Qualifying Examinations

For copies of past examinations, click here.

The department has three qualifying examinations covering required course material:

First-Year Theory Exam

All Master's students must pass this exam in June at the end of their first year of coursework. The exam covers statistical inference as taught in Stat 512-13 the preceding Autumn/Winter quarters.

PhD students who take Stat 512-13 must also take this exam for advisory purposes.

Entering students who have a Master's degree in Math, Statistics, or a related field, or who, after consultation with their academic advisor, believe they have mastered the material in Stat 512-13, may take a placement exam during Autumn Orientation Week. The results will indicate whether they need to take 512-13 or may place out of it and take the second-year theory coursework (Stat 581-2-3) instead.

This exam offers students six questions, of which they choose five to be graded on. Students are given three hours to complete the exam, which is closed-book/notes. Calculators are allowed.

Second-Year (PhD) Theory Exam

This exam covers material taught in Stat 581-2-3, and is currently given in mid-September. Students are offered seven questions, and must give answers to at least five. The exam lasts four hours and is closed book/notes, with calculators allowed.

Second-Year (PhD) Applied Exam

This exam covers the material in Stat 570 and is currently given in mid-September. Students are given a data analysis problem and have one week to produce a written report on their analysis and results. Consultation of any written source is allowed, but students are not allowed to discuss their analysis or results with anyone until after the entire exam period (including orals) is completed. After the written reports are turned in, students are scheduled for an oral examination by the graders, when they will have a chance to make clarifications, defend choices, and answer any questions posed.

Grading of Examinations and Results

Each exam has a committee consisting of a Chair from either Stat or Biostat and several other faculty from both departments. Normally, the instructor(s) of the relevant courses will be on the committee. Committee members normally grade the exams, with at least two different graders for each exam (with scores averaged). If two graders differ significantly on their scores for a particular question, a reconciliation effort will occur.

After exam scores are turned in, the faculty will hold a meeting to determine a passing score. Passing lines differ from year to year due to varying degrees of exam difficulty. Both Biostat and Stat faculty discuss and agree upon what they think a passing score should be; this is done with blinded scores (no student identification revealed). After this line is determined, scores are unblinded. The Biostat faculty then meet separately to determine final results for Biostat students.

Scores are either "Pass", "Conditional Pass", or "Fail." For the MS (1st-year) Theory exam, two passing lines are determined: MS pass level and PhD pass level. For PhD students, this pass level is for advisory purposes. Master's students who pass at the PhD level may be encouraged by the faculty to consider formally applying to the PhD program.

For students with borderline performances on exams, the faculty consider performance in the relevant coursework as a possibly mitigating factor in issuing a Pass on the exam.

Conditional passes may be issued to students with borderline scores; the condition is usually to retake one or more courses with a better grade, thus fulfilling the exam requirement.

Students who fail an exam must retake the exam the following year. Students have two attempts to pass an exam. A second failure will result in a drop from the program.

Studying for exams/past exam copies

Students may review past exams. Copies are available on line via this link in pdf format .