Even after you have finished all of your coursework and successfully passed your written and oral examinations, there are still tasks for you to complete before the University bestows upon you the cherished hood and valuable parchment:

As early as possible in the semester during which you plan to graduate, you must file an Application for Degree with the Office of the Registrar and pay a graduation fee. The Registrar prefers, in fact, that you file for graduation during the previous semester, but that office will accept your graduation application—and money, of course—as late as one month before commencement exercises.

Once you file for graduation, the Registrar will perform a graduation audit, to make sure that you have satisfied all of the requirements for the degree. Common problems that are uncovered during the records check:

• unfulfilled Course Block requirements;
• Directed Study Courses or Senior-Level Classes Taken for Graduate Credit that are not properly identified as such in the records or are unacknowledged because they were never formally approved;
• missing notification of Written Examination or Oral Examination results;
• missing Thesis components.

Usually these problems are either ones of which the student is already aware or ones that the Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the student, can resolve clerically. Be aware, however, that if you have miscounted and fallen short of credits or have failed to complete requirements, there is no solution but to make up the missing hours or fulfill the expected requirements; this may mean that you have to enroll again for the next semester.  

The earlier that you file for graduation, the more time is available to fulfill any missing requirements or correct any errors or oversights in the University records.

Remember that the ultimate responsibility for completing all degree requirements lies with you, not with the Department of English or the University. Please monitor your own process and progress through your graduate career, especially as you near graduation.

Be aware also that graduation does entail some financial costs, and be prepared for these by checking with the Office of the Registrar. Costs vary, depending upon the degree plan and upon the nature of the student’s involvement in graduation ceremonies.

If you find for some reason that you cannot graduate after filing (if, for example, you are not able to complete your MA thesis by the projected date or if you must retake an area of the comprehensive examination), notify the Registrar immediately. Otherwise, the University will keep the graduation fee that you have already paid and require that you pay again for the date on which you graduate, in fact.