Scripps Undergraduate Honors Program

The Honors Program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is offered for a limited number of students who have demonstrated excellence in the Earth Sciences major, Marine Biology major, or Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences major. Students are eligible for admission to the Honors Program when they have:

  1. Completed ninety units of courses including twelve units of upper-division course work in their major (Earth Sciences, Marine Biology, or Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences).
  2. Achieved a GPA of 3.3 overall and 3.5 in the major.
  3. Submitted to the Undergraduate Education Steering Committee, and had approved, an honors thesis research proposal.


Successful completion of the Honors Program requires:

  1. Maintenance of a GPA of 3.3 overall and 3.5 in the major.
  2. Completion, with a B grade or higher, of a minimum of eight units of SIO 196 related to the honors thesis research, distributed over at least two quarters. These units must be in addition to the ordinary major requirements. However, students who subsequently fail to complete the Honors Program may apply up to four of these 196 units to their major.
  3. Acceptance of a written honors thesis report by a committee of not fewer than three faculty members.
  4. Satisfactory presentation of an oral report on the thesis research, preferably at a public undergraduate research conference on campus, or at a professional conference. Alternatively, the oral report may be given at a seminar involving honors students and at least three faculty members.

Students who successfully complete the Honors Program will graduate With High Distinction.

Students who are interested in the Honors Program should contact the program advisor in Galbraith Hall, Room 368, Revelle College.