After the oral exam, students must file a form for admission to candidacy no later than one month after completion of their qualifying exam and meet with the committee no later than six months after completed the exam.
You will submit the Advancement to Candidacy form online via the Student Portal. The candidacy form requires you to list the faculty who will serve on your dissertation committee. A fee of $90 must accompany submission of the form. This fee will be paid by the BMS program.
It is critical for this application to be completed and submitted in a timely fashion. Once the application has been received by the Graduate Division, other paperwork will be generated and distributed to the faculty serving on your committee as well as the program office which will ensure your smooth transition to official Ph.D. candidacy.
The most critical reason for applying on time:
In order to graduate, it is required that after advancing to candidacy, you must be registered and classified as "in residence" for three full quarters before graduating. If you delay filing your application for advancement to candidacy, it could delay your graduation.
Students who are non-residents will receive a three-year waiver of the non-resident tuition component of tuition and fees once they have advanced to candidacy.
Also note that students who have advanced to candidacy may be eligible for a limited number of fellowships offered through the Graduate Division. Information on these fellowships is usually available during the early part of the spring quarter.
Students tend to struggle with their project following their qualifying exam for whatever reason. One of the most important roles of the thesis committee is to help guide a student and their research goals. Thus, it is extremely important to put your committee together and start meeting with them ASAP.