The General Examination

The General Examination will be taken no later than one year after admission into the Ph.D. program, except in special circumstances to be defined by the COGS.

The Request for General Examination must be signed by all members of the Supervisory Committee including the Graduate Faculty Representative (GSR) and must be presented to the Academic Counselor no later than three weeks in advance of the date of the exam. The Graduate School, upon receipt of the application, will process a Warrant for General Examination which will be approved/not approved by attending members of the Supervisory committee after the exam has taken place. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the exam and to apply in a timely manner.

The exam will consist of a substantial thesis proposal which includes a review of the pertinent literature, preliminary results on the subject of the student's research, and proposed future research and methodology.

In the event a student does not pass the General Examination, it may be retaken once, within four months. If the student does not pass at that point, he/she will be invited to complete a terminal M.S.

The General Examination itself normally consists of an oral examination that tests the student's understanding of an area of specialization (e.g., synoptic or dynamic meteorology, cloud physics, energy transfer, etc.) with emphasis on the subject of the student's intended thesis. Students who pass the General Examination are admitted as candidates for the Ph.D. degree.

Following the General Examination, the student normally continues research and thesis work. The student may, however, pursue such advanced course work directed toward an area of specialization as recommended by the Supervisory Committee.

The thesis is an important part of the candidate's program; it must represent an original contribution toward understanding a problem of substantial scientific importance. The thesis must be prepared in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Graduate School.

General Exam Checklist