PhD Screening Exam

 

Objectives

The Ph.D. Screening Exam is designed to evaluate and support Ph.D. students in two key areas:

• Technical Competency– Assessing mastery of core topics that encompass both the fundamentals of the student’s primary research area and related courses in one or more subject-areas.
• Research Readiness– Evaluating the student’s ability to function as an independent researcher, particularly in presenting and defending technical content in a conference-style setting.

Technical competency is determined based on coursework taken in one of three areas of specialization. Please refer to Appendix A for details on the areas of specialization and associated coursework requirements for the Screening Exam.

Exam Structure

The Screening Exam consists of the following components:

1. Coursework Performance
• Each student must complete 4 approved courses for credit with a grade of B or higher. The list of approved courses for each area is provided in Appendix A. If a student has taken one of the equivalent required courses during his or her BS or MS studies, he/she can take the final exam for that course without taking the course. The final exam grade will then be used in the PhD exam course screening GPA calculations. All students must take a minimum of 3 approved courses at USC for credit prior to the PhD screening.
• If students take more than the minimum number of approved courses, eligible courses with the highest grade will be considered for the purpose of Ph.D. screening.
• Based on the cumulative GPA across these courses:
1. GPA > 3.7 Passes the course requirement for Ph.D. screening
2. GPA < 3.3 Fails the course requirement for Ph.D. screening
3. 3.3 < GPA < 3.7 an oral exam will be given on those courses in which students receive less than A-. Details are provided in the Oral Presentation section.
2. Oral Presentation
• All students will present a research overview to a committee of three faculty members assigned by the department, one of whom may be the student’s Ph.D. advisor. The research overview may comprise literature survey and/or original research conducted by the student at the time of the exam. Students are expected to demonstrate the application of fundamental concepts, possibly acquired through coursework, in research. The student will have 15 minutes to present, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. The members of the committee will each evaluate the student’s performance in the exam.
• Students whose GPA falls between 3.3 and 3.7 will also be questioned on the course material for courses with letter grade lower than A-. This part of the exam will be administered by the same committee of three faculty over an additional 30-60 minutes. If the student has received a grade lower than A- in several courses, the committee may test the student in any or all of those course topics at their discretion.

Pass/Fail Decision

The student’s record, consisting of the coursework performance, research oral presentation, and coursework oral test (if applicable), as well as input from the research advisor, will be used as the basis for making a pass/fail decision. The department’s decision is final.

Timeline, Retaking of Orals, and Petitions

• The course requirements must be completed prior to the semester in which students take the oral portion of the Screening Exam.
• The oral presentation and coursework test (if applicable) will take place in the first two months of the fourth (Spring) semester. (Students who begin the program in the spring semester must take and pass the Screening Exam in their fifth semester).
• Students who fail the oral presentation will be given the opportunity to retake the oral portion of the exam before the end of the fourth semester.
• Students who have not passed the Screening Exam by the end of the fourth semester will not be permitted to continue in the Ph.D. program.
• Appeals and exceptions to the process described above will be handled through a student-initiated petition to the PhD Student Affairs Committee.