New PhD Comprehensive Exam Rules

1. Please check CS PhD Web Page for detailed information about the computer science PhD program at MSU-Bozeman. The old rule regarding PhD exam is here. Here is a copy of the past PhD comprehensive exam and the past syllabi for the written part of the PhD comprehensive exam.
2. Effective in Fall, 2004, a new format of the PhD comprehensive exam will be implemented:
   (1) At least a month before the exam, a candidate submits a thesis proposal to his/her thesis committee;
   (2) The chair of the thesis committee will work with other committee members to design a written exam based on the thesis proposal;
   (3) The written exam is done within some fixed time frame (say 4 hours); and
   (4) Within one week of the written exam an oral exam will be conducted, based on the written exam as well as the thesis proposal.