Commencement

The 2025 Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology Commencement ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM PST in the Court of Sciences!

Check out the Frequently Asked Questions below for information about the MCDB Commencement ceremony. Graduating students in the major will receive more information about the ceremony from the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors. Please email undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu with any questions.

Students and their guests can find more information about UCLA Commencement at these links: https://www.commencement.ucla.edu/ and https://www.college.ucla.edu/commencement/.

For students graduating this year, you can use the following resources to help you prepare for graduation and Commencement:

MCDB COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY FAQS

PREPARATION FOR THE CEREMONY

Students can graduate (complete all requirements for their degree) during any quarter of the year. Commencement ceremonies occur only once per year in the Spring and you are invited to walk in 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, as well as your friends and family, for your scholastic achievements. Participating in commencement activities does NOT guarantee that you will actually earn a degree. Make sure to confirm via your Degree Audit Report that you have met all major and degree requirements.

MCDB majors who graduated in Fall 2024 and Winter 2025, as well as degree candidates for Spring and Summer 2025, may participate. Fall 2025 degree candidates can file a Special Inclusion Petition to participate in Spring 2025 commencement activities via MyUCLA, beginning March 31, 2025. More information can be found here.

Caps & gowns, as well as announcements, diploma plaques and frames, Alumni Association memberships, graduation gifts, etc. can be purchased from Grad Etc. online at https://www.uclastore.com/students-graduation-resources. Or call (310) 825-2587.

Graduating students will receive an email from the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors with a short survey to complete. This survey will ask you for your preferred name to be listed in the program, a brief personalized statement (25 words or less) also to be included in the program, and the phonetic pronunciation of your name to be read as you walk across the stage. Please be on the lookout for this email from undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu for more details.

TICKETS

Graduates must order their own ticket and their guest tickets via MyUCLA.

Please note that College Commencement tickets and MCDB Commencement tickets are ordered separately. They are NOT the same set of tickets.

Yes, please be sure to order a graduate ticket for the MCDB Commencement ceremony. The cost is $0.

Please note that guest tickets are only available through the graduating students ordering tickets for themselves and their guests. Guests cannot independently reserve or purchase tickets.

Each graduate willl be able to order up to six guest tickets and waitlist two additional guest tickets. The first four guest tickets are free of charge. Each additional guest ticket, in excess of your four free guest tickets, is $20, charged to your BruinBill. It is our hope that we will be able to accommodate all students’ requests for two waitlist tickets, but our ability to grant the waitlist will depend on the venue capacity and total guest tickets ordered. You will be notified if your waitlist ticket request was granted by the end of Week 9.

Students may request additional guest tickets (beyond six guest tickets and two waitlisted guest tickets) by emailing undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu no later than Friday, May 23, 2025. In the event that we have the capacity to grant additional guest tickets beyond eight per graduate, each additional ticket will be $20, charged to your BruinBill.

Ticket ordering will begin on Friday, May 9, 2025 and conclude on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST. No tickets will be sold at the ceremony. Entry to the event will be restricted to ticket-holders only.

All tickets for the MCDB Commencement ceremony will be electronic.

Beginning on Friday, May 30, 2025, 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 be sure you check your junk folder for these emails. Tickets will be sent to the email listed in MyUCLA.

MCDB COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

The MCDB Commencement ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM in the Court of Sciences.

The MCDB Commencement ceremony will take place outdoors in the Court of Sciences (the courtyard between Young Hall and Boelter Hall). Graduates and guests should plan and dress accordingly to be outside in the middle of the day, potentially in little to no shade.

The MCDB Commencement ceremony lasts typically about 1.5 hours.

Graduates should arrive no later than 12:30 PM. Students should proceed to the Registration Table to check in.

Guests should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony, but doors will open as early as 12:00 PM. Guest seating is first-come, first-serve.

Tickets will be scanned for entry. Guests will not be allowed to enter without a ticket.

At the Registration Table, graduates will check in and fill out a Grad Images card. (Grad Images are the professional photographers who will take your picture as you cross the stage). Please hold onto this card and bring it with you when you cross the stage.

Once checked in, you may mingle with your friends and family. Please sit down by 12:45 PM. Seating will be reserved for graduates directly in front of the stage, but there is no assigned seating. The program begins promptly at 1:00 PM.

Graduates will sit in the first few rows directly in front of the stage.

Guest seating is first-come, first-serve, behind the graduates.

There will be a Chair’s welcome, a keynote speaker, the presentation of the Class of 2025, and congratulatory remarks from the MCDB faculty. For the presentation of the Class of 2025, you will walk across the stage when your name is read. 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 MCDB Commencement ceremony, but will be available a few months after you graduate from UCLA. You can learn more about receiving your diploma on the Registrar’s Office website.

Guests will be able to take photos from their seats. Grad Images will be present to take pictures of the ceremony and each graduate. Grad Images is our official photographer.

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

No rehearsal will be held. Graduates will receive details in advance of the ceremony from the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors. Keep an eye out for emails from undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu.

Please review the Clear Bag Policy for Guests and Graduates, as well as the list of Prohibited Items here: https://www.college.ucla.edu/commencement/finalplanning/.

Students and guests attending 2025 Commencement ceremonies will be able to purchase a parking permit online, through the Bruin ePermit portal, beginning in early May 2025.

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/.

ACCESSBILITY AND ASSISTANCE

The Court of Sciences is accessible to individuals with mobility assistance devices and has designated accessible seating areas.

UCLA graduates needing accessibility accommodations should contact the Center for Accessible Education. Please also convey any special accommodations to the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors as soon as possible by emailing undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu.

Please note that there is a small staircase that graduates will use to ascend and descend the stage during the processional. Please let the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors know as soon as possible, if you will need help accessing the stage, so we can work with the venue to accommodate you.

For guests needing ASL or audio interpretation accommodations, the graduate should contact the MCDB Undergraduate Advisors on behalf of their guest to initiate the request. Please email requests to undergradmcdb@lifesci.ucla.edu.

While all venues are accessible, the university is not able to provide transport or mobility assistance devices to guests to facilitate moving through the campus or getting to a venue. There are two locations on campus (Gateway Plaza and the Dickson Plaza Flagpole) where guests can be dropped off curbside which might lessen traveling time. Due to space limitations, these guest drop-off areas should only be used when a guest has limited mobility.