Milestones: Graduation

Milestones: Graduation

You’ve taken your core courses, passed your exams, toiled away in the lab, and now you’re ready to graduate!

Prepare

In order to graduate, you need to make sure that you are registered or in a filing fee status, and that you are in good standing. You should have advanced to candidacy at least one quarter prior to filing to graduate, and you should check to make sure your thesis or dissertation committee is up to date. If you’ve changed your committee, be sure to fill out a Reconstitution of Committee Membership form at least a quarter prior to graduating.

Plan

Planning to file your thesis or dissertation is essential. It helps to start with the filing deadlines posted on the Graduate Studies webpage. Once you know what quarter you want to graduate, you can then determine when you need to start finalizing your dissertation and schedule your exit seminar. Keep in mind that faculty require at least four weeks to review your thesis or dissertation. Once your committee gives you the go ahead, find a mutually agreeable date and time for your exit seminar and schedule it by emailing ech-advising@ucdavis.edu.  It is important to review the Graduate Studies Candidate Degree Completion Lists for all the forms you need to complete and how to submit them electronically. Before you leave UC Davis, be sure to complete our departmental exit checklist. 

Commencement

Graduate Studies Commencement is held once a year in June. Please note, this commencement is separate from that conducted by the College of Engineering. The College of Engineering commencement is strictly for undergraduate students. We recommend that you participate in commencement during the calendar year that you intend to graduate in. For example, if you will graduate in Fall 2020, you should participate in the Spring 2020 commencement.