COMPREHENSIVE  EXAMINATIONS

•       Overview
  All Ph.D. students must pass comprehensive examinations in their major field and first minor field of study. These fields must be selected from the eight programs offered by the Department of Political Science.
  Exam Schedule
  Comprehensive examinations are administered twice each year: August (prior to the Fall semester) and January (prior to the Spring semester). Exams take place over one week, with each field assigned a specific exam day. Students should plan to be available for the entire examination week. Students must notify the Graduate Program of their intent to take examinations by May 1 for August exams and December 1 for January exams.
  Eligibility Requirements
  Students must complete 48 graduate credits, complete all major and minor field requirements, and have no incompletes on their transcript before sitting for comprehensive examinations.
  Timing of Exams
  Major and minor examinations may be taken in the same semester or in consecutive semesters. Students are strongly encouraged to take both examinations in the same examination cycle. All comprehensive examinations must be completed by the end of the third year of graduate study.
  Exam Structure
  The major examination consists of both a written and oral examination. The oral examination is typically scheduled within two weeks of the written examination. The minor examination consists of a written examination only.
  Examination Day Procedures
  Students should arrive at the Graduate Think Tank by 9:00 a.m. They may bring up to 40 pages of single-sided notes or 20 pages of double-sided notes, along with relevant course syllabi. Notes must use at least 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman font. Students must leave all phones and internet-capable devices with department staff and use department-provided computers.
  During the Examination
  Exam questions will be distributed at 9:30 a.m. The examination includes morning and afternoon sessions with a one-hour lunch break. At the conclusion of the examination, responses must be submitted through Canvas.
  Oral Examination Guidelines
  No notes or reference materials may be used during the oral examination, although students may bring a copy of their written examination.
  Failed Examinations
  Students who fail a major or minor examination are permitted one additional attempt during the next examination cycle. Students who fail the same examination a second time are not in good standing, will receive an official warning letter, and may be subject to removal from the program.

• • Overview of Comprehensive Exams by Subfield

 Guidelines for Studying for and Writing Good Exam Answers

Students should aim for answers that present a coherent argument, demonstrate an understanding of the most important literature relevant to the question being posed, and describe and discuss that literature as it relates to the question at hand. Questions on the major exam are field-integrative: that is, they ask students to go beyond the material that was covered in any seminar they may have taken.

Students are expected to situate themselves in relation to the major debates in the subfield and to articulate their own perspective, demonstrating both nuance and sophistication of analysis.

An answer on a major exam should demonstrate the ability to synthesize and integrate existing literature within the subfield. Students should clearly be familiar with literature beyond the reading requirements for departmental seminars. There is great flexibility in terms of which literature the student chooses to use to support his or her answer; what is important is that students show that they have read widely and can use that reading coherently to support an answer.

We do not want bibliographical essays that provide a literature review of major texts in the subfield. Our main concern is not with memorization of books and articles but with students’ ability to use this material, integrating it with their own ideas to give helpful answers to questions that the profession is debating. Thus, the arguments or ideas presented in a major exam should be directed toward answering larger questions about the field and identifying shortcomings and opportunities within that literature, both substantively and methodologically.

In addition, the major exam students should be thinking carefully about three sets of issues:

• How has the field changed over time with respect to approaches, concepts, and substantive research?
• What are the major conceptual and empirical issues currently debated within the field?
• What are the main methodological approaches to research design?

Because the major exam is designed to assess whether a student has demonstrated competence to conduct research in the subfield, an ideal answer for the major should show both knowledge of the literature and the ability to propose fundamentally sound research solutions to shortcomings within the literature.

Length: There are no page minimums or maximums for exams, although students are strongly discouraged from writing answers that exceed 15 pages. For the minor, most answers will be between 6 and 10 pages double spaced. For the major, most answers will be between 8 and 12 pages double spaced. The most important element is not the length of the answer, however, but whether the essays answer the questions that have been used and does so in a way that shows familiarity with the most important literature on the topic.

Citations: Citations in both major and minor exams need not be as detailed and precise as in draft of a formal paper. Citations need to be clear enough to specify to an informed reader which works are being discussed (e.g., Converse, 1964; Mansbridge APSR article on representation; Morgenthau Politics Among Nations). No bibliography is required. If the citation is not widely known, however, examiners would be helped by the addition of a brief bibliography of any less well-known citations. This is not an exam of citation style, however, and students are not penalized for stylistic errors or missing the date by a few years if the substance of the citation is clear.

Notes and preparation: Students are strongly encouraged to form study groups to help prepare for exams, and further to meet with professors in their examining fields (particularly the major field) to talk about the upcoming exam and their study plans. It is acceptable for students to consider previous exam questions and we strongly recommend doing practice exams under exam conditions. This preparation allows students to better understand the types of questions that are usually posed by the subfield, as well as how to use their time most effectively during the exam.

Comprehensive Exams Additional Information

Please consult the Program chapters of the Redbook for more information on exam structure and expectations for each field. Prior to taking the exam, students should make an appointment to meet with the Graduate Director. They are also advised to schedule meetings with the field chairs and other members of the faculty for the fields in which they are taking exams.

To be considered All But Dissertation (ABD) students must successfully pass their comprehensive exams as well as defend their dissertation proposal. Please note that for certain SGS-level funding, ABD status may be considered after only passing your comprehensive exams.

Faculty from each field will provide questions for the major and minor written exams. Each exam will be graded pass/fail anonymously by a three-person committee. Grades will be available within two weeks of the exam. Students may retake an unsuccessful examination in any field once.

Students successfully passing the exams may apply to the School of Graduate Studies for a master’s degree in political science. There are no additional requirements for obtaining this degree, and no additional university fees are incurred.

Within six months of passing their comprehensive exams, students are expected to submit and defend a dissertation prospectus. Students who have not passed their dissertation prospectus defense within this timeframe will be considered not in good standing and will receive a warning letter from the Graduate Director. 

Following completion of the 48 credits of coursework and passing the comprehensive examinations, students are required to complete an additional 24 research credits and must be registered for at least one credit every semester until they defend their dissertation.

An exception is made for students without university funding studying for comprehensive exams, who may register as “Matriculation Continued,” a no-credit status that may be taken for up to two semesters prior to passing comprehensive exams.

Students should register for research credits with their dissertation advisor. Research credits are graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis, although an “Incomplete” grade may also be assigned temporarily.