Graduate Students
Conditional Admission
Graduate students who have not yet met all requirements for admission to full graduate status or who have not filed all relevant documents with the appropriate office of admission are conditionally admitted. Students admitted in this provisional status must satisfy all of those conditions by the end of the first semester of enrollment.
Degree Progress Summary Report (Degree Check)
The Degree Progress Department will perform a degree progress check when a graduate student has filed the proper forms through the appropriate school. This should be done in the beginning of the second to last semester for master’s students and after successful completion of the qualifying examination for doctoral students. Summary reports are available on OASIS (www.usc.edu/oasis).
Thesis 594
A master’s candidate who is writing a thesis and has completed all course work for the degree must enroll each fall and spring semester in the appropriate thesis registration until the thesis has been approved. Students should consult the appropriate school or departmental section of the USC Catalogue for specific thesis registration requirements.
Dissertation 794
Doctoral students completing a dissertation are to be registered in Dissertation 794 each semester after being admitted to candidacy. If the student is admitted to candidacy before the end of the third week of classes, the student must register for Dissertation 794 for the remainder of that semester and must do so before the end of the third week of classes. If the student is admitted to candidacy after the third week of classes, the student may not register for Dissertation 794 until the following semester. After registration in 794abcd, students must register and pay for 2 units of 794z although the registration carries zero units of credit. Grades recorded for 794 will remain as “IP” (In Progress) until the degree is conferred. Credit will be applied toward 794abcd registrations when the degree has been cleared by the Degree Progress Department. Refer to the Graduate School section of the USC Catalogue for further information.
GRSC 800 Series
The GRSC 800 series is a mandatory non-credit registration for graduate students who have completed all course work and are not otherwise registered while taking the master’s comprehensive or the doctoral Qualifying Examination. Fees are equivalent to one unit of tuition. All registrations in the GRSC 800 series are by permission of the Graduate School only and are subject to verification of the completion of the following prerequisites for each course.
GRSC 800 Studies for the Qualifying Examination: completion of all course work required for the doctoral degree and approval to take the doctoral Qualifying Examination by the appropriate school.
To be eligible to take the qualifying examination, students must have completed at least 24 units applicable toward the degree in residence at USC; have achieved a GPA of at least 3.0 on all USC course work available for graduate credit; and have a determination from the guidance committee that the student is ready to take the qualifying examination. A student must enroll in GRSC 800 during the semester in which the qualifying examination is to be taken if not otherwise enrolled. Students are strongly encouraged to take the qualifying examination during the first semester in which they are enrolled in GRSC 800, and, at a minimum, to enroll in no more than three semesters of GRSC 800 before taking the qualifying examination.
GRSC 810 Studies for the Master’s Examination: completion of all course work for the master’s degree as verified on the Credit Summary. The Credit Summary is issued by the Degree Progress Department after the student has filed the proper forms with the appropriate school.
GRSC 850 Seminar in College Teaching is a one-year program of graduate student professional development for doctoral students who are considering careers at institutions of higher learning. Offered by the Center for Excellence in Teaching, it consists of a 1 unit course taken during the fall semester and a set of follow-up activities in the spring semester. It is designed to provide students with a general overview and contextual knowledge of the professoriate and to prepare them to meet successfully the faculty responsibilities of teaching, research and service, particularly at research universities. It offers students the opportunity to make informed and enlightened career choices.