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Preliminary Comprehensive Exams
All Doctoral students must pass a preliminary comprehensive exam. For OEB students, there are four sections: general Biology, Ecology, Evolution, and Statistics. If you are a joint student with a second program, you may have an additional section on your exam (e.g. Entomology). It is an oral exam.
Students are advised to form study groups with other members of their cohort and it is suggested that you select committee members for your exam that you have had a conversation about exam expectations with. Students preparing for the exam traditionally recruit more senior OEB students who have passed the exams to help them study by holding mock exams. Generally, students take this exam at the end of their second year in OEB.
There is a collection of previous prelims questions available on the OEB website. Thank you to those who have passed their prelims and contributed to this great resource!