physics 1 sequence.

For petition requests relating to prerequisite and/or major requirements, such as substituting AOS 51 and 90 for similar upper division classes, please consult your departmental advisor.

AOS Program PlanThese are recommendations on how to plan out your study list as either a freshman or transfer student. The sample plan only includes major requirements. Each student’s actual study list may differ, and we strongly advise students to work with academic counselors from CAAC and their home department to determine a personal program plan.

Tracks within the major

These are unofficial recommendations for courses to select based on your interests. AOS majors are not required to choose or follow a track. These documents are purely designed to provide guidance on selection of (mostly UD) courses.

UCLA’s AOS Meteorology track program is aligned with the individual occupational requirements for the Federal General Schedule 1340 (Meteorology) Series basic educational requirements. Upon completion of the specific courses, students will receive a certification of completion endorsed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, proving that they have fulfilled the basic requirements for employment as a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. A document listing the courses needed for this certificate is available here.

We recommend that students that are primarily interested in climate and climate change pursue the climate science major.

Transfer Students

Transfer applicants to the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences major with 90 or more units must complete as many of the following introductory courses as possible prior to admission to UCLA: one year of calculus, one year of calculus-based physics, one semester of general chemistry.

Recommended before transfer for timely degree completion: one additional semester of general chemistry and one course in computer programming (preferably in Python).

Refer to the UCLA Transfer Admission Guide for up-to-date information regarding transfer selection for admission.

The Major

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Examples of upper division Chemistry courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Chemistry courses are eligible by petition.

Physics

Examples of upper division Physics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Physics courses are eligible by petition.

Mathematics

Examples of upper division Mathematics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Math courses are eligible by petition except Math 105A- 105C.

Statistics

Examples of upper division Statistics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Statistics courses are eligible by petition.

Other science departments

The courses listed below by department have been approved by the undergraduate advisors for use by petition. This list may be revised.

Computer Science

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Environmental Health Sciences

Environment

Earth & Planetary Space Sciences

Geography

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

For the official requirements, please visit the UCLA Registrar website.

General Catalog Current Course Descriptions website

[1] Any course(s) taken to fulfill major requirements for the AOS major during Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and Fall 2021 could be taken for a letter grade or as Passed/Not Passed. Due to circumstances related to COVID-19, we hope this temporary change in policy allowed each of our students to choose a grade basis that was most suitable to them. This temporary change of policy only applied to to Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and Fall 2021. It will not apply to any previous or future terms.