Transcript Evaluations

Over the summer, the Graduate Studies Office sends each incoming student a transcript evaluation letter via email specifying the Graduate Placement Exams that will be required. Students who have not received notification by July should contact the Graduate Studies Office for this information.

The Graduate Placement Exams (GPEs) must be taken during orientation of the first semester in which the student is enrolled as a graduate student. Review courses assigned due to the results of the GPE do not count towards the degree and must be taken in the first semester in which they are available. Students are restricted from enrolling in music theory (MUTH) or music history (MUMH) courses for credit until they have passed their assigned review course(s). 

The following courses may be assigned to a student based on GPE results:

  • MUTH 5010 - Music Theory Review (2 credit hours) 
  • MUMH 5500 - Pre-1750 Music History Review (3 credit hours) 
  • MUMH 5510 - Post-1750 Music History Review (3 credit hours)

Exam Procedure

Music Theory

The Graduate Placement Exam in Music Theory is an online exam consisting of 35 multiple-choice questions. The exam will be available in the College of Music GPE Graduate Center Canvas course one week before orientation. Students will be invited to join this course in late-July. Students may take this exam at anytime during this availability window. 

You will need to install Respondus LockDown Browser on your electronic device before starting the exam (instructions available here). We recommend that students complete the exam on a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet; completing the exam on a phone is NOT recommended. Students have 105 minutes (1 hour and 45 minutes) to complete and submit the exam.  

Music History
The GPE in Music History consists of two sections, pre-1750 and post-1750, each of which comprises:
  1. Thirty multiple-choice questions that measure understanding of the genres and styles characteristic of particular periods and major composers.
  2. Three essay questions, of which the student chooses one. Each question will be accompanied by a related source reading or score.
You will have 30 minutes to answer the multiple-choice questions and 60 minutes to answer the essay question assigned to each half of the exam (i.e. pre-1750 and post-1750).
 
Other Important Information
You will take the GPE in music history during Orientation on a computer provided by the university in the Sage Hall Testing Center. You will log into the computer station with your EUID and password. You may use scratch paper and a writing utensil while you take the test. You will be required to deposit other personal belongings, including your cell phone, in a secure space at the Testing Center.
More Information
For additional information, study guides, sample questions, and more, please visit the GPE webpage on the Division of Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology's (MHTE) website, linked here. 

Exemption Policy

Students who meet one or more following criteria will be notified by the Graduate Studies Office via email of their exemption from one or both parts of the GPE. No action on the student's part is necessary in order to qualify. If you have not received notification of your exemption, you must take the entire GPE. 

  1. Incoming master's students who received a B- or better in one or both semesters of a two-semester music history survey from an NASM-accredited institution within the past three years are exempt from the corresponding portion of the GPE (i.e. pre-1750 or post-1750), both multiple choice and essay.

  2. M.M. and D.M.A. jazz students are automatically exempt from the pre-1750 music history graduate placement exam and essay.

  3. Incoming doctoral students who received a B- or better in one or both semesters of a two-semester music history survey from a NASM-accredited institution within the past seven years are exempt from the corresponding portion of the GPE (i.e. pre-1750 or post-1750 portion), multiple choice only. All incoming doctoral students are required to take the essay portions of the GPE.

  4. Incoming master's and doctoral students in music education are exempt from the entire GPE in Music History.