A preliminary exam is given at the end of the first year in the program. The purpose of this exam is to test a broad understanding of immunology and immunological concepts derived primarily from the graduate immunology course, IMMU7662.

Students must complete all of the required first year courses prior to taking the preliminary exam.

The exam will be given mid-June and will consist of approximately 40 short-answer (~1 paragraph) essay questions on topics in basic immunology. A 4-hour exam is anticipated, but the time limit will be left to the discretion of the preliminary exam committee.

Late exams will be granted only in cases of dire emergency! Students will be informed of the test date about two months in advance, to minimize conflicts.

The questions will be selected by members of the Graduate Program Steering committee. The test questions will be written by Immunology faculty members and each question writer will be asked to provide the answers to his/her own questions. Tests will be graded by members of the Graduate Program Steering committee and grading will be blinded with respect to the test taker.

The exam will be given in a classroom, and will be overseen by a test administrator, who will remain in the room while the students complete their exams.

The exam will be closed-book and closed-notes.

The test administrator will distribute the completed exams, collate them when graded, and calculate overall scores. Exam results should be available within about 2 weeks following the exam.

Students failing the preliminary exam will be asked to take a second special exam, by the end of August.

Students are expected to prepare for the exam by reviewing course notes, textbooks, and course-assigned reading. No reading lists or outlines will be prepared as studying guidelines. In general, all areas of basic immunology could be included, even if some of these were covered only cursorily in the graduate immunology course.