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		Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Rules
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1) A student entering the Ph.D. program must start taking the
qualifying exams from the first long semester they are in the program.
Qualifying exams will be normally administered in each long semester
right after the final exams period. Only the Fall and Spring semesters
are classified as a long semester.

2) To become a candidate for a Ph.D., a student must pass 
the qualifying exams for at least three M.S. core courses. 

For Ph.D. students who joined the program prior to Summer 2009, 
each of the three different courses can come from any 
of the five different tracks of the M.S. degree program.

For Ph.D. students admitted into the program Fall 2009 or later,
the three courses must be selected from the following subset of
M.S. core courses:

	6325 - Introduction to Computational Biology
	6352 - Performance of Computer Systems and Networks
	6360 - Database Design
	6362 - Software Architecture and Design
	6363 - Computer Algorithms
	6364 - Artificial Intelligence
	6367 - Software Testing, Validation & Verification
	6371 - Advanced Programming Languages
	6375 - Machine Learning
	6378 - Advanced Operating Systems
	6390 - Advanced Computer Networks

3) A student will receive either a failing or a passing grade for each
exam he/she takes. There is no other intermediate grade.

4) First attempt on each of the three exams must be made in the first
two semesters. Any failing grade from the first two semesters must be
converted into a passing grade in the immediately following long semester.
A student, therefore, has at most three semesters to pass the three
qualifying exams.

5) A student must receive a passing grade in the exam of a given course
in at most two attempts. A student cannot attempt an exam for a particular 
course, fail in it, and then decide to abandon it in favor of taking an 
exam for another course.

6) The departmental Ph.D. committee or student's Ph.D. supervisor
may ask a student to take additional exams in specific areas in later
semesters.   The departmental Ph.D. committee or student's Ph.D. supervisor
can also restrict the courses that a student can choose for his/her
qualifying exam.

7) M.S. students: There are no time constraints imposed on an M.S.
student, however, he/she has only two attempts to pass each of the
three qualifying exams. A failing grade remains on the record and is
not removed upon admittance to the Ph.D. program; it can be removed
only if the student passes that exam in their second attempt.
Performance in the qualifying exams (if any) taken by an M.S. student
may also be used for making admission decisions if the student applies

8) Part-time Ph.D. students: The above timing rules apply to full-time
students only. For part-time Ph.D. students, 1 long semester is added in all
scenarios.