Doctoral Program - Summer Quarters

Stanford is on the quarter system. The autumn, winter and spring quarters, each lasting about 11 weeks, are the principal academic quarters. The summer quarter lasts 8 weeks. Students are not required to be at Stanford during summer quarters, although many students have chosen to remain here. The department maintains an active summer program of seminars, lectures, and courses.

A PhD level special topics course is given during the summer quarter---students receiving financial support may be required to register for this course. Students may also register for directed reading or research during the summer. In some cases, newly admitted students will be asked to enroll during the summer quarter preceding the first year core program in order to remedy perceived background deficiencies.

Qualifying Examinations
Qualifying examinations at Stanford are intended to test the student's level of knowledge when the first-year program, common to all students, has been completed. There are separate examinations in the three core subjects of (1) statistical methods, (2) mathematical statistics, and (3) probability theory.  Exams are typically, but not always, taken during the summer between the student's first and second years. Students may take two or three of these examinations and are expected to show acceptable performance in two examinations. Letter grades are not given. After passing the qualifying exams, students will file for PhD candidacy, a University milestone.