1. All About the PhD Preliminary Exam
Typical PhD progression
Take courses
Pass PhD preliminary exam (written)
Find thesis topic
Pass PhD proposal exam (oral)
Complete thesis
Pass PhD defense (oral)

2. What is the Preliminary Exam?
What is the PhD Preliminary Exam?
a 6 hour closed book exam, given over 3 days in January
tests breadth of knowledge in core computer science
must be passed to earn a PhD; proposal exam cannot be taken until the preliminary exam has been passed
Prelims Day 1 12 January, 2011  Prelims Day 2 14 January, 2011  Prelims Day 3 18 January, 2011 

3. PhD Preliminary Exam Format PhD Preliminary Exam Reading List
Information sources on the prelims found in:
under the tab “graduate”
PhD Preliminary Exam Format
PhD Preliminary Exam Reading List
Previous Preliminary Exam Questions (1997 thru 2009)

4. PhD Preliminary Exam Format
Area 1: Systems (Day 1)
Subarea Computer Architecture: Relevant Courses CISC 662
Subarea Operating Systems: Relevant Courses CISC 663
Subarea Networks: Relevant Course CISC 650
Area 2: Software (Day 2)
Subarea Computer Graphics: Relevant Course CISC 640
Subarea Compilers: Relevant Courses CISC 672
Subarea Artificial Intelligence: Relevant Course CISC 681
Area 3: Theory (Day 3)
Subarea Design and Analysis of Algorithms: Relevant Courses CISC 621
Subarea Theory of Computation: Relevant Course CISC 601
Subarea Logic in Computer Science: Relevant Course CISC 604

5. PhD Preliminary Exam Format cont’d
Area 1: Systems (Day 1)
Subarea Computer Architecture: Relevant Courses CISC 662
Subarea Operating Systems: Relevant Courses CISC 663
Subarea Networks: Relevant Course CISC 650
Subareas may change from year to year, but rarely do.
Each subarea exam contains four problems.
Students answer 2 questions from each of 2 preselected subareas.
Each problem is intended to take about 1/2 hour.
Codes are used to make answers anonymous to the faculty graders
Each problem is graded by 2 faculty
Conditional passes are not uncommon (e.g. retake & pass Area 3 next year)
A student may attempt the prelims at most 2 times

6. How to Apply for the “Prelims”
from the CIS Graduate Committee inviting applications
Due roughly in early December
Application contains:
The 2 subareas you select in each Area
Describe:
research experiences (+ publications)
dissertation area(s) of interest
potential research advisor(s) -- go talk with them beforehand!
Questions to CIS Graduate Committee: