Comprehensive Examination Plan Examinations are offered each quarter, beginning with the written part during the fifth week of each quarter. Under exceptional circumstances, the chair of the department will receive petitions for M.A. examinations during the summer recess. One examination committee is appointed for each quarter. The members of the committee administer the written and oral examinations. For Plan A, students must choose history and structure of Germanic languages as one area of study.
Students select a primary concentration on which they are examined for three hours.
They also select a secondary concentration on which they are examined for two hours. For each examination, one month in advance, students are provided with three broad topics. They are examined on specific questions relating to those topics. The examination in the secondary field follows in the month after the examination in the primary area, and is structured in the same manner. A one-hour oral examination follows in the week after the completion of the second examination.