Third-Year Requirements
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying/preliminary examination required for acceptance into candidacy for the doctoral degree is completed by the end of the third year and consists of either (1) writing a substantive review paper on a topic of interest to the student that has been approved by a committee chaired by someone other than the primary mentor, or (2) conducting an empirical study under the supervision of a faculty member other than the primary mentor, and writing a manuscript describing the study and its results. One of the primary goals of the preliminary examination is to insure some breadth of scholarship. To accomplish this goal, the topic must be a departure from any past work or dissertation proposal. The model for the review paper option is reviews published in Psychological Bulletin or Clinical Psychology Review. The evaluation procedure for both options is similar to that of a review process for a journal. The paper must be written with an advisor different from one’s second year project and this preliminary examination advisor will serve as chair of the committee who will act as an action editor as in the journal review process.
