PhD Qualifying Examination FAQ
What is the "free try" on the quals?
On entry to the PhD program, new students get a free try: taking the
exam and failing to pass it at that time does not count against their
limit of two attempts to pass the qual. (Note that students who are
already in the IU MS program and switch to the PhD program must take
the qual in the fall when they enter the PhD program, and that this is
not a free try for them. See "When should I take the
Ph.D. Qualifying Exams?")
I'm an incoming student. Should I take the "free try" quals?
The quals are designed so that a student with a strong undergrad
course in the topic area can pass it on entry. No professor regards
failing the qual on entry as a stigma, but most professors regard at
least attempting the exam as a sign the student is serious about
completing a Ph.D., and passing the quals puts an important hurdle
behind you. Thus you have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain.
I'm an incoming student without an IU account. The quals
registration form requires an IU account. How can I register for my
"free try" quals?
Please register when you get your IU account.
May I use a calculator on the qualifying exams?
Numerical calculators are permitted. Graphing or symbolic
calculators are not allowed.
For the Systems exam, some posted sample questions present
code in C, and ask for code in their answers. Do the answers have to
be in C, or would Java or pseudo-code be acceptable?
Answers in Java or a C-like procedural pseudo-code will be
acceptable, provided that the student indicates enough understanding
of the problem being asked. Because the goal of the questions is to assess
more fundamental understanding, minor syntactic errors will not be
penalized. However, because the language of systems programming is C,
students must have sufficient knowledge of C to understand C code
presented on the exam.
How often are the Ph.D. Qualifying Exams offered?
They are offered once a year, before the start of the Fall
semester.
When should I take the Ph.D. Qualifying Exams?
New Ph.D. candidates: Newly entering Ph.D.
candidates (who have never been enrolled in the C.S. graduate program)
are very strongly advised to
prepare for and take the "free" entry tries at the Ph.D. Qualifying
Exams given during orientation.
Continuing
Ph.D. candidates: who have been enrolled for at least one year,
or who have changed from the Master's to Ph.D. degree objective,
must take both qualifying exams unless prior written permission
to postpone has been obtained; an automatic failure for one of the
two possible tries will be counted for any exam not taken at
this time.
Please be sure to register for the exam as soon as
possible, using the
on-line form at the quals
implementation page. New students will need to wait to do this
until they've received their computer accounts.
How will I find out my results?
When grading is complete, notification letters will be placed in the
mailboxes of all students who have mailboxes. Student without boxes
may pick up their letters from the Graduate Administrator. When
letters are available, an announcement will be posted to the grad
student announcements web board.
Can you tell me who's writing this year's
Foundations/Algorithms/Systems qual?
Each exam is prepared jointly by a committee. The qualifier
administration process is "double-blind": The names of the faculty who
have prepared the exams are not released, nor are the names of
students who have taken the exams released to the faculty as they
grade the exams. When you take the exam, you will be arbitrarily
assigned a number to identify your exam during grading.