An exit exam is required for either plan. This reading exam will consist of two 2-hour parts, separated by an interval (e.g., two hours in the morning, two in the afternoon).  For all students, one part of the exam will be in Latin and the other in Greek. 

Each of the two parts will focus on a specific author or text.  The author/text is to be determined by consultation between the student and his/her exam committee (see below).  It is understood that the authors or texts will be taken from the subjects of the student’s graduate seminars. 

In each part of the exam, the student will be given a seen passage and a sight passage to translate.  The total number of lines to translate for each part of the exam will be no less than 50.  Translation may be from the Latin/Greek to English, Greek to Latin or vice versa, or with the prior approval of the student’s committee, from Latin/Greek into another language.

The translation submitted must be of finished and polished quality, both in terms of its grammar and syntax and its physical presentation on the page, and must be easy to read and comprehend in whatever language it is rendered.

The student bears responsibility for seeking out a faculty member as an exam advisor and consulting with the DGS about this.  Together they determine the specific author(s)/text(s) to be used on the exam.  The name of the exam director should be forwarded to the DGS no later than 1 December; information concerning the composition of the exam should be sent to the DGS by the first day of the spring term.

The DGS then, in consultation with the other faculty members, establishes an exam committee which will be recommended to the Dean of the Graduate School for appointment. The chair of the exam committee will advise the student on specific matters pertinent to the exam. The date of the exam is set by the chair of the exam committee in consultation with the members of the committee, the DGS, and the student. The exit exam should be scheduled before May 15 (and at least eight days before the end of the spring semester for awarding a degree in May), and only in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the committee members during the summer months. Students will normally have six years from the beginning of their program to complete their degree.  In the event that one or both parts of the exam is not passed on the first taking, a retake of the exam or part can be scheduled, in accordance with Graduate School policy.  Also per Graduate School policy, only one retake of the exam or part is permitted.

New Exit Exam plan, starting for the admissions of 2023/2024

An exit exam is required for either plan. This exam will consist of two 2-hour parts, separated by a break. For all students, one part of the exam will be in Latin and the other in Greek. Each exam will contain a translation section and a commentary section. Translation may be from Latin/Greek to English, Greek to Latin or vice versa, contingent upon prior approval of the student’s committee, from Latin/Greek into another language. The translation submitted must be of finished and polished quality, both in terms of its grammar and syntax and its physical presentation on the page, and must be easy to read and comprehend in whatever language it is rendered. The commentary part will evaluate the students’ understanding of the text itself and the relation between the text and its circumstances of production. The exam is to be taken in person only.

At the beginning of the final term for each student, the CLA working group will determine a committee, composed of three professors who, preferably, have been the instructors of courses the student has attended. The committee will prepare the exam by choosing four excerpts in total from the student’s reading list, two in Greek and two in Latin. The reading list comprises readings from the seminars the student has taken in the terms prior to the last term in the M.A. The committee will grade the test using a pass/fail scale.

The student must schedule the exit exam according to the Graduate School calendar. In the event that the exam or one part of the exam is not passed on the first attempt, a retake of the exam or part can be scheduled in accordance with Graduate School policy. Also per Graduate School policy only one retake of the exam or part is permitted.