The Doctoral comprehensive examinations in Counseling Psychology are the final program evaluation of the student’s readiness to begin independent research (Doctoral dissertation) and professional work (the full year of internship). The student must pass these examinations in order to become a candidate for the Ph.D.
Prerequisite
Students should complete required course work before taking the Doctoral Comprehensive Examinations. Typically, these requirements are completed by the end of the third year.
Procedures and Process
Doctoral Comprehensive Examinations, including oral and written components, are administered once a year. Written examinations are administered in late May or early June on two days within a given week, 9 am - 1 pm. The first two sections of the exam rely on an “in-class, closed book” format; the third section of the exam uses a take-home format, and is due two weeks after the in-class written exams. The oral component is scheduled during the second or third week of September, following the June administration. The Counseling Psychology Program faculty will announce the days of the examination early in the spring semester and will post the dates on the Program listserv. Students receive permission to take the examinations by presenting a Program of Study form signed by the advisor, an unofficial transcript, and a completed Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Application when they register for the examinations in the Program office at least six weeks before the scheduled date (typically April 15th). Exceptions to these requirements and procedures require authorization by the Director of Training and the Department Chair. Students taking the exam register for PY 998 Doctoral Comprehensives for the spring semester of their third year.
Examinations will be administered by the faculty and the location of the examinations will be posted on the Program listserv. All three parts of the written examination (including the two in-class components and the take-home portion) must be completed during the same administration. For example, a student may not take two parts of the examination in one year and the third part the following year.
The timing of the comprehensive exam process has been designed to maximize students’ learning and to reduce conflicts with other training tasks. In short, the timing is based on the notion that students are essentially preparing for the exam from their first day as students in the program. The modest course load of the third year ideally should provide students with ample opportunity to integrate their learning in preparation for the exam. The main points of the timing of the exam are as follows:
- The written exam will be due in late May (last week of May)
- The take-home exam case conceptualization (Applications; Part A) will be due two weeks after the in-class portion of the written exam (Mid-June). The take-home question will be distributed to students after the in-class portion of the exam.
- The oral exam case report (Applications; Part B; Case write-up and conceptualization) will be provided to the faculty readers by the last week of August. The oral exams will be scheduled for the second and third weeks of September Reading lists:
The faculty will prepare reading lists for the comprehensive exam by January 15th of each academic year, which will be distributed via the program listserv. The reading list will be culled from the courses and core content areas of the program’s curriculum. The content of the comprehensive exam is not limited to the program reading list.
Description of the Comprehensive Examinations
Comprehensive questions are designed to focus attention on the major issues
in the field of counseling psychology and to assess a student's competence as
a scientist/practitioner. Content areas are outlined below, and this list may
be used to develop a framework or outline for organizing a study program
Section
I — Theory and Research Related to the Psychological and Professional
Core
Students are expected to have a thorough understanding and knowledge of theory and research related to the Psychological and Professional Core of the counseling profession, to be prepared to address areas of controversy, and to examine the pros and cons of an argument, citing relevant research and theory. Doctoral students may be asked to relate how an issue has been treated historically (e.g., how affective theories of development have changed over time); to discuss a theoretical issue by comparing various theorists' views on the issue and presenting the research that challenges and supports the competing theories; to describe the advantages and disadvantages of one assessment strategy over another; or, to critically assess the research on individual differences in a specific behavior or competence. Students will be expected to support answers with relevant research, theory, and clinical evidence.
Section II — Research Design and Methods
Students are expected to understand the major research paradigms used by counseling psychologists, and to have a working knowledge of the specific language of psychological measurement, research design, and statistics. As examples of question content, students may be asked to apply that knowledge to typical research and measurement questions addressed by counseling psychologists, and/or to critique a body of research on psychotherapy, and/or to critique a research article. They may be given a research question or issue to be investigated and requested to design a study, state the hypotheses, and indicate how the data might be analyzed. They may be given hypotheses and asked to identify the appropriate statistic(s) to use in testing the hypotheses. They may be asked to discuss the limitations, uses, and advantages of single subject research designs, quasi-experimental studies, parametric and/or nonparametric statistics, multivariate analyses, or be asked to discuss the threats to internal and external validity in a given research design.
Section III — Applications: Integrating Theory,
Research, and Practice (Part A)
In the take home portion of the exam, students are asked to develop a theory and research-based case conceptualization that will serve as a means of integrating the full scope of knowledge in our field in an applied context. Students may be asked to discuss a selected counseling modality in a particular case provided by the faculty, citing the relevant research that influences the choice of treatment or intervention, or to comment on a specific case involving a question of ethical conduct, citing relevant principles of ethical practice. In addition, students need to construct their treatment strategies based on existing evidence-based practices and a coherent theoretical argument. Students may be asked to discuss the fundamental issues in the field of counseling psychology, career development and ethics, detailing the arguments on the various sides of each issue. Students may be asked to state and defend beliefs about specific issues debated in the counseling literature and be required to organize their thoughts about these issues presenting empirical support. This portion of the exam, which is due two weeks after the in-class written section, is limited to 25 pages, excluding references (which are required). The take-home exam must be prepared using 12-point font and APA format (i.e., double-spacing throughout).
Oral Examination: Applications: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice (Part B)
The oral exam is a formal, evaluative hearing to assess the competency of the student. The oral exam committee is made up of three faculty members (one of whom is the student’s advisor) who will meet at a time arranged by the student for approximately ninety minutes. Students will have a copy of their own written answers to review prior to the oral comprehensives. Students will also distribute a copy of a case they develop to the committee at least two weeks ahead of time (typically the last week of August) based upon guidelines provided by the Director of Training.
The oral examination focuses on (a) students’ case conceptualization, (b) evaluation of greater breadth and depth of the content areas covered by the written examination, and (c) specific content in an area judged by readers as requiring further evaluation. Students who do not demonstrate a satisfactory competence on the written portion of the exam may demonstrate this competency in the oral section of the exam, and thus avoid failing that section. Conversely, students who demonstrate significant gaps in knowledge and understanding during the oral exam, despite adequate written performance, may require further remediation or may fail that section of the exam.
Shortly after the oral examination, the entire faculty will meet and discuss students’ written and oral examination performance, then recommend one of the following: pass, high pass with distinction, remediation, or failure. Students will be contacted by their advisor regarding this decision.
If the faculty recommends remediation, this will include a deadline by which work will need to be completed. If remediation work is not completed by that deadline, or is judged by the faculty as unsatisfactory, the person will have failed that section of the comprehensives.
Sample questions are available in the Program office (Campion 309).
Evaluation of Written Comprehensive Examinations
Each question will be read by two faculty members who will independently grade the question and assign points to each question as described below.
Section I examines knowledge of research and theory related to the Psychological and Professional core areas. The following criteria are used for evaluating answers to questions from these two days:
- Factual information (information or understanding of concepts, research findings, theoretical position, etc., is factually correct).
Possible points: 2
- Thoroughness of answers (question is addressed directly, and student demonstrates depth in understanding).
Possible points: 3
- Insightfulness of answer (answer demonstrates critical evaluation of theory and/or research, insight into the complexity of the theory, construct, or issue, and good professional judgment).
Possible points: 3
- Documentation (research and theory cited is relevant, accurate and comprehensive).
Possible points: 2
Total possible for each question: 10
Section II examines research, statistics and measurement. The following criteria are used to grade answers:
- Factual information (information or understanding of application or suggested statistic is appropriate).
Possible points: 4
- Insightfulness of answers (answer demonstrates insight into the research issue/question and creative application, integration of theory, research, and practice).
Possible points: 3
- Completeness (question is thoroughly answered).
Possible points: 3
Total possible for each question: 10
Section III (Applications section) examines knowledge of research and theory and professional practice. The following criteria are used for evaluating answers to questions from these two days:
- Factual information (information or understanding of concepts, research
findings, theoretical position, etc., is factually correct).
Possible points: 2
- Thoroughness of answers (question is addressed directly, and student demonstrates
depth in understanding).
Possible points: 3
- Insightfulness of answer (answer demonstrates critical evaluation of theory
and/or research, insight into the complexity of the theory, construct, or
issue, and good professional judgment).
Possible points: 3
- Documentation (research and theory cited is relevant, accurate and comprehensive).
Possible points: 2
Guide for interpreting total points for individual questions:
9 - 10 points: High pass
6 - 8 points: Pass
5 points and below: Will be further evaluated during the oral exam.
Guide for final decisions:
Pass with Distinction: An average score of 8 or better, no question graded 5 or below, and satisfactory performance on the oral exam.
Pass: The determination of whether or not a student passes a question is based on both the written answer and the oral exam. A question is passed when the written answer is scored 6 or above and there is a satisfactory performance on the oral exam, and/or when the written answer is scored below 6 originally, but the oral exam indicates competence in the content area examined in the question.
Remediation: One question graded 5 or below for a section, and student does not demonstrate satisfactory performance on the oral exam.
Failure of a Section: A student who receives a grade of 5 or below on two or more questions on a given day, and does not demonstrate satisfactory competence on the oral exam, fails that section and must retake that section of the exam at another scheduled date.
Failure of the Exam: A student who fails two or more questions on two or more days of the exam, and does not demonstrate satisfactory competence on the oral exam, fails the entire comprehensive exam, and must retake the entire three days of the written exam.
FAILURE AND RETAKE POLICY
Retake of Failed Section:
Students who fail one section of the comprehensive examination must schedule a retake of that section with the Director of Training. The retake includes both a written and oral examination, is three and one-half hours, and covers the content of the section that was failed. Normally, retake of a section of the examination is scheduled by the Director of Training no sooner than the semester following that in which the written examination was taken. Students who fail the retake of the section must retake the entire comprehensive exam at the end of the spring semester of the following academic year.
Retake of Entire Written Exam:
Boston College Graduate School guidelines stipulate that students who fail the Doctoral Comprehensive Examination may take it one more time, not sooner than the following semester and at a time designated by the Program. Normally, students in Counseling Psychology who fail the comprehensive will retake the entire written exam at a time when it is regularly administered (i.e., the end of the spring semester of the following year). In case of a second failure, no further attempt is allowed. The student is then dismissed from the Doctoral Program.
Suggestions for Studying
We recommend that students form a study group and ask each other sample questions, using each other for support as well as sharing information about the current research and counseling literature.
The outline of "Tested Content Areas" (following) is meant as a study guide. We also advise students to develop a study schedule and to stay with that schedule Please note, however, that questions on the exam are comprehensive and integrative. As course material is reviewed, work to synthesize information, examining trends and controversies in the field. If you have questions and concerns, do not hesitate to consult the faculty.
Communicating Comprehensive Exam Results
We will provide qualitative feedback in written form to students after the
comprehensive exams are completed. This feedback will be determined through
a faculty process, not individual faculty scoring. That is, two faculty members
read and score each written comprehensive exam question. The subcommittee that
assesses students in oral exams engages the entire faculty in a collective discussion
and decision to determine the outcome and feedback for each student. The feedback
to students will be anonymous, given it that it is based on a collective process.
Suggestions for Studying
We recommend that students form a study group and ask each other sample questions, using each other for support as well as sharing information about the current research and counseling literature.
The outline of "Tested Content Areas" (following) is meant as a study guide. We also advise students to develop a study schedule and to stay with that schedule Please note, however, that questions on the exam are comprehensive and integrative. As course material is reviewed, it is important for students to synthesize information and examine trends and controversies in the field. If you have questions and concerns, do not hesitate to consult the faculty.
TESTED CONTENT AREA
PART I
General Topic: Theoretical and Research Base for Professional Identity as a Counseling Psychologist
Specific subtopics:
- Counseling theories
- Developmental theories
- Developmental psychopathology
- Multicultural issues/social justice
- Ethics
- Career Development-Psychology of working
- History and systems
- Other psychological core issues: (biological bases; social bases)
PART II
General Topic: Competence in Professional Practice, Theory, Research and Skills
Specific Subtopics:
- Statistics
- Research Design and Methods-Including qualitative and quantitative approaches
- Psychological Measurement
PART III (Take-home portion)
General Topic: Applications: Integrating Theory, Research, and
Practice
Specific Subtopics:
- Counseling Theory and Research
- Group Counseling Theory, Practice and Research
- Career Development Theory, Intervention and Research; Psychology of Working
- Professional Standards, Ethics, and Legal Issues in Counseling Psychology
- Psychopathology
- Psychological Assessment
- Consultation and Supervision