These consist of two written exams and one brief oral exam. Written exams are offered twice each year — in late July or early August, before the start of the Fall semester, and in January, before the start of the Spring semester. Oral exams are scheduled on an ad hoc basis by students and their advisors at a mutually convenient time.
Prelim time limit:
- Students who are granted a primary Master’s waiver are expected to pass both written prelim exams by the end of the summer after their 6th semester in the program.
- Students who are granted a secondary Master’s waiver and students who earn a Master’s degree on the way to entering the doctoral program are expected to pass both written prelim exams by the end of the summer after their 8th semester in the program.
- Students who have not met the prelim requirement by these deadlines may request an extension by submitting a Ph.D. Extension Request Form. The request should be made as soon as the need for an extension becomes apparent.
Written exam:
Some exams take place on campus in the course of a day; they consist of a three-hour session in the morning and another three-hour session in the afternoon. (Students whose native language is not English and students granted accommodations from the McBurney Disability Resource Center are allowed extra time.) Others, however, are take-home exams written over a period of three days. (Students with care-giving responsibilities may have a fourth day.) Exams in Group II may, with permission from faculty in the subarea, take the form of two papers.
Two options exist for completing the written preliminary exam requirement:
Option 1: Two written exams: Students must pass one exam in a Group I subfield and a second exam in a subfield from either Group I or Group II. (Scroll down this page to see Group lists)
Option 2: One written exam and one paper-option exam. Students must pass one written exam in a Group I subfield and write two papers (usually one paper demonstrating breadth—e.g., a literature review—and one demonstrating depth—e.g., an analysis of an issue) focusing on one of the subfields in Group II.
Exam Groups I and II are listed below, followed by information about the Oral Exam.
Group I Exams:
- Comparative-Historical Sociology
- Demography and Ecology
- Economic Change and Development
- Economic Sociology
- Environmental Sociology
- Gender
- Organizational and Occupational Analysis
- Political Sociology
- Race and Ethnic Studies
- Social Psychology and Micro-Sociology
- Social Stratification
Group II Exams:
- AgriFood Systems
- Class Analysis and Historical Change
- Communities and Urban Sociology
- Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
- Culture
- Education
- Ethnography
- Family
- General Social Theory
- Law and Society
- Medical Sociology
- Methods and Statistics
- Science and Technology
Oral exam:
This “exam” is actually a brief, informal conversation that students have with their advisor, focusing on plans for the dissertation. Once the oral exam has taken place, students have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. but the dissertation. They then submit a “Petition to Become a Dissertator” form, after which the Graduate School confers dissertator (or ABD) status.
Prelim time limit:
Students must pass both written prelims by the end of the summer after their eighth semester in residence at the University.