Undergraduate Advising

Degree requirements for Atmospheric Sciences Major

University requirements

120 credits must be completed in no more than 5 years (10 fall/spring semesters)

60 credits must be taken on the UI Urbana Campus (called the “residency requirement”)

21 credits of advanced courses (300 and 400 level) must be taken on UI campus

12 credits of advanced course in major must be taken on UI campus

30 general education credits must be earned (LAS requirements are more specific - see below)

LAS requirements

Grade Point Average (GPA)

2.0 GPA overall (LAS will consider exceptions if Department proposes them in individual cases)

2.0 GPA in classes required for major

LAS 101 Freshman Seminar
Freshmen in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must enroll in this course in their first semester.

Composition requirements
Composition I (1 course required, must be completed freshman year)
Advanced Composition (1 course required)

Foreign Language requirements

Before graduation, a student must satisfactorily complete two years of college study, or four years of high school courses, in a single non-primary language. If the student completed three years of a single non-primary language in high school, he/she may either (a) continue studying that language and complete the fourth-semester course or (b) begin another language and complete the third-semester course.  (rules for placement tests are complicated - click here)

General Education requirements (30 hours)

Humanities and Arts

• 6 credit hours required (2 courses)
• Can come from any combination of HP (Historical and Philosophical Perspectives) and LA (Literature and the Arts) courses

Social and Behavioral Science

• 6 credit hours required (2 courses)
• Can come from any combination of SS (Social Science) and BS (Behavioral Science) courses

Natural Sciences and Technology

• 6 credit hours required (2 courses)
• Can come from any combination of LS (Life Science) and PS (Physical Science) courses
• Atmospheric sciences majors automatically fufill this category with our major course requirements

Western Cultures

• 1 course

Non-Western Cultures -OR- U.S. Minority Cultures

• 1 course

Quantitative Reasoning I

• 1 course
• Atmospheric sciences majors automatically fufill this category with our major course requirements

Quantitative Reasoning II

• 1 course
• Atmospheric sciences majors automatically fufill this category with our major course requirements

Department major requirements (56-57 hours of courses)

*Students who have entered the University of Illinois prior to Fall 2010 may substitute PHYS 213 for MATH 285.

**Students who entered the University of Illinois prior to Fall 2011 may substitute ATMS 492 (Capstone Undergraduate Research) for ATMS 307.