(This is somewhat GMU-specific and a bit dated) There are two sets of people to consider for your comps. Comp questions come from your "advanced" courses. Your professors who taught those courses therefore ask questions. Also, your dissertation committee asks questions (and the committee votes, not the professors who taught the courses). Of course, there can be some intersecton, but the two sets don't have to be identical. The committee should be formed for the research, not the comps. The committee should be people who: 1. can contribute technically to your thesis 2. will proactively read your thesis and offer helpful advice 3. won't give you too much of a hard time (ie, won't fight with your advisor) 4. will be able to help your future academic career (ie, with reference letters, etc) 5. you can talk to comfortably (perhaps regarding complaints about your advisor) The committee must have two properties: 1) Come from 2 different departments 2) Have a "chairman" to push paper around and get forms. The chairman must have graduated two PhD students from GMU -- that is, a senior person. I prefer that the comps questions are entirely from the committee, and one of the committee members handle courses taught by someone not on the committee. You should plan on 18 to 24 months fulltime work after the comps. As a parttime student, maybe 2 to 4 years. Jeff Offutt 2005 (slightly edited from an email to a PhD student)