About Comprehensive Exams

When I started grad school, I was pretty clueless about what I had gotten myself into. I knew I'd take courses. And write a dissertation, whatever that was. But I didn't know that I'd have to pass comps. Many students are surprised to learn that passing all of their classes isn't enough to advance them to the status of doctoral candidate, permitting them to begin their dissertation. Instead, it's the comprehensive examination that serves as the gatekeeper to the doctoral dissertation and often the master's thesis as well.