Notes

It will test your knowledge of basic methods and introductory theory. Students who fail the exam may, upon recommendation of the faculty, be allowed to take it a second time, but approval of a second opportunity is not automatic.

Upon completion of course work, normally in the third year of Ph.D. study, students who have passed the qualifying exam must take a preliminary exam. This exam is required by the university and is   intended to test the student’s breadth and depth of knowledge in the chosen field of study. The exam is prepared in consultation with the student’s major professor and advisory committee. The doctoral preliminary exam consists of a substantial thesis proposal. It will be judged on how well the candidate has located a problem, searched the literature, read relevant material, and sufficiently refined the problem so that the candidate has a reasonable chance of writing an acceptable dissertation. The proposal will be presented to the candidate’s supervisory committee in written form, and to the department and the supervisory committee in a public seminar. A candidate may take the preliminary exam at most twice.