This timeline is meant to reflect an average academic journey as a graduate student in the SDSU biology program. Typically, graduate students take 6 Units per semester, and in a 30-31 Unit program, an average student should expect to graduate in 3 academic years.
Semester 1
Classification
Upon acceptance into a Master’s program, students will be either Classified or Conditionally Classified. Before advancing to Candidacy or drafting a Degree Completion Plan, Conditionally Classified students must complete a set of requirements to make up for deficiencies in their Undergraduate course work. Often, Conditionally Classified students will be required to take a series of classes within their first year in the program. Upon completion of these requirements, students can obtain Classified status by filing a Change of Status form.
Degree Completion Plan
Graduate students meet with their Program Advisor or Principal Investigator to create a Degree Completion Plan (DCP).
This plan will include their Program of Study (POS) using the Degree Evaluation tool, which is the map of the 30 or 31 units required for successful completion of the program.
A Petition for Adjustment of Academic Requirements (PAAR) form may be submitted as part of the DCP as well. A PAAR form requests specific alterations from the normal requirements in the student’s DCP, granted on a case-by-case basis.
The College of Graduate Studies contains further details concerning grades and requirements, major milestones, POS, and more.
Semester 3
Preparing for the Thesis
By the end of their 3rd semester of study, graduate students are to develop a proposal for their Master’s Thesis. To do this, they must constitute their thesis committee, identify an original research project, submit an Advancement to Candidacy form, and submit a Thesis Committee form.
Selecting a Thesis Committee
A student’s thesis committee will be drawn up with the help of their advisor. Students should consult the Master’s Thesis Committee Information and Forms page for guidelines in composing their Committee.
Thesis Proposal
Students are to prepare a presentation of their thesis proposal. This will be open to the public and advertised in the Biology Bulletin, by posting notices, and/or group E-mail. Students will be expected to give a brief (20-30 minutes) presentation of their thesis proposal and answer questions from the committee and any others attending. The committee will then meet privately to determine whether to approve the proposal.
Advancement to Candidacy
Upon presentation of their proposal, and with approval from their thesis committee, students or their advisor will submit an Advancement to Candidacy request. You must have completed at least 12 units of coursework with a minimum GPA of 3.0 by this time. This may be done the semester a student is planning on graduating, but is often filed upon the presentation and approval of their thesis proposal.
Thesis Committee Form
Students can obtain a Thesis Committee Form from the Graduate Office after they Advance to Candidacy. It must be signed by all members of their committee and by the Department Graduate Advisor (not the Graduate Coordinator of their Program Area) before submitting it to the Graduate Office.
Semester 3 – Graduation
Writing the Thesis
Upon successfully defending their thesis proposal, candidates should begin writing their thesis. Consult the Montezuma Publishing thesis and dissertation page as to formatting and style requirements, cost, and the estimated timeline of submitting a thesis for publication.
BioL 799A/B
Students must be Advanced to Candidacy to enroll in BioL 799A “Thesis.” They should enroll in the semester in which they expect to graduate. If they do not graduate they will receive a grade of “RP” (in progress) and will need to enroll in BioL 799B “Thesis Extension” (0 units), pending completion of their program. Students must obtain the schedule number for BioL 799A from the Graduate Office.
Defending the Thesis
Upon completion of their thesis, candidates are to formally present their findings and research to their thesis committee. This is a public defense before the committee and others and must be advertised in the Biology Bulletin, by posting notices, and/or by group E-mail. Presentations will normally be about 45 minutes in length plus time for questions. Afterward, the committee will meet privately to decide whether the candidate have passed; committee members may require changes in their written thesis.
Thesis Review
After the thesis is approved their committee, students should submit it to the Graduate Division for final approval of format. Check the Academic Calendar for deadlines.
Graduation
Apply for Graduation
Students Apply for Graduation the semester they expect to graduate. Students should review the Academic Calendar for deadlines.
Faculty Contacts
Kevin Burns
Department of Biology Graduate Advisor
Evolutionary Biology MS Coordinator | kburns@sdsu.edu | LSN 231
Ricardo Zayas
Cell and Molecular Biology MS Coordinator | rzayas@sdsu.edu | LSN 306
Jeremy Long
Ecology Biology MS Coordinator | jlong@sdsu.edu | PS 142A
Additional Resources for Graduate Students
Summary of Curricula Offered: SDSU Catalog
Master’s Student Requirements: SDSU Catalog
Degree Completion Plan: College of Graduate Studies
Graduate Student Forms: College of Graduate Studies
Advisor List: College of Graduate Studies.