You must arrange for your Comprehensive Oral Examination when you Advance to Candidacy for the MS Degree during the beginning of your second semester. On the form, please list the date, time, and location of the Comprehensive Examination (top right).
At least one of the members of your Examination Committee has to be from the Mechanical Engineering Department and both have to be members of the Academic Senate (see Who Can Test). Please note that both members of your Oral Exam Committee must be present at the time of the exam.
The Oral Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled at least 45 days before the end of your second semester. The examination is scheduled for 30 minutes. At the conclusion of your examination, the Committee Members will complete your Report on the BS/MS 5 Year Completion Examination Form and you will need to submit it to MechE Student Services.
Should you not pass the examination, you are eligible to retake the exam with the same committee members. Retakes should take place within 2 weeks of your first examination.
When
The Oral Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled at least 45 (!) days before the end of your second semester but it is a good idea to start the scheduling process no later than the beginning of February as faculty’s schedules start becoming quite congested. It behooves you to begin thinking about who will be testing you in your *first semester* and this definitely should be taken into account when choosing your first semester courses.
What can I be tested on?
Questions will be drawn from upper division 100 and 200 level courses taken during the first semester of your MS program. By exception, second semester courses can be used for the exam, but generally speaking, exceptions should be requested no later than February 10th, and tests should take place a bit later in the semester so you have enough material on which to be tested.
Who can test & choosing courses
Your Examination Committee consists of 2 professors who are members of the Berkeley Academic Senate. Generally speaking, this applies to full faculty (a/an “Assistant/Associate/Full” Professor). It behooves you to begin thinking about who will be testing you in your first semester and this definitely should be taken into account when choosing your first semester courses.
Booking a room
Students can request a testing room through MechE Student Services or may ask their faculty members (in some cases they may have access to testing spaces outside of MechE). When in doubt, ask us.
Completion Form
Once you have completed your Oral Exam, you will need to get signatures from your examiners and bring it to MechE Student Services. The form can be found here and can be signed right after the examination.