Graduate Program
Written exams
The Department offers one written exam for the MS Degree and one written exam for the PhD Degree. The MS written exam is given in May and January each year. (The dates are typically a Thursday late in May and the Thursday before classes begin in January.) The exam consists of two parts. A methods exam consisting of three questions based on the classes Stat 500 and Stat 511 is given from 9:00 a.m. to noon. A theory exam consisting of four questions based on the classes Stat 542 and Stat 543 is given from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. A student is guaranteed two attempts to pass this exam. A third and final attempt may be given upon the recommendation of the Graduate Faculty. The results of this exam will be of the form: Pass, Conditional Pass, or Fail. These assessments will be given independently for the Methods and Theory parts. Hence, it is possible to pass part of the MS Exam and repeat only one part the next time.
The PhD written exam is given in August, the week before fall semester begins. This exam will be based on the statistical knowledge contained in the MS core courses (500, 511, 542 and 543) and the PhD core courses (601, 642 and 643). There will be only one guaranteed attempt at the written exam. Decisions will be in the form of Pass, Conditional Pass, Fail or Fail with an Invitation to Make a Second Attempt. (This evaluation applies to the full exam so it is not possible to pass part of this exam.) The exact timing and structure of this exam will be announced by the PhD Exam Committee during the Spring Semester.
To aid in studying for the exams, a Repository of Past Masters and PhD Exams can be found by clicking here. Note that you will need to log in with your current ISU NetID and password.
