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.

You are eligible to take the screening exam only if your cumulative graduate GPA at USC is 3.5 or higher (this requirement is applicable to all students joining the Ph.D. program in or after Fall 2004).

If you wish to withdraw from the screening exam, you must do so at least one week before the first day of the exam. Any withdrawal after that point without a valid medical emergency will automatically be recorded as a fail for the semester's exam.
 
The screening exam application may be obtained in EEB 102. It must be submitted by October 1 for the Fall semester and February 1 for the Spring semester. As the exams draw near, you will be contacted with the exact times and locations. A pre-exam meeting will be held, conducted by a faculty member who will brief you on the content and procedures of the exam. You are responsible for the following topics:

Click on a course number for more information 

 
Electrophysics Area

More information here

Computer Engineering

More information here

CILQ (Communications)

Choose any 3 of the 5 listed subjects. Course numbers are listed only to provide basic topic information. Topic overview here

    • 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.

CLEAR (Control Systems)
    • EE 482 Linear Control Systems
    • EE 503 Probability of Electrical and Computer Engineers
    • EE 585 Linear System Theory
    • Choice of one 500 level Control course
EE 543 Digital Control Systems
EE 556 Stochastic Systems and Reinforcement Learning
EE 562 Random Processes in Engineering
EE 587 Nonlinear Control Systems
EE 588 Optimization for the Information and Data Sciences
EE 593 Robust Multivariable Control
 
Signal and Image Processing
    • EE 483 Introduction to Digital Signal Processing
    • EE 503 Probability for Electrical and Computer Engineers
    • EE 510 Linear Algebra for Engineering
    • EE 562 Random Processes in Engineering

Link to PhD Screening Application

Published on November 1st, 2016Last updated on October 22nd, 2024