Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ph.D. Screening Exam Information
Students entering the Ph.D. program in EE or CENG with either a B.S. degree or an M.S. degree are required to pass the Ph.D. Screening Exam. The exam is given every Fall and Spring semester around the 12th week of class. The exam is only for those students admitted to or enrolled in the Ph.D. program and in regular graduate standing. You are allowed two attempts to pass the screening exam. You must pass the screening exam no later than two years (four regular academic-year semesters) from your date of admission into the Ph.D. program, regardless of the number of units completed. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you take the screening exam as early as possible and not wait until your fourth semester to take the exam for the first time! The screening exam is intended to gauge research potential; thus, when making a pass/fail decision, the Department also takes into account other evidence of your potential for research work, including GRE scores and your USC GPA, in addition to the grade on the administered exam.
** Please note** Screening exam formats are subject to change. Any changes will be documented on this page, which defines the format for the screening exam each semester.
Click on a course number for more information
Electrophysics Area
Computer Engineering
CILQ (Communications)
Choose any 3 of the 5 listed subjects. Course numbers are listed only to provide basic topic information. Topic overview here
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- Probability (EE 503)
- Random processes (EE 562)
- Linear algebra (EE 510)
- Signals, systems, and communications (EE 467, EE 301)
- Electricity and magnetism (EE 370)
The exam is oral. The default format is having the three subjects tested in a single 1-hour panel of three faculty. The faculty administer the exam one at a time, each testing their assigned subject. The student works out answers on the board.