How to actually get your degree, aka graduating

You made it! After years of working a bunch of jobs, late-night cramming, and questioning your life choices, you’re finally about to graduate from the University of Adelaide! 🎉

But wait!

TLDR: If you don't read any further, here are the four key things you need to know.

1. Check your conferral application—The university will send you an email prompting you to apply for conferral by logging into MyAdelaide. This is important to know because conferring means you need to apply to graduate. 

2. Pick a presentation event (ceremony)—in the conferral application you can choose to attend a ceremony or not. If you’re keen to cross the stage at Bonython Hall to collect your testamur, select the month you’d like to attend. If you don’t want to go to a ceremony, select ‘In Absentia’ to get your testamur via post or collect from Ask Adelaide.  
   
   🚨Remember, if you don’t pick a ceremony date, you won’t be able to attend a ceremony and get your testamur which means you’ll have to wait until the next round to apply again. 

3. Check your details—Make sure your details on our systems are correct, especially your name or you’ll get a degree for “Jahn Smythe” instead of “John Smith”. 

4. Hard deadlines—You need to check all the conferral deadlines yourself, or you’ll be that person waiting outside Bonython Hall while everyone else is taking photos with their correctly spelled degrees. 

Things that stop you from graduating 

• Unpaid fees—owing the university money will stop you from graduating. Trust me, I owed another institution $40 for student service fees, and they said, “Nope, no graduation for you until it’s paid”. 

• Double/concurrent degrees—if you are doing either of these, you’ll need to apply TWICE, once for each degree. 

• Late exams—results might not come in time for graduation. Talk to your Faculty Student Success Team ASAP. 

🤔Biggest mistake: Thinking you automatically graduate just because you finished your courses. Nope! You must actively log into MyAdelaide to pick a presentation event—if you don’t, you can’t attend. 

Graduation lingo you need to know 

Completed—When you’ve passed the academic requirements of your program and are eligible to receive your award. This appears on your transcript as a completion statement. 

Concurrent degree—When you’ve gone to the next level and are doing two random degrees at the same time, like Science and Interpretive Dance.   

Confer—A fancy word for the process that OFFICIALLY (and legally) makes you a graduate. Finishing your classes isn’t enough! You need to apply to “confer” your degree or you’re just a person who took a lot of classes. 

Double-degree—When you’re that extra you decide to do two degrees at once as an official program (the ones you see on our website). You’ll get two separate testamurs.   

In-absentia—Latin for “I’m not showing up to the ceremony.” You’ll still get your testamur. 

Presentation event—otherwise known as a graduation ceremony. 

Testamur—the big official certificate confirming your qualification. You’ll receive this at your graduation ceremony or arrange collection separately if you choose to receive it in-absentia. 

🎓Random fact: The university has hundreds of uncollected testamurs gathering dust. If you don’t pick yours up within 12 months, it gets archived for 7 years. Don’t be that person! 

Now go forth and pick a presentation event!