Students can graduate (completed all requirements for their degree) during any quarter of the year. Commencement ceremonies occur only once per year and you are invited to walk through these ceremonies whether or not you are actually graduating in Spring Quarter. This is the time for you to be publicly recognized by the university and your friends and family for your scholastic achievements. Participating in any commencement activities does NOT guarantee that you will actually earn a degree – make sure to confirm via your DARS that you have met all major and degree requirements.

Neuroscience majors and minors who graduated in Fall 2023 and Winter 2024, and degree candidates for Spring and Summer 2024 may participate. Fall 2024 degree candidates can file a special inclusion petition through their college counseling office (CAC, AAP, Honors or Athletics) to participate beginning April 1, 2024.

Orders for caps & gowns, announcements, diploma plaques and frames, Alumni Association memberships, and graduation gifts will start March 4, 2024. Visit them online at https://www.uclastore.com/students-graduation-resources  or call 310.825.2587.

If you have a privacy restriction, you will still be able to participate in the commencement ceremonies. However, if you would like your name to be included in any of these materials for your upcoming commencement, please make sure to update your privacy restriction status in MyUCLA as soon as possible (https://registrar.ucla.edu/student-records/student-rights-privacy). Once you have done this, please send a confirmation to neurosci@ucla.edu so we can include you in our program materials. If we do not hear from you, we will respect your privacy request and not include your name in our commencement materials.

Graduating students will receive an email from the Neuroscience Advising Office with a short survey to complete. This survey will ask you for preferred name to be listed in the program, the phonetic pronunciation of your name to be read as you walk across the stage, and a brief personalized statement (20 words or less) to be read as you walk across the stage. Please be on the lookout for this email from neurosci@ucla.edu for more details.

Yes – please make sure to purchase a graduate ticket for the Neuroscience IDP Commencement Ceremony.

Each graduate will be allowed a limited number of tickets. Four (4) tickets for guest will be complimentary for each student. Students may request to be added to a waitlist to purchase up to four (4) additional tickets for $20 each (the final number will be dependent on the venue capacity and tickets purchased – waitlist ticket buyers will be notified from a date to be announced).

Ticket ordering will begin on Friday, May 10, 2024 and conclude on Friday, May 24, 2024 at 11:59 PM PST. No tickets will be sold at the ceremony.

Graduates must order their own tickets and their guest tickets on MyUCLA. Graduates who are approved by the Central Ticket Office to purchase more than the four (4) complimentary guest tickets will be charged to BruinBill.

All tickets for the Neuroscience Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony will be electronic. 

Starting on Tuesday, May 28^th, 2024 students will receive their tickets from tickets@cto.ucla.edu. Please be on the lookout for two emails:  

1. One email will contain your graduate ticket. 
2. The second email will contain your guest tickets.

Please make sure you check your spam folder for these emails. Tickets will be sent to the email listed in MyUCLA.

The Neuroscience IDP Commencement Ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 2:00PM in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.

The Neuroscience IDP ceremony lasts about 1.5 hours. Refreshments will be served after the ceremony concludes on Westcom Terrace.

Graduates should arrive no later than one hour prior to the Graduation Ceremony (1:00 p.m.). Graduates should proceed to the Registration Table to check in. Graduates will then be directed to the Bruin Reception room to line up for the ceremony.

Guests should arrive at least 45 minutes prior to the graduation ceremony (1:15 p.m.). Guests will line up on the deck outside of Panda Express to enter from Westcom Terrace. Tickets will be scanned for entry. Guests will not be allowed in without a ticket.

At the Registration Table, graduates will check in and receive a Grad Images card with their name. Hold onto this card and bring it up with you when you walk up to process across the stage.

Graduate seating: Graduates will sit in the first few rows of Ackerman Grand Ballroom, which have been reserved for the graduating class. 

Guest seating: All seating is general seating, so please tell your guests to arrive early.

There will be remarks from program chair Dr. White, a short video, student speaker, and a processional across the stage. For the processional, you will walk across the stage while your name and brief personalized statement is read on your behalf by a Neuroscience IDP faculty member. Graduates will then return to their seats for the remainder of the ceremony. Please only get up when a staff volunteer tells your row to stand.

Your diploma will not be handed to you at the celebration, but will be available from the Registrar’s Office a few months after you graduate from UCLA. You can learn more about receiving your diploma here: https://registrar.ucla.edu/student-records/diplomas/diploma-availability-and-release

Family members and guests will be able to take photos from their seats. GradImages will be at our Commencement to take pictures of the ceremony and each graduate. There will also be a reception afterwards to take pictures. Our official photographer for graduation is GradImages.

Please make sure to wear your cap and gown to the ceremony. Please bring safety pins and/or bobby pins for your cap and gown just in case!

No rehearsal will be held. After graduates are seated, they will be instructed on how to line up for processional shortly before the ceremony begins.

If you have a disability, or you are inviting a guest who needs special assistance to attend commencement, please call the Office for Students with Disabilities at (310) 825-1501 (voice), or (310) 206-6083 (TDD) ASAP to receive information about parking and other assistance at the Commencement. Students who have family members and guests who require wheelchair seating are encouraged to arrive early and will be directed to the ADA sections of the Ballroom. Please note that ADA sections are limited.

For the Neuroscience ceremony, if you will need help accessing the stage (there is a small staircase students ascend and descend at each edge of the stage), please let the Neuroscience advisors (neurosci@ucla.edu) know as soon as possible, so we can work with the venue to accommodate you.

Students and guests attending 2024 Commencement ceremonies are able to purchase a parking permit online, anonymously, and in advance through the Bruin ePermit Event Parking portal beginning May 1, 2024.

To avoid long lines at the self-service pay stations on campus, it is recommended to purchase your parking permit in advance of attending the Commencement ceremonies.To learn more about commencement parking, please visit: https://transportation.ucla.edu/campus-parking/commencement-parking

For more information about the college ceremony and other departmental ceremonies, please visit: https://commencement.ucla.edu/