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Graduate ProgramQualifying Exam
Description of format -
Oral exams -
Passing the exam by taking courses
Description of FormatThere are four components which are listed in the
PhD Requirements.
You have to pass all components. You can pass a component in two ways:
You have two tries at each component. You may:
You may not take the course twice. Full-time students must pass all four components by the end of the first year in order to remain in the PhD program. Part-time students may take up to two years. Students who enroll concurrently in the MS and PhD programs must complete the qualifying exams in the first year, rather than waiting until the MS is complete. Letters will be sent to students who have failed any qualifying exam component twice asking them to make a decision about whether to withdraw from the program or appeal for a third attempt. Students who do not respond to the letter by the stated deadline will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program. To protect the confidentiality of students who have taken the exam, passing rates for a single semester will not be revealed. Passing rates combined over several semesters may be revealed. Students who wish to appeal for an exception to the rules, such as another attempt at a component that has been failed twice or an extension of the one year deadline, may do so by contacting the Graduate Curriculum Chair. Such exceptions will be granted only in the case of extenuating circumstances. Students must make their best effort to pass the qualifiers within their first year. Concentrating on research is not sufficient grounds for granting an exception. Oral ExamsEach of the four components of the oral exam will be administered by 3 faculty. The result of the exam will be a grade of Pass or Fail, decided by a vote of the examiners. The student will not be told which examiner voted for which result. Examiners will not check the student's file to find out about the student's overall academic progress, previous qualifying exam results, etc. before deciding on the result of the exam. However, it is unavoidable that some of the examiners will have some familiarity with the students. At least 3 months prior to the oral exam, students will be given a question list for each of the four components. Each qualifying exam committee may decide how many questions to include on the list. Usually there are approximately 20 questions. The exam will consist of questions from this list as well as follow-up questions pertaining to the questions on the list. Each examining committee may choose the format of the exam, specifically, how many questions they will ask and whether they will give students some preparation time between being asked the question and presenting their answers. The committee will announce the format of the exam at least 3 months in advance. Q: When will the exams occur? A: The exams will be spread over a three week period at the start of each Fall and Spring semester. During each of the three weeks, all the exams in one or two components will be given. Q: How long will the oral exam take? A: It will vary from student to student. It depends on how long it takes for you to convince the faculty that you know what you're talking about. Also, some examining committees typically take longer than others. In general, it may take about 30-60 minutes. Q: Will the oral be geared to what was covered in the course, thus putting students who took the course elsewhere at a disadvantage? A: The questions will be geared to textbooks rather than to courses. Students who took the course elsewhere may have used the same textbook. Students come in with varied backgrounds, but if they took the course elsewhere, the course should have still covered the key concepts. Q: So will there be a recommended textbook along with the list of questions? A: Yes, that information will be made available. Q: Will the examining committee ask only questions from the list, or can they ask other questions? A: The basic questions will come from the list, but there will be follow-up questions to make sure you understand. Follow-up questions will not directly be on the list, but will be related to the questions on the list. The idea is to find out whether you understand the core concepts, not to trip you up with obscure details. Q: In the old format, there is a question on compilers. To what extent will compilers be covered in the new format? A: There will not be a separate question about compilers. It will be included to the extent that it is covered in Programming Languages. Q: Will the oral be graded by the person who taught the related course? A: There will be 3 faculty members on the examining committee. The person who taught the course in the previous year will often but not always be on the examining committee. The members of the examining committees will be appointed by the department chair each summer for the coming year. Q: Can I bring notes to the exam? A: You may not use any books, notes, calculators, laptops, etc. for the exam, except that in the case of exams which include preparation time, you may bring notes made during the preparation time. In that case, when you are told your question(s), you will be provided with pen and paper in which to make notes. You may not refer to anything you may have brought with you when preparing those notes. Passing the exam by taking coursesQ: What if you took the course elsewhere before you came here? A: You would take the oral in that area. To pass a component by taking the course, you must take our version of the course. Q: What if you took the course at RPI while you were an undergraduate? A: If you met the criteria, it can count for passing the
component under the following conditions:
If you did not meet the criteria, it does not count as a failed attempt. If you took it as an undergraduate before you were admitted to the graduate program and failed to meet the criteria, you may re-take the course as a graduate student. Q: If you took the course at RPI while in the graduate program but before the new qualifying exam policy was passed, does it count? A: If you did not meet the criteria, it does not count as a failed attempt, but if you did meet the criteria, it can count for passing the component. Q: If you took the course already, how do you find out whether you met the criteria for passing that component? A: Contact the course instructor to find out. If you qualify, ask the instructor to notify Terry Hayden. Q: What if you register for the course and then drop it? A: If you drop the course after the drop deadline, it counts as a failed attempt. If you drop prior to the drop deadline, it does not count as a failed attempt. Q: What if you took a different version of the course here? What if you took a more advanced related course here? A:
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