Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
The Qualifying Examination is an important checkpoint meant to show that you are on a promising research track toward the Ph.D. degree. It is a University examination, administered by the Graduate Council, with the specific purpose of demonstrating that “the student is clearly an expert in those areas of the discipline that have been specified for the examination, and that they can, in all likelihood, design and produce an acceptable dissertation.” Despite such rigid criteria, faculty examiners recognize that the level of expertise expected is that appropriate for a 3rd-year graduate student who may be only in the early stages of a research project. In forming your committee, please see Qual Committee Page for specific committee rules.
See campus policies about the Qualifying Exam.
See slides (Calnet authentication is required).
Criteria
- Must be within 6 semesters of starting the program
- Be registered the semester you take the exam. For summer you must have been enrolled in Spring. The prelim requirements must be completed before a student is eligible to take the Qualifying exam. However, it is not required that all the coursework (e.g., the courses listed in the major and minors) be completed before taking the Qualifying exam.
- In the unfortunate case that a student does fail the qualifying exam twice, per the Graduate Division’s policy, a third attempt is not permissible. The student will not be eligible to continue in the doctoral program and may be dismissed.
Instructions
- Step 1: Submit the Ph.D. Application for the Qualifying Exam and the White Card to the Staff Graduate Advisor at least one month prior to your scheduled exam: EE: grads-ee@berkeley.edu or CS: grads-cs@berkeley.edu
- Step 2 (if applicable): Submit the Non-Senate Academic Request eform, if you are requesting a non-senate member to serve on your qualifying exam committee.
- Step 3: Higher Degree Committee Request eform (found on CalCentral>>My Dashboard>>Student Resources).
If you have any questions, please contact the Staff Graduate Advisor at EE: grads-ee@berkeley.edu or CS: grads-cs@berkeley.edu.