Graduate Student Procedures

Instructions for Scheduling the Ph.D. Oral Qualifying Examination (Quals)

  1. Complete the Doctoral Committee Nomination Survey and submit a one-page abstract of your prospectus at least three weeks before the date of your examination.
  2. Complete a Ph.D. Program of Study. After you and your advisor sign the form, email it to eerequest@seas.ucla.edu for approval. If there have been any changes since you submitted your last Ph.D. Program of Study, please be sure to submit an updated version. If you have not taken either ECE 297 or ECE 295 by the time that you take your qualifying examination, a hold will be placed on your account until you complete the course(s), but you will be permitted to take the exam.
  3. Visit the Conference Room Reservations link to see which rooms are available. Once you identify an available room, email the Chair’s Assistant ( ecechair@seas.ucla.edu ) to reserve the room for your exam.
  4. At least two weeks before your exam, send your doctoral committee a copy of your prospectus. Students are advised to speak with their advisors for their expectations on the length and content of the prospectus.
  5. Send an email to ee_exam@seas.ucla.edu with the following information:
    • Name:
    • UID:
    • Faculty Advisor:
    • Qualifying exam date:
    • Time of the exam:
    • Location of the exam:
    • Title of your prospectus:

Instructions for Scheduling the Ph.D. Final Oral Exam (Defense)

  1. Visit the Conference Room Reservations link to see which rooms are available. Once you identify an available room, email the Chair’s Assistant ( ecechair@seas.ucla.edu ) to reserve the room for your exam.
  2. Send an email to ee_exam@seas.ucla.edu” with the following information:

    Name:
    UID:
    Committee Chair:
    Committee Members:
    Date of exam:
    Time of the exam:
    Location of the exam:
    Title of your dissertation:

  3. If your committee has changed since you took your Qualifying Examination, you must reconstitute your committee at least three weeks before your defense. Once you obtain all the required signatures, email the PDF form to eerequest@seas.ucla.edu for processing.
  4. At least two weeks before the date of your exam, send your doctoral committee a draft of your dissertation.
  5. Please refer to the Graduate Division’s website for more information on formatting requirements and for steps on initiating the filing process.

Reconstitution of the Doctoral Committee

To reconstitute their doctoral committee students must complete the Doctoral Committee Reconstitution form. The form requires the approval of all current members (and proposed members if committee members are to be added). Students may either receive approval from their committee members in the form of a physical signature or an email from their ucla.edu email address. In the event that the request is to be approved by email, students must include the eerequest@seas.ucla.edu email address and attach an electronic version of their reconstitution form.

The reconstitution form and all faculty approvals must be submitted to the ECE Office of Graduate Student Affairs at least three weeks before the date of the student’s examination.

Verification Letters

Students requesting verification letters from the ECE Graduate Office must submit their requests, by sending an email to eerequest@seas.ucla.edu, at least five (5) business days before they require the letter. In the body of the email, students are encouraged to include as much information as possible regarding the requirements for the letter, preferably in the form of a list.

M.S.-to-Ph.D. Application Instructions

M.S. students with at least a GPA of 3.5 may apply to begin the Ph.D. program during the quarter immediately after completing their M.S. degree. If admitted, a student’s ability to begin the Ph.D. program is contingent upon the completion of all M.S. program requirements within the time limit specified by the Department.

To apply to the Ph.D. program through this process, M.S. students must submit the following materials:

  1. A completed application form signed by the student’s proposed faculty advisor.
  2. A statement of purpose of no more than 2 pages in length.
  3. A current CV or resume that includes a list of any and all publications.
  4. Three (3) Recommendations. Each recommendation consists of a written letter of recommendation and a recommendation form. The recommendations should either be emailed to eerequest@seas.ucla.edu or submitted to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Office of Graduate Student Affairs located in 57-127 Engr. IV.

One of the student’s recommendations should be from the faculty member who has agreed serve as the applicant’s Ph.D. advisor. The letter of recommendation from the faculty member agreeing to be the student’s Ph.D. advisor should also include a statement on any financial support that he/she intends to provide to the applicant if admitted to the Ph.D. program. This statement of financial support should include the following information:

  • Source(s) of financial support
  • Amount of funding that the source(s) will provide
  • The duration of funding provided by the given source(s)

Note that, for the purposes of the M.S.-to-Ph.D. application process, anticipated Teaching Assistant positions are not considered to be valid sources of funding.

All materials must be submitted by the first day of the quarter prior to an M.S. student’s intended quarter of graduation.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) Requests

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is a form of work authorization that allows continuing F-1 students to engage in an off-campus academic internship or employment (paid or unpaid). To be eligible for CPT, students holding an F-1 visa must have continuously maintained their visa status for at least one academic year (Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters). Students must notify the ECE Office of Graduate Student Affairs of their intent to participate in CPT and complete the department’s CPT instructions below at least five (5) business days before their scheduled appointment with DCISS.

Academic Year CPT (Fall, Winter, or Spring)

Students who have met the minimum requirements for participating in CPT must enroll in their advisor’s section of EC ENGR 596.

To apply for Academic Year CPT, you must complete the following steps:

  1. Submit ECE 2023-2024 Academic Year CPT Request Survey.
  2. Obtain your advisor’s approval to enroll in 2 units of their EC ENGR 596 course.
  3. Once you complete the AY CPT Request Survey and have your advisor’s approval, email eerequest@seas.ucla.edu to request a PTE# for EC ENGR 596.
  4. After enrolling in EC ENGR 596, submit a completed CPT Request Form to dcissf1unit@saonet.ucla.edu. Please allow 10 business days for processing.

M.S. students may not participate in full-time CPT during the academic year until they have completed all course requirements for their degree and have submitted the necessary surveys and documents to declare their intent to graduate.

Ph.D. students may only participate in full-time CPT during the academic year after advancing to candidacy (passing their Oral Qualifying Examination).

Additional Notes:

  • All ECE students, regardless if they are advanced to candidacy, must be enrolled in a CPT course to engage in CPT (full or part-time).
  • The ECE Department does not provide support letters (during the academic year or summer) to waive enrollment in a CPT course.
  • Students who choose to go on Filing Fee in lieu of registering during their final quarter are not eligible for CPT, as you must be registered and enrolled to be eligible for CPT.

Summer CPT

International students may participate in full-time CPT during the Summer if they meet the minimum CPT eligibility requirements. ECE students who intend to participate in Summer CPT must enroll in one unit of EC ENGR 297 for Summer Session A. The registration fees for this course are approximately $500, due by the end of the third week of June.

Note: The EC ENGR 297 Summer CPT course is separate from the EC ENGR 297 seminar offered during the academic year (Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters). The EC ENGR 297 CPT course offered during the Summer quarter is only to satisfy the Summer CPT requirement, and it does not satisfy the M.S. or Ph.D. degree course requirements.

Once you have an internship offer, and before you apply for your Summer CPT (full or part-time), you must complete the following steps:

  1. Submit the ECE Summer CPT Internship Survey – 2024.
  2. Enroll in one unit of EC ENGR 297 for Summer Session A.
  3. Email (eerequest@seas.ucla.edu) to confirm that you completed the Summer CPT survey and enrolled in ECE 297.
  4. Allow up to 5 business days to receive confirmation that our Office has approved your CPT request.
  5. Pay the Summer Sessions fee by the June deadline.

Upon completing your internship, to satisfy the ECE 297 requirement and receive a satisfactory grade, you must submit the ECE Summer CPT EXIT Survey – 2024

NOTE: Once a student has received CPT approval from the Dashew Center, if the internship is canceled, or if the student changes their mind and no longer wishes to pursue the internship, the student must drop the ECE 297 course and notify the Dashew Center to cancel their Summer CPT immediately. Failure to do so will result in future CPT and OPT requests being denied.

Optional Practical Training (OPT) Verification Requests

Post-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) is available to eligible F-1 students interested in engaging in employment in the U.S. directly related to their major field of study after their degree completion. To be eligible for OPT, students holding an F-1 visa must have continuously maintained their visa status for at least one academic year (Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters) and must be completing a UCLA degree program in the next 90 days. To learn more about OPT guidelines and procedures please visit the Dashew Center’s website.

Students who intend to apply for OPT status must complete all steps to declare intent to graduate during a given quarter. To process your OPT Verification of Degree Completion request, our office will need you to complete the following steps based on your degree level:

M.S. students:

  1. Submit your MS Graduation Survey for 2023-24
  2. Submit your Program of Study
  3. Submit the ECE M.S. OPT Verification of Degree Completion Request form

Please allow at least 5 business days for processing. Our office will send you the signed Verification of Degree Completion form once we have processed your request.

Ph.D. students:

Our Office will need you to send an email to your advisor stating that they agree to the following:

  1. That you are expected to complete your degree requirements by [your specified filing date].
  2. That they approve of you beginning your OPT status after [the given filing date].

Please use the following subject line: PhD OPT Request – [Quarter] – [First Name Last Name, UID]

  • e.g. PhD OPT Request – Spring 2022 – Josie Bruin, 000111222

Include your UID in the body of the email and cc eerequest@seas.ucla.edu on the email.

Please allow at least 5 business days for processing. Our office will send you the signed Verification of Degree Completion form once we have processed your request.