Oral Comprehensive Examination

Overview: 

• The Oral Comprehensive Examination and Graduate Portfolio serve as a summative evaluation of your program of study and yields critical information for determining your achievement of knowledge and skills. For the oral comps, you are advised to review courses and field/clinical experiences pursued in the Master’s program and to be prepared to answer content questions and reflect on your program as it relates to our profession.  

Students take the oral comprehensive exam ("comps") in the final semester of study. This time also coincides with the student's preparation to take the PRAXIS II Specialty Area Test in Speech-Language Pathology required for the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology and the New York State License to practice Speech-Language Pathology. (Note: There are review books and online review courses that are available for a fee should students wish to use such resources in their studying).

Students must register for CSD 699 Comprehensive Exam. If a student fails to register for CSD 699, they will not be scheduled for the oral comprehensive exam.  

Student Groupings: Students are grouped with 1-2 other graduating students for the comprehensive exam. 

Faculty Groupings: Two (sometimes three) full-time program Faculty are assigned to each group by the Graduate Program Director. The faculty examiners need not be instructors with whom the student has had coursework. 

Logistics: 

• The examination will typically last for 90-120 minutes or until the examiners are satisfied that they can make a decision regarding the student's competence. 

• Students may bring a pen and paper to the examination although all notes taken during the examination must remain with the examiners at the end of the exam.

Student Expectations: 

• At the start of the session, students are asked to briefly discuss certain aspects of the electronic portfolio which has been reviewed by the faculty examiners. 

• Students should come prepared to reference specific clinical or academic experiences and make connections to coursework. 

• During the examination, faculty will direct questions to students that cover content across the lifespan and all areas of speech-language pathology practice including: 

  • Speech sound production: to encompass articulation, motor planning and execution, phonology, and accent modification

  • Fluency and fluency disorders

  • Voice and resonance: including respiration and phonation

  • Receptive and expressive language: including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics (language use and social aspects of communication), prelinguistic communication, paralinguistic communication (e.g., gestures, signs, body language), and literacy in speaking, listening, reading, and writing

  • Hearing: including the impact on speech and language

  • Swallowing/feeding: including (a) structure and function of orofacial myology and (b) oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, pulmonary, esophageal, gastrointestinal, and related functions across the life span

  • Cognitive aspects of communication: including attention, memory, sequencing, problem solving, and executive functioning

  • Social aspects of communication: including challenging behavior, ineffective social skills, and lack of communication opportunities

  • Augmentative and alternative communication modalities

  • Standards of ethical conduct

  • Research: including processes used, integration of research principles into evidence-based clinical practice

  • Contemporary professional issues: including trends in professional practice, academic program accreditation standards, ASHA practice policies and guidelines, educational legal requirements or policies, and reimbursement procedures

• Questions may be specific or broad and open-ended. Questions may include case examples, multi-part questions, and the interpretation of testing materials and/or frequently used diagrams. 

• Here is a list of sample questions you may decide to use to help you in your preparation. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, nor are these the exact questions that will be asked. 

Grading: Examiners grade students' overall performance during comps as one of the following:

• Pass with distinction

• Pass with satisfactory performance

• Conditional pass with remediation 

• Unacceptable performance/Fail 

If the student’s overall performance is judged as "unacceptable," the student will be required to register for and retake the entire examination no earlier than the following semester.  The Graduate Program Director, with input from the faculty examiners, will determine when the next examination will be scheduled and whether it will include oral or written components.

Note: Once students are scheduled for the comprehensive examination, they must remain in good academic standing for all registered course work. Withdrawal from any course or clinical experience that results in the student being unable to complete the program that semester will automatically result in the student being withdrawn from the comprehensive examination. Should this occur, the student must re-register for the examination during the semester when all program requirements are completed. 

Here is an FAQ document that may help answer any additional questions you have.