Final Oral Exams & Dissertation Filing

Final Oral Exam

Preparation:

Students must schedule the Final Oral Exam at least four weeks in advance of the Final Oral with the Graduate Advising Supervisor.

If any of your doctoral committee members have changed, complete a Reconstitution of Doctoral Committee Form (see below under FORMS) and submit it to the Graduate Advising Supervisor with the appropriate signatures (except the Department Chair’s signature). This form must be submitted at least four weeks prior to the Final Oral.

Effective Fall 2022, only one doctoral committee member (never the student or chair/co-chairs) may participate remotely in a final defense. The Grad Council has authorized Grad Division to review exceptions for remote participation of student and multiple committee members in extraordinary circumstances. Please inform Grad Advising Supervisor if anyone will need to participate remotely at least 1 month in advance of the exam so the exception request can be submitted for review and approval. If the exam will be remote, the student must coordinate the details of the exam and may contact Psych IT at https://www.psych.ucla.edu/admin-units/information-technology/.

Please note: Students are not allowed to provide food or drink for the Final Oral Examinations.

Forms:

Submit these forms below to the Graduate Advising Supervisor at least four weeks prior to your Final Oral Exam.

Dissertation Filing

  • Please note that you must be registered the quarter you file your dissertation or the previous quarter.
  • Doctoral Filing Fee Status: Complete the form (paper form or electronic form) if you are eligible to submit a filing fee in lieu of registration. Read the terms on the form carefully. You must obtain your Doctoral Chair and committee member’s signatures, but the Graduate Advising Supervisor will submit the form on your behalf. Submit this form to the Graduate Advising Supervisor no later than Friday of Week 1 of the quarter you plan to file.
  • Information about the electronic filing process and formatting requirements for the dissertation can be found on the Graduate Division’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation website.
  • Once you have filed, declare non-attendance on MyUCLA for the subsequent quarter in order to not be assessed fees.

Filing Deadlines 

Graduate Division Official Filing Deadlines: UCLA has specified dissertation filing deadlines each quarter. Degrees to be officially conferred during a particular quarter must be filed by the posted filing deadline for that quarter. Please review the posted filing deadlines and remember that the deadline is at 5pm on the specific days noted.

If you file your dissertation by the official filing deadlines for each quarter, your degree date will be the last day of the quarter in which you filed. If you file your dissertation after the official filing deadline but before the start of the next quarter, your degree date will be the last day of the subsequent quarter.