Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences GRADUATE STUDENT REVIEW LETTERS 0. CONGRATULATIONS! At the meeting your advisor announced your imminent graduation. On behalf of the EECS faculty, I want to congratulate you for this achievement and wish you a most satisfactory career. It was a pleasure having you as one of our graduate students. I am sure you will keep contributing, with your work, to the reputation of our University and our Department. If you have not done so already, please complete the graduate student EECS Exit Survey, https://buffy.eecs.berkeley.edu/PHP/exitsurvey/startup.php and submit an unbound copy, including signatures, of your Ph.D. or MS thesis to the Graduate Office. 0-. GOODBYE At the meeting your advisor announced your imminent graduation. On behalf of the EECS faculty, I want to congratulate you for this achievement and wish you a most satisfactory career. If you have not done so already, please complete the graduate student EECS Exit Survey, https://buffy.eecs.berkeley.edu/PHP/exitsurvey/startup.php and submit an unbound copy, including signatures, of your Ph.D. or MS thesis to the Graduate Office. O.5. ALMOST DONE; let’s see your dissertation (PHD) soon. At the meeting your advisor announced that you soon would be graduating. We hope to see a signed title page in the very near future. 1. EXCELLENT work! We are very pleased with the quality of your work and with the pace of your progress. We want to congratulate you and encourage you to continue doing such an excellent job. 1.5. VERY GOOD work. We are quite happy with the quality of your work and with the pace of your progress. We encourage you to continue doing such very good work. 2. GOOD work. We are pleased with the quality of your work and with the pace of your progress. We encourage you to continue to do such good work. 2a. CONGRATULATIONS on finding a RESEARCH ADVISOR (for new advisees). We are pleased that you have found a Research Advisor. We hope that the relationship will be a productive one. 3. OK, but we advise MORE PROGRESS. We are pleased that you are making progress towards your degree, but we feel that the pace of your progress could be accelerated. Your advisor may be able to suggest ways to improve your performance. 3a. NOT MUCH PROGRESS; please seek advice. We are concerned that you do not seem to be making much progress towards your degree. Please consult with your advisor for ways to improve your rate of progress. 4. FIND A RESEARCH ADVISOR (for new, first-year grads). We encourage all first year graduate students to begin supervised research with a faculty member as soon as possible. Getting started with research is a vital step in a graduate student's career. If you are unsure about what area to specialize in, please consult your Temporary Advisor. After you decide on your area of emphasis, you need to choose a Research Advisor. You should begin by contacting the faculty members in your area of specialization and discussing research projects with them. We encourage you to begin a supervised research project by the end of next semester. If you have any difficulty, please contact your Temporary Advisor. 4a. GET A RESEARCH ADVISOR! According to our records, you do not have a Research Advisor yet. Please have a serious talk with your Temporary Advisor about further steps you might take to connect with someone willing to supervise your research. Without a Research Advisor, you cannot earn a degree! I expect you to have selected a Research Advisor well before the next Graduate Student Review when I will be reviewing your case. You may make an appointment with me for further consultation if you continue to have difficulties. 4b. GET A RESEARCH ADVISOR or face probation! According to our records, you still do not have a Research Advisor, despite our previous letter(s) urging you to find one. If you have not found an advisor by the time of the next graduate student review, we will evaluate your progress at Berkeley and will consider asking the Dean of the Graduate Division to put you on academic probation, which may ultimately lead to your formal dismissal from the program. Please make an appointment with me if you wish to discuss this, and by all means, let me know when you have found an advisor. 5. THINK PRELIMS Taking the Preliminary Exam is your first major step toward earning a doctoral degree. Since you entered our program last fall, you should plan to take the exam at the beginning of the upcoming semester. Please sign up in the Graduate Office right away to take the exam. 5a. TAKE QUALS as soon as possible. Taking the Qualifying Exam is a major step toward earning a doctoral degree. We request that you speak with your advisor about choosing the members for your Qualifying Exam Committee, and that you plan on taking the exam as soon as possible. We hope that you will take the exam before the end of the upcoming semester. 5b. TAKE QUALS before the end of the next semester! According to our records you have not taken the Qualifying Exam yet, in spite of the advice we gave you previously. We request that, with the help of your advisor, you schedule and take the exam before the end of the next semester. Failure to take the exam prior to this deadline may result in your being dismissed from our graduate program. 5c. RETAKE QUALS before the end of next semester! According to our records, you did not pass the Qualifying Exam. We request that you retake that exam as soon as possible, and in any case before the end of the upcoming semester. 6. FINISH PRELIMS/ M.S.; next semester is critical! You have neither passed the Preliminary Examination nor completed the requirements for a Master's degree. Unless you complete the Preliminary Examination during the [fall/spring 20__] semester, you will not be able to continue in the Ph.D. program. If you choose to leave with a Master's degree, you will have to complete it by the end of the [fall/spring 20__] semester. We hope that you will make every effort to meet one of these conditions. Should you need advice, please speak with your advisor. 6a. GET M.S. AND GO before the end of NEXT semester! We understand you are planning to leave Berkeley with an M.S. degree, and we expect you to be able to graduate by the end of next semester. If you have any doubts about how to achieve this goal, please discuss them with your advisor. 6b. GET M.S. AND GO NOW before the end of THIS semester! We understand you are planning to leave Berkeley with an M.S. degree, and we expect you to be able to graduate by the end of this semester. If you have any doubts about how to achieve this goal, please discuss them with your advisor. 7. PALEO STUDENT; please avoid distractions. You have been in our graduate program for < > semesters. We would like to encourage you to put as much energy as you can into your studies, avoiding distractions that subtract time from them, and to graduate as soon as possible. 7a. LAPSING CANDIDATE; you are on a slippery slope! You have been in our graduate program for nearly < > semesters. We feel it is time for you to make a decision. We hope your decision will be to concentrate on the completion of your dissertation now, and we urge you to discuss your plans with your advisor. If you let your candidacy lapse, it will be extremely difficult for us to support a petition for your reinstatement. 7b. INADEQUATE PROGRESS; your funding is endangered! We find that you have not been making reasonable progress towards your degree. If you have not completed your [Master's degree/Qualifying Examination/dissertation] by the end of the [fall/spring 20__] semester, the department will advise your advisor, or other agency providing you support, that your progress is inadequate. In most cases this will result in termination of financial support. Please discuss this issue with your advisor or with me if you wish further advice. (cc: RA) 7c. We’ll BLOCK REGISTRATION in the future; complete your MS/QE/PhD now! We find that you have not been making reasonable progress towards your degree. If you have not completed your [Master's degree/Qualifying Examination/dissertation] by the end of the [fall/spring 20__] semester, the department will recommend to the Dean of the Graduate Division that your registration in the EECS Department be blocked in the future. Please discuss this issue with your advisor or with me if you wish further advice. (cc: RA) 8. VERY LOW GPA (below 3.0) We have noted with regret that your GPA is lower than 3.0, and we want to remind you of the university rule that prevents graduation with an M.S./Ph.D. when the GPA is so low. We urge you to make all possible effort to raise your GPA during the upcoming semester. 8a. LOW GPA (above 3.0 but below 3.5) We have noted that your GPA is below 3.5, and we want to remind you that in order to take the Preliminary Examination you must have a 3.5 GPA. We urge you to make all possible effort to raise your GPA during the upcoming semester. PS1. CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE QUAL EXAM! Congratulations on passing the Qualifying Exam. We hope that your research will prove fruitful and bring you to a completion of your dissertation. PS2. CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE ORAL PRELIM EXAM! Congratulations on passing the oral prelim exam. PS2a. CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING PRELIMS! Congratulations on completing the Preliminary Examination, both the oral and breadth requirements, in its entirety. PS3. QUAL EXAM REMINDER; plan for it. Ideally the Qualifying Examination should be taken within the first six semesters. Although you need not take it immediately, you should be formulating a plan of preparation for the exam. PS4. TA REMINDER It appears from our records that you have not yet fulfilled the departmental Teaching Assistant requirement. Please make arrangements with the GSI Scheduler to do this as soon as possible. PS5. THESIS SEMINAR REMINDER We understand that you will be completing your dissertation in the near future. Please make arrangements with your dissertation committee to present publicly the results of your research. This is a graduation requirement. PS6. PLAN TO FINISH SOON Since you have been at Berkeley for a long time, you should be making plans to complete your degree soon. Please work with your advisor to develop a completion schedule.