Qualifying Exam

The Qualifying Examination must be taken for the first time no later than the beginning of a student’s third semester. Any entering students may take the qualifying examination at the start of their first year. If a first-year student passes the exam, it satisfies the requirement. If the student does not pass, it does not count against the student in any way. In particular, it does not count as one of the two permitted opportunities to pass.

The exam will consist of four (independent) parts, with two questions in each part.  A typical exam might be as follows- Part 1: Classical Mechanics; Part 2: Electricity & Magnetism; Part 3: Quantum Mechanics; Part 4: Statistical Mechanics.  The Parts are graded and passed (or failed) separately. The content of the exam will draw from this list of topics

To create, administer, and grade the Qualifying Examination, a committee will be established by the Chair of the Physics Department. Both the Exam Committee and the students will be given the list of exam topics. Students taking the examination will remain anonymous to the committee and to the faculty (except the DGS) until the results of the examination are accepted by a vote of the faculty.

Students will be given associated letter grades, one for each part – A through F – based on their performance. A, B, and C are passing grades. D and F are failing grades. The letter grades will indicate performance in the top third of passing grades (A), performance in the second third of passing grades (B), performance in the bottom third of passing grades (C), inadequate performance (D), and very poor performance (F). The line between C and D, and D and F will be established by the committee for each of the two parts and approved by a vote of the faculty.

Students will have two opportunities to pass each part of the Qualifying exam. If a student fails any part(s), then they only need to retake those part(s) in their next attempt. Students who do not pass all four parts of the Qualifying exam by the beginning of their second year will typically take an Oral exam after 2-3 months, only in the part(s) that they failed. Alternatively, students may also opt to retake those part(s) of the written Qualifying exam at the beginning of their third year.

After two failures (either (one written + one oral) or (one written + one written)), the whole faculty will discuss the particular student, to decide if they should be allowed to continue in the PhD program.

Please make sure to look over the syllabus (>= 2018) covering topics which may be on the qualifying examination. Please see the “Qualifying Exam - Past exams page” below to retrieve copies of the exam for the past 10 years.


Qualifying Exam for students who matriculated prior to the Fall of 2016

The Qualifying Examination must be taken for the first time no later than the beginning of a student’s third semester. Any entering students may take the qualifying examination at the start of their first year. If a first-year student passes the exam, it satisfies the requirement. If the student does not pass, it does not count against the student in any way. In particular, it does not count as one of the two permitted opportunities to pass.

The exam will be in two separate parts. Each part will consist of four questions and last for three hours. Each part will be given on a separate day. The structure of each of the two parts is as follows. Part 1 will consist of one question each on Classical Mechanics and Mathematical Methods, and two questions on E& M. Part 2 will consist of two questions each on Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics. The content of the exam will draw from this list of topics.

To create, administer, and grade the Qualifying Examination, a committee will be established by the Chair of the Physics Department. Both the Exam Committee and the students will be given the list of exam topics. Students taking the examination will remain anonymous to the committee and to the faculty (except the DGS) until the results of the examination are accepted by a vote of the faculty.

Students will be given associated letter grades, one for each part – A through F – based on their performance. A, B, and C are passing grades. D and F are failing grades. The letter grades will indicate performance in the top third of passing grades (A), performance in the second third of passing grades (B), performance in the bottom third of passing grades (C), inadequate performance (D), and very poor performance (F). The line between C and D, and D and F will be established by the committee for each of the two parts and approved by a vote of the faculty.

Students will have two opportunities to pass each part of the Qualifying exam. If a student fails one part, he or she will normally be required to retake only the failed part the following year. Two failures to pass either part of the exam will ordinarily result in withdrawal from the PhD program. Only under exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the faculty may students who have failed one or both parts of the qualifying exam for the second time be permitted to take a Special Oral Examination. The outcome of the Special Oral will then determine whether the student in question will be permitted to continue in the program. The purpose of any such Special Oral Examination is to test whether the student, who has twice failed the written qualifying examination, is nevertheless sufficiently secure with the material of the core courses to eventually graduate with a Physics PhD. Any Special Oral Exam, therefore, should test whether this is the case by asking a number of questions at the level of and on the material of the written Qualifying Exam. The Special Oral Exam committee shall consist of 4 faculty nominated by the DGS.

Please make sure to look over the syllabus (<= 2017) covering topics which may be on the qualifying examination. Please see the “Qualifying Exam - Past exams page” below to retrieve copies of the exam for the past 10 years (currently 2009-2018).