The purpose of the A exam is to evaluate a student’s ability and preparedness to successfully conduct PhD level research. The A Exam may be taken after two semesters have been completed in a PhD program but students typically take their A Exam by the end of their 5th semester. Unless special permission is obtained by the Dean of the Graduate School, a PhD student must take the A Exam prior to the beginning of their 7th semester. If a student finds that their circumstances merit an exception to this policy, they may use the General Petition form and submit supporting documentation, for example, a letter from your committee chair.
The exam is administered by the student’s Special Committee and includes both a written and oral component. The exact form the exam takes is determined by the student’s advisor and other committee members. We recommend you talk with more senior PhD students about their A exam experiences, including what they found helpful and not so helpful, and use this information to have an informed discussion with your advisor about potential formats for your exam.
No later than your third semester of a PhD program, you should meet with your advisor to discuss the format. Your advisor will likely have a preferred way of administering the exam, but they may be flexible to meet your needs and interests, and those of the other committee members.
Most A exams include oral and written components. Some might require a dissertation proposal, whereas others ask a series of written questions with the expectation that the dissertation proposal will follow shortly thereafter. Some questions require an in-depth literature review and may be adapted for later inclusion in the dissertation and a published paper.
Example 1. Format and schedule for an A exam
- Meet with advisor to discuss format.
- Committee meeting to discuss and agree on format
- Meet with each committee individually to discuss exam written questions
- Committee chair collects questions from all committee members and suggests changes to final questions as appropriate
- Questions from committee member 1 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer.
- Questions from committee member 2 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer.
- Questions from committee member 3 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer.
- Questions from committee member 4 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer.
- Student shares answers to complete set of questions with committee.
- Committee reads questions (allow for two weeks)
- Oral exam (usually scheduled for two hours), each committee member will ask questions based on the written exam.
Example 2. Format and schedule for an A exam
- Meet with advisor to discuss format
- Committee meeting to discuss and agree on format
- Present a dissertation proposal to the committee
- Committee chair collects questions from all committee members and suggests changes to final research questions as appropriate
- Questions from committee member 1 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer (short essay per question).
- Questions from committee member 2 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer (short essay per question).
- Questions from committee member 3 given to student. Student has 2 weeks to write answer (short essay per question).
- Committee reads questions (allow for two weeks)
- Committee gives written feedback on the answers.
- Student takes 2 weeks to go through feedback and prepare for the oral component
- Oral exam (usually scheduled for two hours). The student will have 45 min to present their dissertation proposal. Each committee member will ask questions based on the written question responses and any responses during the oral exam.
Note the above are examples only. Please discuss with your committee chair to determine their A exam policies.
There are three possible outcomes of an A exam: Pass, Conditional Pass, and Fail. It is essential that you work closely with your faculty advisor to make sure you are at a point in your graduate program where you are ready to take the exam. A conditional pass generally requires additional preparation by the student to succeed in their research project or edits to the writing component. If a student fails an exam, a reexamination is allowed only with the approval of the special committee. At least three months must pass from the time of the failed exam to the reexamination.
The A exam is a major milestone on the way to the PhD. After passing the A exam, the student is now called a PhD candidate.
Students must file a Schedule of A Exam form with the Graduate School at least 7 calendar days before the oral exam date. Once scheduled, the Graduate Field Assistant (GFA) will send the student an exam announcement template to be filled out and returned to the GFA for distribution to the field and department. Occasionally a faculty member not on the student’s committee will request permission to listen in on the exam.
Students must also file a Results of A Exam form with Graduate School within 3 business days after the exam. Schedule and Results forms are available at the Graduate School’s Forms webpage.