Applied Science PhD: Mathematics Track
Examinations
Students in the PhD program will normally take 2 written preliminary examinations
and 2 written comprehensive examinations.
These examinations are closely linked to
the content of graduate courses,
but they have distinct content descriptions,
and may require independent study of material not covered in the courses.
The preliminary examinations cover real analysis and linear algebra at the Master's degree level.
The graduate committee will review the performance on the preliminary examinations
to determine if the student may move forward in the PhD program.
At the discretion of the graduate committee, the required preliminary examinations may be waived for
students entering the graduate program with a Master's degree,
or with a comparable level of preparation.
The 2 PhD comprehensive examinations will each cover material corresponding to one of the 3 required PhD core
sequences.
Normally, students will have at most two attempts to pass each comprehensive exam,
and may attempt exams in no more than three distinct core subject areas.
Exceptions must be approved by the graduate committee.
There will be an oral dissertation proposal examination administered by the
dissertation advisory committee to determine if the dissertation topic is appropriate,
and if the student is adequately prepared for work on the dissertation.
After the dissertation has been accepted by the dissertation advisor, a final
oral dissertation defense examination will be conducted by the dissertation
advisory committee.
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