I got my PhD from a department with a strict qualifying exam (less than 50% pass rate). It was a tragic system that served no purpose. There were dozens of stu

I got my PhD from a department with a strict qualifying exam (less than 50% pass rate). It was a tragic system that served no purpose. There were dozens of students who were clearly able to do research. Who had publications in top tier conferences and journals. But they had difficulties passing the qualifying exam (exams were based on courses which changed all the time, it was easy to be extremely good at say computer architecture but get a few oddball questions out in left field about some minutia you've never seen before). The real consequence of the system was that it discriminated against people who didn't understand it. You had to know to pick the right classes, to time it for the right year (where enough senior faculty had students who needed to pass it ASAP so that it would be easier). And of course, senior faculty with connections pulled strings to get their students past the exam. At my university now we thankfully don't do this insanity. Qualifying for the PhD is what it is supposed to be: can you publish? Ok, then show us a publication and defend it. Now let's talk about what you'll be doing for the rest of your PhD.