AMSC - Application Area Qualifying Exam

In the case that coursework can be counted as the exam requirement, the student must obtain an overall GPA of at least 3.5.

Students are strongly encouraged to submit a Study Advisory Plan to ensure their qualifying exam requirement in the application area is met.

When coursework is used to meet a qualifying exam requirement, the student must submit the Course Evaluation Form.

Department of Aerospace Engineering

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from any of the core courses in the following concentrations listed below.

Rotorcraft:

ENAE 631 Helicopter Aerodynamics I (3)
ENAE 633 Helicopter Dynamics (3)
ENAE 788R Helicopter Dynamics II (?)
ENAE 634 Helicopter Design (3)
ENAE 635 Helicopter Stability & Control (3)

Flight Dynamics & Control:

ENAE 641 Linear System Dynamics (3)
ENAE 642 Atmospheric Flight Control (3)
ENAE 646 Advanced Dynamics of Aero Systems (3)
ENAE 647 Flexible Multibody Dynamics (3)
ENAE 742 Robust Multivariable Control (3)
ENAE 743 App. NL control of Aerospace Vehicles (3)
ENAE 788B Aircraft System Identification (?)

Structures:

ENAE 651 Smart Structures (3)
ENAE 652 Computational Structural Mechanics (3)
ENAE 653 Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (3)
ENAE 654 Mechanics of Composite Structures (3)
ENAE 655 Structural Dynamics (3)
ENAE 656 Aeroelasticity (3)
ENAE 757 Advanced Structural Dynamics (3)
ENAE 788E Electro-Mechanical System Modeling (3)
ENAE 788M Introduction to Morphing Aircraft (?)
ENAE 788W Smart Fluids and Applications(?)
ENAE 788P Analysis of Structural Elements (3)

Aerodynamics & Propulsion:

ENAE 663 Intro to Plasmas for Space Prop/Powr (3)
ENAE 665 Advanced Airbreathing Propulsion (3)
ENAE 667 Adv. Space Propulsion and Power (3)
ENAE 673 Aerodynamics of Incompressible Fluids (3)
ENAE 674 Aerodynamics of Compressible Fluids (3)
ENAE 675 Unsteady and Inviscid Aerodynamics (?)
ENAE 676 Turbulence (3)
ENAE 682 Hypersonic Aerodynamics (3)
ENAE 683 High Temperature Gasdynamics (3)
ENAE 684 Computational Fluid Dynamics I (3)
ENAE 685 Computational Fluid Dynamics II (3)
ENAE 788A Fundamentals of Explosions I (3)
ENAE 788J/Y Fundamentals of Explosions II (3)

Space Systems:

ENAE 601 Astrodynamics (3)
ENAE 602 S/C Attitude Dynamics & Control (3)
ENAE 691 Satellite Design (3)
ENAE 692 Intro to Space Robotics (3)
ENAE 694 Spacecraft Communications (3)
ENAE 696 Spacecraft Thermal Design (3)
ENAE 697 Space Human Factors & Life Support (3)
ENAE 741 Interplanetary Navigation & Guidance (3)
ENAE 788D Advanced Space Systems Design (3)
ENAE 603 Near-Earth Object Exploration (3)
ENAE 788X Planetary Surface Robotics (?)
ENAE 791 Launch & Entry Vehicle Design (3)

Department of Astronomy

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses listed below:

ASTR 601 Radiative Processes (3)
ASTR 606 Stellar Structure and Evolution (3)
ASTR 610 Astronomical Instrumentation and Techniques (3)
ASTR 615 Computational Astrophysics (3)
ASTR 620 Galaxies (3)
ASTR 622 Cosmology (3)
ASTR 630 Planetary Science (3)
ASTR 670 Interstellar Medium and Gas Dynamics (3)
ASTR 680 High Energy Astrophysics (3)

Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the 6 AOSC core courses listed below:

AOSC 610 Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans I
AOSC 611 Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans II
AOSC 617 Atmosphere and Oceanic Climate
AOSC 620 Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere I
AOSC 621 Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere II
AOSC 680 Introduction to Earth System Science

Department of Biology

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses in the following concentrations listed below. In the case that 2 courses are only equivalent to 4 credits, the student must take 3 courses to equal 6 credits.

BIOL704 & 705

Molecular and Cell Biology (MOCB):

CBMG 688D Cell Biology I: Structure and Function (2 credits)
BCHM 661 Nucleic acids (2 credits)
CBMG 688F Gene Expression (2 credits)
CBMD 688I Genetic Analysis (2 credits)

Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Genomics (CBBG):

CBMG 688Y Bioinformatics and Genomics (2 credits)
CBMG 688P Programming for Biology (2 credits)

Marine-Estuarine-Environmental-Sciences Program (MEES):

MEES 620 Coupled Human & Natural Systems (4)
MEES 640 Interconnected Earth Systems: Land, Ocean, and Estuary (3)
MEES 660 Ecological Systems (?)
MEES 680 Cell and Molecular Biology for Environmental (?)

Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS):

NACS 600 Ethics in Scientific Research (2)
NACS 640 Foundational Readings (taken in the first semester) (2)
NACS 642 Cognitive Neuroscience (4)
NACS 645 Cognitive Science (4)
NACS 641 Introduction to Neurosciences (4)
NACS 643 Computational Neuroscience (4)
NACS 644 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (?)

College of Business and Management

A comprehensive exam in Management Science is defined as an exam comprised of two subject areas, to be chosen by the student among the following courses:

BMGT 830 Operations Research: Linear Programming
BMGT 831 Operations Research: Extension of Linear Programming and Network Analysis
BMGT 832 Operations Research: Optimization and Nonlinear Programming
BMGT 833 Operations Research: Integer Programming
BMGT 834 Operations Research: Probabalistic Models
BMGT 835 Simulation and Design of Experiments
BMGT 836 Advanced Topics in Linear Programming
BMGT 808 Operations Research: Special Topics
BMGT 838O Special Topics in Operations Management/Management Science; Seminar in Operations Management
BMGT 840 Seminar in Financial Theory
BMGT 843 Seminar in Portfolio Theory
BMGT 848A Special Topics in Finance; Financial Research Methods
BMGT 848B Special Topics in Finance; Financial Research Methods

To sit for the comprehensive exam, a student is not required to take the respective courses at the Smith School, or in any other department at the University of Maryland. If the student does not take the respective course(s) at the Smith School, however, the student is responsible for getting the syllabus from the instructor currently teaching the respective course(s) to learn about the expectations for the exam(s).

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses listed below:

ENCH 610 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (3)
ENCH 620 Methods of Engineering Analysis (3)
ENCH 630 Transport Phenomena (3)
ENCH 640 Advanced Chemical Reaction Kinetics (3)

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses in the following concentrations listed below:

Core courses for Environmental:

ENCE 650 Process Dynamics of Environmental Systems (3)
ENCE 651 Chemistry of Natural Waters (3)
ENCE 652 Microbiological Principles of Environmental Engineering (3)

Water Resources:

ENCE 630 Environmental and Water Resources Systems I (3)

Core courses for Transportation:

ENCE 670 Highway Traffic Characteristics and Measurements (3)
ENCE 672 Regional Transportation Planning (3)
ENCE 673 Urban Transportation (3)
ENCE 677 OR Models for Transportation Systems Analysis (3)

Core courses Project Management:

ENCE 627 Project Risk Management (3)
ENCE 661 Project Cost Accounting & Finance (3)
ENCE 662 Fundamentals of Project Management (3)
ENCE 664 Legal Aspects of Engineering Design & Construction (3)
ENCE 665 Managing Project Teams: Improving Individual and Team Performance (3)

Department of Computer Science

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses in the following concentrations listed below. If a CMSC topics course meets qualifying exam requirements for Computer Science PhD students, you may also use them to meet an AMSC application area qual requirement: https://www.cs.umd.edu/grad/coursework#specialtopics

Artificial Intelligence:

CMSC 620 Problem Solving Methods in Artificial Intelligence
CMSC 720 Logic for Problem Solving
CMSC 721 Non-Monotonic Reasoning
CMSC 722 Artificial Intelligence Planning
CMSC 723 Computational Linguistics I (Formerly: Natural Language Processing)
CMSC 726 Machine Learning
CMSC 727 Neural Modeling
CMSC 742 Algorithms Machine Learning
CMSC 773 Computational Linguistics II

Computer Systems:

CMSC 614 Computer and Network Security
CMCS 615 Advanced Computer Architecture
CMSC 710 Performance Evaluation of Computer Systems
CMSC 711 Computer Networks
CMSC 712 Distributed Algorithms and Verification
CMSC 713 Real-time Systems
CMSC 714 High Performance Computing

Database Systems:

CMSC 624 Database Systems Implementation (Inactive Course)
CMSC 724 Database Management Systems
CMSC 725 Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Databases

Software and Programming Languages:

CMSC 630 Theory of Programing Languages
CMSC 631 Program Analysis and Understanding
CMSC 731 Programming Language Implementation
CMSC 737 Fundamentals of Software Testing

Software Engineering and HCI:

CMSC 632 Software Product Assurance
CMSC 634 Empirical Research Methods for Computer Science
CMSC 732 Compiling for Vector and Parallel Architecture
CMSC 735 Quantitative Approach to Software Management and Engineering
CMSC 736 Software Engineering Environments
CMSC 737 Fundamentals of Software Testing

Algorithms and Computation Theory:

CMSC 650 Theory of Computing
CMSC 651 Analysis of Algorithms
CMSC 652 Complexity Theory
CMSC 656 Introduction to Cryptography
CMSC 657 Introduction to Quantum Information Processing
CMSC701 Computational Genomics
CMSC 750 Advanced Theory of Computation(Inactive Course)
CMSC 751 Parallel Algorithms
CMSC 752 Concrete Complexity
CMSC 753 Mathematical Linguistics
CMSC 754 Computational Geometry
ENEE 641 Mathematical Foundations for Computer Systems

Visual and Geometric Computing:

CMSC 725 Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Databases
CMSC 740 Advanced Computer Graphics
CMSC 741 Geometric and Solid Modeling
CMSC 733 Computer Processing of Pictorial Information
CMSC 754 Computational Geometry

Department of Economics

Students must pass written examinations in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory at the doctoral level. Each exam may be attempted twice. If a student passes one exam but fails the other, then the student needs to re-take only the failed exam. If a student fails both, then the student must re-take both at the same time. Students who fail one or both exams twice will be asked to leave the program.

While no courses are required, normal preparation includes

ECON 601 Macroeconomic Analysis I
ECON 602 Macroeconomic Analysis II
ECON 603 Microeconomic Analysis I
ECON 604 Microeconomic Analysis II

These examinations are typically given in the third full week of June and in the last week in August, one week before the start of the Fall semester. Students who wish to take comprehensive exams must sign up in advance with the Graduate Studies Coordinator of the Economics Department.

Department of Electrical Engineering

A student may take multiple application area qualifying exams by taking courses in different specialties. For example a student could take 2 CORE courses (6 credits) from Communications and Signal Processing and 2 CORE courses (6 credits) from Electrophysics.

The following are the list of courses (which can also be found here):

ENEE 620 Random Processing in Communication & Control
ENEE 621 Estimation and Detection Theory
ENEE 627 Information Theory
ENEE 630 Advanced Digital Signal Processing
ENEE 640 Digital CMOS VLSI Design
ENEE 641 Mathematical Foundations for Computer Systems
ENEE 645 Compilers and Optimization
ENEE 646 Digital Computer Design
ENEE 660 System Theory
ENEE 661 Nonlinear Control Systems
ENEE 662 Convex Optimization
ENEE 664 Optimal Control
ENEE 680 Electromagnetic Theory I
ENEE 681 Electromagnetic Theory II
ENEE 690 Quantum & Wave Phenomena with Electrical Application
ENEE 691 Optical Communication Systems
ENEE 600 Solid State Electronics
ENEE 601 Semiconductor Devices and Technology
ENEE 610 Electrical Network Theory
ENEE 611 Integrated Circuit Design and Analysis
ENEE 612 Advanced Power Electronics

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

2 CORE courses (6 credits) can be taken from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. A comprehensive list of courses offered may be found at the following link, but the department should be contacted regarding which courses constitute the core curriculum.

Department of Linguistics

One course sequence (2 core courses/6 credits) must be taken from the following list:

LING 610, 611 Syntax
LING 620, 621 Phonology
LING 640, 641 Psycholinguistics
LING 660, 661 Semantics
LING 723, 773 Computational Linguistics

Department of Mechanical Engineering

2 courses/6 credits must be taken from the core courses listed below:

ENME 605 Advanced Systems Control: Linear Systems (3)
ENME 610 Engineering Optimization (3)
ENRE 620 Mathematical Techniques of Reliability Engineering (3)
ENME 625 Multidisciplinary Optimization (3)
ENME 632 Advanced Convection Heat Transfer (3)
ENME 633: Molecular Thermodynamics
ENME 635: Energy Systems Analysis for Sustainability and Decarbonization
ENME 640 Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics
ENME 642 Hydrodynamics I
ENME 657 Analysis of Turbulent Flow
ENME 662 Linear Vibrations (3)
ENME 673 Energy and Variational Methods in Applied Mechanics (?)
ENME 700 Advanced Mechanical Engineering Analysis (?)
ENME 701 Sustainable Energy Conversion and the Environment
ENME 808B Computational Methods in Science and Engineering (?)
ENRE 655 Advanced Methods in Reliability Modeling (3)
ENRE 600 Fundamentals of Failure Mechanisms (3)
ENRE 602 Reliability Analysis (3)

Department of Physics

There is a Physics written exam; however, the physics application area is the one exception to our rule that students must take the application area written exam if one is provided by the department. For a Physics application area qual requirement, students may do either of the following:

(1) complete any one of the following 3 pairs of Physics courses: PHYS 610 & 611, 612 & 613, or 610 & 612; OR

(2) pass part A of the physics written qualifier. Part A covers PHYS 610 & 612.

AMSC students interested in taking Physics written qualifying exam should contact the Physics program for more information and eligibility requirements.