PhD Qualifying Exam

This page contains information about the qualifying exam for the PhD degree, including prerequisites for taking the exam, exam areas, evaluation of exam results, notification of results, retaking the exam, and the appeals process.

The qualifying examination for the PhD indicates that a candidate's knowledge of the fields of study is adequate for the original contribution to knowledge required of a dissertation. The test consists of two five-hour exams administered in two days, one week apart. The exams cover two different areas of study. The student, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, selects the two areas on which he or she will be examined.

The qualifying examination is given each September and February, on the fourth and fifth Saturday following the first week of classes. A signed notice of intent to take the exam must be submitted by the end of the first week of classes. No examinations are offered during the summer. Students must take examinations on campus. Please contact the English Department Graduate Director's office if you have any questions; the number is (405) 744-9469.

Prerequisites. The earliest time students may take qualifying examinations is during the last semester of course work and before the oral defense of the dissertation.

To take the exam, students must:

• Have fulfilled the foreign language requirement.
• Have a grade point average of at least 3.5 on all graduate work taken at OSU beyond the Master's degree. Grades received for courses used to satisfy the foreign language requirement are not included in computing this 3.5 grade point minimum; all other courses carrying graduate credit are included. The grades from transfer hours which are included on the approved plan of study will also be calculated in this grade point average.
• Have an approved plan of study on file with the Graduate College and the English Department Graduate Director.
• Submit an original copy of an approved and abbreviated Dissertation Prospectus Form to the English Department Graduate Director. This abbreviated prospectus form is required by the Graduate College. The more extensive departmental prospectus is submitted after the qualifing exam is completed. See below.
• Submit an Intent to Take Qualifying Examinations Form to the English Department Graduate Director three weeks before the examinations begin.

Qualifying Exam Areas. Students take exams in two areas. These areas will be chosen from among the following:

• Technical Writing
• Composition and Rhetoric
• Linguistics
• Teaching English as a Second Language
• Early American Literature
• Nineteenth Century American Literature
• Native American Language and Literature
• Modern Literature in English
• Contemporary Literature in English
• Old and Middle English Literature
• Renaissance British Literature (including Milton)
• Restoration & Eighteenth Century British Literature
• Nineteenth Century British Literature
• Literary Theory and Criticism
• Practical Poetics and Fictional Rhetoric
• Screen Studies

Exam Format and Preparation. Faculty subject area committees will determine the PhD Qualifying Exam format on a case by case basis. In preparing for this exam, students in consultation with each member of the selected exam area committee will compile reading lists that the committees will use to formulate exam questions. The reading lists will reflect the need for a student’s exam to be both comprehensive and specific to that student’s individual research interests. The two reading lists must be approved and signed by the student and all members of each subject area. They must be filed with the English Graduate Office by the last day of the last week of classes (dead week) of the semester in which a student registers for the 30th hour of graduate credit. The faculty thus assumes students will spend appropriate time preparing for these exams and submit their approved lists well in advance of the semester in which they will take their exams.

Evaluation. Three faculty members in each exam area will evaluate the PhD Qualifying Examination.  The faculty readers will evaluate each answer individually before meeting as a committee to discuss a student’s overall performance and assign the exam a rating of "Pass with Distinction," "Pass," or "Fail."

Notification of Results. The Graduate Director will notify students of the results of the exam no later than four weeks after the second day of exams. Results will be mailed to the student's home address with a copy sent to the student's advisor.

Retakes. Students may take the exam only twice. If a student fails either one or both areas of the exam, he or she must retake only the area(s) failed. Students may not change their exam areas on the second trial.

Appeals. Normally, a second failure on any part of the qualifying exam will result in termination of work toward the degree. However, when coursework has been of exceptionally high quality, a student may, after a second failure, petition the Graduate Studies Committee for permission to take the exam a third and final time. In order to petition, the student must have a grade point average of 3.75 or higher in graduate courses taken at OSU. In addition, the student's petition must be supported by favorable end-of-semester evaluations from at least three professors.