MS Plan I & MS Plan II:
Plan I: Coursework and Thesis
Plan I is used infrequently in our program. It requires a minimum of 24 semester units of upper division and graduate courses, and completion of a thesis. A minimum of 40% of units must be graduate courses in the 200 series courses in the student’s major subject, including 4 units of supervised independent research (299). A substantial part of the coursework will be designed to acquire in-depth knowledge relevant to the thesis. Before starting thesis research, the student must have a research plan approved by their Guiding Professor and the HFA. The thesis may be on any subject selected by the student with the approval of the HFA and their guiding professor. Students must have a properly constituted thesis committee of three members, two of whom must be Academic Senate members from the student’s major. It is preferred, but not required, that students following Plan I have on the thesis committee an outside member, an Academic Senate faculty member outside the student’s major field. If a proposed committee member does not belong to the Academic Senate, a request for an exception must accompany the application for advancement to candidacy. Please see the Graduate Degree Policy.
Plan II: Coursework and Exam
Plan II is the most frequently used plan in our program. It requires a minimum of 24 semester units of upper division and graduate courses. Of the 24 units, a minimum of 12 units or 50% must be in 200-level graduate courses in the student’s major subject. This plan requires that students pass a comprehensive oral exam before the degree can be awarded. The examination will emphasize the student’s program of graduate study, but the student must also demonstrate an understanding of other principles and issues related to the study of Rangeland and Wildlife Management.
Meeting Required Units:
Courses in the 300 series or higher do not count toward the unit requirements for either Plan I or Plan II Masters degrees. For students completing either the Plan I or Plan II Masters program, a maximum of 6 units of 299 course work may be used toward fulfilling degree unit requirements.
For more information about Masters Degree programs at UC Berkeley, please see the Graduate Degree Policy.