Timeline for Completion of Masters Theses and Projects

Deadline/ Time for Action	Action
No later than 9 – 12 months prior to desired degree attainment	Consult with faculty about the possibility of their taking you on as a thesis/ project advisee. Develop broad plan for research; begin background reading (both in consultation with advisor). Register for credits for Math 597/ 598.
5 – 6 months prior to desired degree attainment	Consult with advisor to form thesis/ project committee.
5 – 6 months prior to desired degree attainment	Develop – in consultation with faculty advisor – a detailed research proposal. Submit proposal to committee; revise as required.
2 – 3 months prior to desired degree attainment	Submit to advisor some tangible evidence of progress made towards written portion of thesis/ requirement. This will be in draft form, and may consist of the first few chapters, a working algorithm with a written explanation, or even just a detailed outline of the work.
No later than mid-semester of semester prior to desired degree attainment	Inform the Director of the MS Math program that you will be making an oral presentation that semester. The Director will schedule you for presentation during one of the last three regularly-scheduled graduate seminars.
Two weeks prior to oral presentation	Schedule oral defense with committee. Provide copies of written component to advisor. Prepare a 25-minute seminar presentation.
Iterate until complete	Revise written component upon feedback from advisor. Once advisor accepts your final version, provide copies of this version to committee.
As scheduled	Defend your thesis/ project.
Once written component accepted by committee and oral defense successfully completed	Obtain signatures of committee; submit to Director of MS Math program and library. (See CSUCI Submission Requirements.) Congratulations!