Ph.D. Qualifying Examination (Effective Fall 2008)

The Ph.D. Qualifying Exam was previously named the "Written General Exam" (click here for more information about the name change).

The Dept of Computer Science has changed the format of the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. The new format allows a student to choose 3 from 5 core areas and then choose one area outside of the core. One of the goals of this new format is to encourage interdisciplinary study. The 5 core areas are:

1. Algorithms
2. Operating Systems
3. Architecture
4. Theory of Computation
5. Programming Languages

The following is the Qualifying Exam Policy

• The qualifying exam is only offered in the fall semester
• A student must pass 4 qualifying exams with at least 3 of the exams being from one of the 5 core areas. The 4th exam can be also be in a core area or in another area of specialization.
• A student will take only 4 exams and will have 2 opportunities per exam.
• All exams will be closed book.

To request approval of an area other than the core areas, a student submits a petition to the Qualifying Exam Area Committee. The area must be approved by unanimous vote. The Committee consists of:

1. student's major professor
2. graduate advisor
3. chair of the department qualifying exam committee.

For more details, please contact the Interim Chairman, Dr. Karki

Return to Ph.D. program information page