Each PhD candidate is to take 4 comprehensive exams: one in modern, one in ancient, one in ethics, and one in a subject to be chosen in consultation with a faculty advisor and the graduate committee. This last subject is generally one that is closely related to the student's dissertation topic or a strong secondary interest.

For each exam, the student should select an appropriate faculty member in the philosophy department to serve as a "comp advisor". The student, in consultation with the comp advisor, will devise a reading list and submit it for approval by the graduate committee. (For the three required comps, a standard list will usually be offered, but it is the student's responsibility to make sure he or she receives an explicit list of readings.)

At an arranged time, the comp advisor will administer the exam. Each exam is two hours, and the advisor should notify the student in advance how many questions will need to be answered. A departmental computer will be made available for students who want to take the exam electronically. The department secretary will make copies of the exam and deliver them to the comp advisor and the members of the graduate committee. The comp advisor will write a brief (half-page or so) report on the exam and send it, along with a pass/fail recommendation, to the graduate committee. The comp advisor may choose to make the reports available to the student as well, but the reports will not be part of the student's file. The report and recommendation should be made within two weeks of the exam.

Failed comps may be retaken if the graduate committee approves.

PhD students should try to time the exams to coincide with relevant coursework whenever possible. (For example, a doctoral student who takes Ancient Greek in the Fall semester would be wise to take the ancient philosophy exam within a month or so of completing the course.) Students are advised to have taken and passed at least one comp by the end of their first year in the program; ideally, all comps should be taken and passed by the end of the third semester. If all comps are not taken and passed by the end of the second year, doctoral students may be considered not to be making satisfactory progress in their program.