Candidacy Exam

This oral examination can take place at any time mutually agreed by the Examining Committee and student.Students entering with a Bachelor's degree must pass the Candidacy Exam by the beginning of their 6th semester of study (by the beginning of the 4th semester of study for those entering with a Master's degree). A second and final attempt is permitted following a failed attempt. Dismissal will be recommended for a student who does not pass the Candidacy Exam on the second try.

The student should take the following steps to organize their oral examination and are advised to allow ample time for the process:

1.

Contact four faculty to act as an Examining Committee. Since the student must be examined on two topics, normally two faculty will be expert in each area (one examiner should be the advisor if the student has already chosen an advisor).

2.

After the faculty agree to serve as examiners the student should contact the Director of Graduate Studies at least six weeks in advance of the proposed examination date and supply the following information:

(a)

Date of the exam.

(b)

Names of the examiners making up the Examining Committee.

(c)

Choice of topics.

3.

Final approval of the Examining Committee and topics rests with the Graduate Committee. Only after the Graduate Committee has approved the Examining Committee and topics may the exam take place.

The scheduling, topics and composition of the Examining Committee will be announced to the faculty.

It is the responsibility of the examining committee to decide the duration of the exam (typically 2-3 hours). They should report the results of the exam and a recommendation of Pass or Fail with written justification to the Director of Graduate Studies within two days of the exam. A final decision on the outcome of the exam is the responsibility of the Graduate Committee.

In this examination a student must choose 2 topics from the following table:

Topic	Graduate Courses Pertaining to this Topic
Algebra	MATH 650 and MATH 845
Analysis	MATH 805 and MATH 807
Applied Mathematics	MATH 616, MATH 617 and MATH 810
Discrete Mathematics	MATH 688 and MATH 689
Numerical and Functional Analysis	MATH 611, MATH 612 and MATH 806

Another subject area may be substituted for one in the table above by petition to the graduate committee based on two graduate level courses and supported by a faculty member.

Should a candidate fail a part of the Candidacy Exam, the candidate need only retake the failed topic. In no case will a candidate be allowed to take the candidacy exam more than twice.