PhD Written Preliminary Examination PhD Written Preliminary Examination The Preliminary Written Examination must be passed by every PhD candidate. The purpose of the exam is to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of a wide range of Electrical Engineering and to show an understanding of the relationship among these areas; to assess the student's analytic ability, creativity, and potential for successful completion of the Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering.
The exam questions are based on material typically covered in junior, senior and beginning graduate courses. The exam consists of fourteen questions, each question related to an advanced undergraduate or early graduate course. Each student must turn in answers to at least three of the questions, and may, if they wish, turn in answers to four questions. If a student turns in answers to four questions, all four answers will be graded, but only the best three out of the four will count toward the final pass/fail decision. (Standard, department owned, engineering/scientific calculators will be distributed at the beginning of the exam for use by those taking the exam. These calculators will not be programmable and will not graph results. Students will not be allowed to bring their own calculators. All calculators will be collected at the conclusion of the exam.)
The pass/fail decision will be made in three steps. First each answer will be graded by faculty responsible for the question and a pass/fail grade given for the answer. The individual answer grades are then turned over to the graduate committee. The graduate committee collects all grades and for those students who have turned in four questions, the three best will be retained for further evaluation. The graduate committee will then rank all students who took the exam and make its own overall pass/fail recommendations and submit these to the EE Graduate Program faculty. The third and final step is made at a faculty meeting where the grades and recommendations from the graduate committee are discussed. The final pass/fail decision for each student taking the exam is made by faculty vote.The faculty has stated that a student who passes three out of three questions will be passed. Those that fail two out of three will be failed. Those who pass two and fail one will be carefully reviewed by the graduate committee and graduate faculty to decide the final outcome.The decision to answer three or four questions is up to each individual graduate student taking the exam. If a student studies for and is confident of only three question areas, the decision will be clear, answer three and turn in three answers. However, if the student gets to the exam and is confident of working four of the questions and would rather have their grade based on the best three out of four - then they should attempt four questions and turn in four. At the end of the exam, each student will be asked to mark a form indicating which three or four answers they want graded, the graduate committee will not permit a student to turn in and designate more than four answers for grading.
Students who enter the department with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering must pass the PhD Preliminary Written Examination during their first academic year in residence. Students who enter the department with a bachelor's degree, must pass the PhD Written Examination by the end of their second academic year in residence in the Graduate School. The PhD Written Preliminary exam is typically held in November and in April.
To demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of a wide range of Electrical Engineering and to show an understanding of the relationship among these areas; to assess the student's analytic ability, creativity, and potential for successful completion of the Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering.
Each grade will be on a continuous scale ranging from 0 to 4. Grade ranges are defined as follows:
Grade |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Equivalent Letter Grade |
F |
|
C |
B |
A |
A: Excellent grasp of subject area material
B: Reasonably good grasp of subject area material
C: Marginal grasp of subject area material
F: Insufficient understanding of subject area material for Ph.D. candidate.
More details regarding these criteria may be included with the announcement of each examination. In general, grades will place the student in one of two categories:
1. PASS
2. FAIL--If the student FAILS on the first attempt, the student may retake the complete exam one more time.
Under normal circumstances, a student is given only two chances to pass the exam.
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