This class is a fantastic overview of climate and ocean systems. Professor Neelin is very understanding of the circumstances which may complicate students' performance in the class and is responsive to feedback from students. The material isn't demanding at all, with 4 assignments total which are all direct reflections of the material taught in class. Exams are clear and the material on them is predictable. I never once felt underprepared in this class. His lectures are a bit slow, but this was never a problem as I could just speed the recordings up to 2x speed. This class is especially easy if you have Daniel McCoy as your TA. He offers very clear explanations of class concepts and welcomes questions. The final for the class is extremely reasonable, and I overall recommend this class as an easy GE, or for anyone genuinely interested in AOS who hasn't quite found exactly what aspect of atmospheric and oceanic science they are most interested in yet. The only downside of this class is the lack of focus on policy despite its title. Policy is only covered in the final two weeks of class, so if this is the only reason you are taking the class you may have to wait a while before you find what you're looking for.

I took this as a GE and actually found the content quite interesting and applicable to everyday life. The concepts are quite easy to understand as Prof Neelin explains them really well, but quiz questions can be quite specific which made them hard to score well on. Also because quizzes were usually only 9MC questions and 1SA question (not sure how quizzes are for non-remote learning though), each question was weighted quite heavily so even one wrong MC question could bump your total score down a fair bit. Once you get used to the quizzes and understand the types of questions that could be asked, they aren't too bad. Homework assignments are also graded and we typically got a full week to work on them, so you can discuss them with your TA during office hours and try to score well on HWs. There were also a few extra credit opportunities, and I would absolutely recommend you take all of them even if you don't think you need them -- they are relatively easy assignments and the extra points could definitely come in handy.

I found Neelin a great professor who is kind to students, super knowledgeable, and clear in his lectures, though his lectures might be a little boring and monotone. He uses slides too which are really helpful for notes. Definitely go to your TAs for extra help and office hours, and though participation isn't graded I found the discussions helpful. I had Paige as my TA and she was awesome and really helpful!!

Complicated material but if you work hard and have a good TA, it's possible to succeed. You will need to invest time in studying though, and office hours are helpful for scoring well on homework.

Professor Neelin was very knowledgeable and answered questions thoroughly. He also explained the content thoroughly and offered extra credit. If you go through his slides, attend TA discussions, and review the HW, you should be able to get a good grade easily. Danny was my TA, and he was super helpful in reviewing the material as well. If you pay attention, the content is very interesting and relevant, so I highly recommend the class and would take the class again.

Professor neelin is really great. The class is definitely doable and the tests/quizzes are entirely from powerpoint slides and the hws let you know what to focus on. For online he did make us use respondus (the lockdown browser) but overall it was still not bad.
HW - 20% (very easy)
Quizzes - 45% (three quizzes total)
Final -35 (cumulative but mostly on the last few lectures)

Professor Neelin was great.
You can tell he really knows the information.
Sometimes he may have a hard time expressing what hes thinking.
And i do agree he does have a monotone voice,
but he really does help us absorb the information by
reviewing past lectures and offering more office hours and review sessions.
Everyone below me says that hes boring but its just because the subject may be boring.
The reality is that this information is really relavant for our future.
I may be bias because my major is Mathematics/Atmosphere & Oceanic Science.

But seriously this GE class is rediculously easy and give Neelin a break,
hes a genius.

Professor Neelin is very, very nice. That said, yes, you will struggle mightily to remain awake during his morning lectures.

However, if you are north campus and you want to get a low-stress science GE out of the way, I cannot possibly emphasize enough that this class is one of the easiest GEs I have ever taken. There is no textbook, so it saves you money, too. The course materials are limited to powerpoint slides that he posts on the website. The handful of homework assignments are essentially free points if you spend a quality hour or so on them. He won't give you a study guide for his exams, but it's irrelevant, because his exams are impossibly easy. If you memorize all of the information on the lecture slides and take quality notes, there is no reason why you should not be able to pass this class with a very good grade.

Speaking as a polysci major, I am normally atrocious at math and science. However, I thought this was a very easy class that covered an interesting topic. Yes, you will need to be learning about scientific information, but it's very general. Plus, the second half of the course mostly covers policymaking aspects of climate change, so it almost feels like a north campus class after the midterm.