Students who earn a clear pass in the written examination are eligible to take the oral examination. Students who earn a borderline pass and have a 3.25 GPA or greater in core courses taken during their first two semesters—one attempt only—are eligible to take the oral examination. The raw score thresholds for borderline passing (and passing) scores will be determined after each administration of the written exam by the PhD Qualifying Committee. The student will choose any two core courses for the oral exam:

• Communications & signal processing: ENEE 620, 621, 627, 630
• Computer engineering: ENEE 640, 641, 645, 646
• Controls: ENEE 620, 660, 661, 664
• Electrophysics: ENEE 680, 681, 690, 691
• Microelectronics: ENEE 600, 601, 610, 611

Technical material covered in the oral exam involves undergraduate material in the chosen area and graduate material as represented in the two chosen 600-level courses.

Students must pass the oral exam within two years of entering the graduate program. They are given two chances to pass the exam. The number of opportunities depends upon when the student passes the written exam and meets the course-based eligibility requirement.

Administration of the Oral Examination

The oral exam is given twice a year, once each semester. It is typically held in November and in April.

The oral examination normally is given by a panel of three appointed ECE faculty members, one of whom is designated as the panel chair. The exam lasts approximately one hour but shall not exceed 90 minutes. Panel members are expected to confer briefly before the examination begins. After the examination ends, the student is expected to leave the room, and the panel will again confer privately to reach a pass or fail decision. A majority vote will suffice if the decision is not unanimous. After the decision is reported to the GSO, the student will be notified.

Appeals

A student may make a written appeal of a fail or borderline pass to the Ph.D. Qualifying Committee. The Ph.D. Qualifying Committee may elect to make a decision based on the written appeal or to interview the student, or to obtain input from the oral examination committee if an oral exam is being appealed before coming to a decision.