Only one retake is allowed. To prepare for the exam, students should take at least 5 of the ATOC core courses. There is a total of 9 questions on the exam, one covering from each core course. Each question is written by a faculty member whom has taught the course within the past 2 years. A notebook of questions and solutions from previous exams can be obtained from the Graduate Secretary.
Every effort is made to insure fairness in formulating and grading the questions.
The questions are collectively considered by an Examination Committee, which includes several students that are Ph.D. candidates. Each student taking the exam is assigned a letter designation, so that the papers are anonymous to the faculty grading the question. Each question is graded separately by 2 faculty members - the faculty member that wrote the exam question and an additional faculty member that has expertise in the subject area. The decision as to whether a student passes the Exam is made by the entire ATOC faculty. Students are usually informed of the outcome of the Exam within 3 weeks of the Exam.