Preliminary Examinations

Preliminary Examination A

Purpose: To asess your background knowledge and comprehension of more advanced topics covered in graduate courses or by independent study.

Procedure:

  1. Schedule a meeting with your graduate committee.
  2. Two weeks prior to the meeting, your major professor will obtain questions from your graduate committee. The questions will explore your ability to reason, evaluate the data of others, and construct experiments to test hypothesis.
  3. Within one week, answer the questions in an open book manner. Copies of your answers must be distributed to your committee members at the end of that week.
  4. You will have one week to study prior to your oral examination. During that time, you should carefully consider the answers you wrote.
  5. At your meeting, you and your committee will discuss those answers and related subjects in an oral examination format.
  6. Your committee will grade your written and oral response on a scale of 1-10. With a score greater than 9, one passes with honors, a score of 7-8.9 is passing, a score of 4-6.9 is a fail with the option to retake the exam, and a score below 3.9 is a failing score. Have your committee sign the Preliminary Examination A form and return the signed form to the Comp Biomed Graduate Coordinator.

Preliminary Examination B

Purpose: To asess your ability to write a grant proposal for your research.

  1. Schedule a committee meeting.
  2. Submit a request for the Preliminary Examination warrant to the Comp Biomed Graduate Coordinator at least four weeks prior to the meeting.
  3. Write a research proposal in the grant style format decided by your graduate committee. The format must follow either NIH, USDA, or NSF requirements.
  4. Submit your research proposal to all members of your graduate committee at least two weeks prior to the meeting.
  5. At the meeting, present an oral summary of your research proposal. You will then defend your proposal to your committee. The committee will assign a pass/fail grade to your proposal. Your warrant can be signed when you have earned a passing grade.
  6. Submit the signed warrant to the Comp Biomed Graduate Coordinator to obtain dissertator status.