The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to assess a student's general preparedness to do research in his/her chosen research area. The examination is not intended to be only a defense of a specific research topic, because that topic may change during the Ph.D. research. The Doctoral Committee, however, has the option of asking the student to prepare a short talk on his/her research results to-date as part of the oral component of the comprehensive examination.

The comprehensive examination must be passed after the student has substantially completed all the courses required by the Doctoral Committee. The comprehensive examination must be passed no later than 24 months after the completion of the candidacy examination unless a delay is approved by at least two-thirds of the Doctoral Committee because of special circumstances. The student must be registered as a full-time or part-time student for the semester in which the comprehensive examination is taken. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 for work done at the University is required for admission to the comprehensive examination and for graduation.

The comprehensive examination is administered and evaluated by the student's Doctoral Committee. A favorable vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the Doctoral Committee is required for passing. In case of failure, the Doctoral Committee will determine whether the candidate will be permitted to take another comprehensive examination. The examination will consist of a written part to be administered first and then an oral part to be administered within two weeks of the written part. The written part may be either open book or closed book, at the discretion of the Doctoral Committee. The written examination primarily covers material related to the thesis research area, and it is posed and evaluated by the Doctoral Committee members; at least one question from every Doctoral Committee member is included in the examination. The written examination will last no longer than two consecutive days.

The Doctoral Committee chairperson requests the Program Office to contact the Graduate School to schedule the oral portion of the examination and to notify the Doctoral Committee members of the time and place of the examination. At least two-thirds of the Doctoral Committee must vote in favor of passing for the student to have passed the examination.

Once a student has passed the comprehensive examination, the doctoral program must be completed within six years or a second comprehensive examination is required. After passing the comprehensive examination, a student usually registers for the noncredit course ACS 601 (Thesis Preparation, full time) or ACS 611 (Thesis Preparation, part-time). Under new University rules (1997), students registered in ACS 601 may also take 3 credits (maximum) of course work for audit at no additional fee while students registered in ACS 601 may take 3 credits (maximum) of course work for credit by paying an additional flat fee.

 

 

 

Graduate Program in Acoustics, The Pennsylvania State University