Statistics PhD Qualifying and Preliminary Exams

All Statistics PhD students must pass the Statistics Qualifying Exam based on the two two-semester sequences Mathematical Statistics STAT6021-6022 and Applied Statistics STAT6031-6032.

All incoming PhD students are required to take the qualifying exam before the beginning of their first semester. Students who do not pass this exam at the PhD level are placed in the appropriate 6000 - level courses. In order to remain in the PhD program, the student must pass the qualifying exam (at the PhD level) by the beginning of the Fall Semester following their admission into the program.

All Statistics PhD students must also pass the preliminary exam. The exam is offered in May and August of every academic year and can be attempted at most twice. Exams taken by incoming students in August do not count against this two-attempt rule. The preliminary exam must be passed within two years of entering the program.

From 2018-2023 there were four separate preliminary exams (Linear Models, Statistical Methods, Multivariate Analysis, and Probability).  The current preliminary exam covers the material previously covered on the Linear Models and Statistical Theory exams.