An application for candidacy for the master's degree must be
submitted to the dean of the Graduate School–New Brunswick at least two
months before the final examination.
If a student expects to
take the final examination at the end of the Summer Session or at the
beginning of the fall semester, the application must be filed before the
Summer Session starts. Forms for this purpose are available at the
Office of the Graduate School, and responsibility for filing the
application lies with the student.
The final comprehensive
examination may be written or oral, or it may be a combination. Just
before a student is to take the comprehensive examination, he or she
must obtain, from the Office of the Graduate School, a copy of the
previously filed application and submit that copy to the chair of
the committee. The chair and committee members record the results
of the examination on this form. It is the responsibility of the
candidate to obtain the approval of the graduate program director and
to return the form to the Office of the Graduate School. The form
should be returned soon after the examination and no later than the
announced deadline for completion of degree requirements. The
names of those failing to meet the deadline will be removed
automatically from the commencement lists.
Certain degree programs have received approval to replace the
comprehensive examination with an alternative culminating experience,
frequently a paper that is defended to and approved by three members of
the program faculty. Students following such a procedure must
still obtain the three signatures and follow the same procedures as if
they had taken a more traditional examination.
Qualifying Examination for the Doctorate Used for the Master's Degree
A student who has satisfied all other requirements for a master's
degree except the final examination may, with the permission of the
program faculty, elect to take the qualifying examination for the
doctorate in place of the final master's examination. After passing the
qualifying examination, these students may be recommended for the
appropriate master's degree. This use of the qualifying examination
does not invalidate the status of a student as a candidate for the
doctoral degree. A student who desires to use the qualifying
examination as the final examination for the master's degree must file
an application for the master's degree in accordance with the preceding
directions.
