Taking the Comprehensive Exam

PURPOSE: The Graduate Comprehensive Examination serves as an exit examination in your major. While there are entrance requirements for graduate degree programs, there are also exit requirements. This examination is not necessarily geared to measuring how many facts or concepts you have learned as a graduate student but rather how you have learned to use information, knowledge, and ideas in a broad or "comprehensive" manner. Thus, in preparing to take the examination, you should contemplate the span of your knowledge learned or gained over, perhaps, a "lifetime" of activity in your major. This knowledge should not be viewed simply as specific facts or ideas but as a broad and sweeping expertise. This examination is comparable to other major professional examinations, such as those in law and medicine. You should prepare accordingly, and your strategy should be to pass it on the first time. It is hoped that the outline below will help you focus on preparing for this important step towards the completion of your degree. Good luck!