Doctoral Qualifying Examination: Structure and Content
- The qualifying examination consists of two parts: a written component and an oral component. The written examination is administered during the course of a week and includes the major field and minor/related field examinations.
- The major field examination is a take-home exam that is based on the student’s repertoire list, and is administered over three days. The exam consists of either three essay questions or two essay questions and two shorter analysis questions; the exact structure of each exam will be determined by the examination committee and conveyed to the student prior to the examination date.
- The minor/related field examination is typically administered during the same week as the major field exam and may consist of an essay, project, portfolio, or other format type. For specific information concerning the content, format, and grading criteria of this portion of the examination, the student should contact the minor/related field area representative (minor professor) on the committee.
- The student's major professor will solicit questions for the major field portion of the qualifying examination from members of the examination committee. The examination is then compiled by the student's major professor in consultation with the Composition Division chair, or with the composition faculty representative on the examination committee in cases where the Composition Division chair is serving as the major professor.
- The complete major field examination will be sent in electronic format to the student from the Composition Division administrative coordinator on the first morning of the examination period, and must be returned by email to the administrative coordinator no later than noon on the fourth day. Essays must thoroughly address the questions and are to be properly formatted, including adequate citations. Analysis questions will typically include both a score component and an accompanying essay that elaborates upon and synthesizes the score analysis.
- The major field portion of the examination will be graded by the examination committee; if necessary, an additional evaluator from the composition faculty may be selected by the Composition Division chair. Results will be available usually within two weeks following the completion of the examination.
- If the examination committee determines that the written portion of the qualifying examination is unacceptable in any way, it may require the student to retake one or more portions of the examination before proceeding with the oral portion of the exam. In these cases, the student is expected to consult with the examination committee to determine the terms and expectations of the retake examination. If the student fails any portion of the written qualifying examination on the second attempt, the composition faculty may recommend dismissal from the program.
- Once the committee has determined that the student may proceed with the oral examination, the student may schedule the oral examination with the examination committee, making sure to reserve a room through the Music Scheduling Office. This two-hour examination is intended to be a synthesis of all areas of the written qualifying examinations, including a discussion of works from the repertoire list, as well as a comprehensive examination over material covered during graduate coursework and general knowledge commensurate with the degree. It is expected that any areas of concern evident in the written qualifying examination will be more thoroughly explored during the oral examination.
- Students are to follow the guidelines below when scheduling the oral qualifying examination:
- Present a range of possible examination dates to all members of the examination committee; students should be as flexible as possible in this matter, as coordinating several faculty schedules may be difficult. It is recommended that students correspond with committee members by e-mail to facilitate scheduling. Alternatively, students may use a program such as Doodle to facilitate the scheduling process.
- Select a two-hour block of time that is acceptable to all members of the examination committee.
- Schedule a room for the examination. Oral examinations are typically conducted in the Floyd Graham/Green Room (MU 251), in one of the CEMI studios, or in the major professor’s studio. Students must follow College of Music procedures when scheduling a room for the examination.
- Confirm the date, time, and location of the oral examination with all examination committee members once it has been scheduled through the Music Scheduling Office.
- Students who do not adequately demonstrate a doctoral-level understanding of the material covered in the oral examination may be asked to retake the examination at a later date after consultation with the examination committee. If the student fails the oral examination on the second attempt, the examination committee, in consultation with the Composition Division chair, may recommend dismissal from the program.
