| | | Student Quotes Regarding Various Strategies from 1998 Survey |
We have provided below a sample of student quotes taken from the 1998 Quals
survey about strategies for preparing and taking the qualifying exam.
Quotes are followed by summary information about the student who
gave them. The format is [Year in Grad. School],[Year took
Quals],[Affiliated Lab], [Pass Status]. For example,
-1st year, 1998,
[ISL STAR], 1st pass
is a 1st year grad
student who took the Quals in 1998, is affiliated with ISL and STARLAB,
and passed the Quals on the first attempt.
Not stressing out and taking a really relaxed approach. Go out and
have fun the night before and don't get really nervous. The worst
thing that can happen is you have to leave with an MS and make $80k
a year. Oh, the horrors. Also, working with the study group and
doing every question role playing that's been asked in your area of
concentration in the last decade for the 6 months prior to the exam
also helps.
- 1st year, 1998, CSL, 1st pass
Join a study group!! Do all old questions. Read the first four chapters
in basic textbooks!
- 1st year, 1998, CSL, 1st pass
Weekly study group meeting (the optimum size is about 4, must be even) are
absolutely essential to me. It helps me to study (at least a while)
consistently. Furthermore, asking and answering questions in pair is also
helpful. It urges you to prepare questions for other group member and
have a chance to practise "one-on-one" presentation.
- 1st year, 1998, ISL(STAR), 1st pass
(1) Obtain past year's examining questions.
(2) Study what you need to know individually.
(3) Limited one-on-one testing is useful - but a larger group than that is probably not so useful.
- 2nd year, 1998, CSL, 1st pass
Understand, do not memorize.
No need to study wwell hat you know well - questions are well to obvious and I got good scores in such areas.
There will be questions on areas you don't remember. Review the basics.
- 1st year, 1998, CSL, not yet passed
Don't study things in depth. It's useless.
What's important is practice practice practice.
Being able to sound intelligent when you don't know the answer
is probably the most important skill you can learn.
-1st year, 1998, CSL, 1st pass
- practicing on the board while being grilled by one other person
- preparing some problems to ask others every week
- doing lots of old problems
-3rd year, 1997, SSPL, 1st pass
1. Simulating the practical situation you might come up with during
the study group session.
2. Run the study group regularly. Don't abandon it even if you are
not well-prepared.
-1st year, 1998, ISL, 1st pass
Reading class notes of the Prof.s I selected, to get an idea
of their style of problems and their topics.
Making sure I knew what each committee member looked like before the day
of the quals.
Not getting psyched out by other people making a big deal of it, and
staying with the fundamental material in my preparation.
-5th year, 1994, CSL, 1st pass
Choosing an area like EM in which the competition is less fierce
because there are many professors and few interested students.
- study group (definitely!)
- taking relevant classes
- looking at questions from previous years
-5th year, 1995, 1994, other, 2nd pass
Set up regular meeting schedules for study groups.
Brought a book of jokes to read in between going to different Prof's offices. It helped to relax and made me look more confident.
-4th year, 1995, ISL, 1st pass
Eating a lot of pizza with my study group.
Practice answering questions verbally rather than spending lots
of time on the material.
Talk to older grad students.
Study from old questions (we had lots).
-3rd year, 1996, CSL, 1st pass
practice on the board orally - most importantly, get asked
questions you don't know and are not prepared to answer - and
practice staying calm, thinking aloud, clearly and logically
-3rd year, 1997, ICL, 1st pass
I took about 2 weeks off during christmas which was good for me to relax
since quals is a lot about your mental state. IT was also good that a
week before quals I did not really plan to learn any new material I just
practices on 10 min time checks.
-2nd year, 1998, SSPL, 1st pass
Join study group to practice the quals format (brief oral exams).
Review selected materials.
Sleep well before the day of quals.
-2nd year, 1997, SSPL, 1st pass
Stay to study during Christmas break. If you can restrict yourself and
study for sometime every day while everybody is playing around you you
will have two benefits:
1. You will be in shape for the exams while other will forget what they
learned.
2. Your ability to handle stress increases because you were strong enough
to handle yourself and to restrict yourself while everyone around is enjoying.
-1st year, 1998, SSPL, 1st pass
My group and I specifically studied the 20 professor we had placed
on our lists. We learned their styles, the types of questions they
asked, and what answers they expected. Since we were guaranteed to
get 10 of the 20 we selected, we knew that studying all 20 would
secure our success in the Quals.
-1st year, 1998, ISL, ICL, 1st pass
reviewing old quals questions
-practice at the board with a time limit (similar to the actual quals
situation)
-taking classes fall quarter that reviewed material in the areas that I
am focusing on
-I like to know what I'm facing. I went to all the professors' offices
the day before my exam so I knew where to go. Also, when selecting
professorsfor my preference list, I talked to other students and met with
some of the professors before putting together my list.
-3rd year, 1998, ISL, 1st pass
Review undergrad notes/homeworks in quals subject areas. Ask your
group relevant questions from homeworks and vice versa. Don't go
over old quals questions until you have reviewed the subject because
the supply of old quals questions is limited. Practice answering
questions orally and spontaneously. Talk through your solution.
-1st year, 1998, STAR, ICL, 1st pass
Focusing intensely in the last week only on the professors I was assigned.
Choosing professors who were asking questions for the first time.
Choosing professors that are unpopular. Spending two days ranking
professors and predicting possible outcomes. Getting advice on which
professors to take and why. Taking or auditing a refresher course in a
very weak area. Concentrate on only three areas. You must study the
questions from previous years.
-1st year, 1998, ISL, 1st pass
Time each other as if we were exactly in the same exam conditions and ask
eachother previous quals qustions. Concentrate in only ONE area (as
opposed to what most people think) and sharpen it as much as you can. Try
a few different quals study groups to have feedback on what others are
doing (and try to stay more in more compatible and competitive groups).
-3rd year, 1996, ISL, 1st pass
1. quals group to go through questions
2. studied by myself over Christmas
3. got old questions and went through them one by one, if didn't know the answer I looked it up in a textbook, and tried to read more about the subject. This way I basically ended up reviewing most of the material that was relevant.
4. Focused on a couple of areas
5. Had older graduate students come ask our group questions as sort of a dress rehearsal
6. If prof hints at what will be asking, take the hints seriously. Also
think about possible questions each prof might ask.
-5th year, 1994, EM, SIG, 1st pass
Trying to review or learn all tha basics for all the areas i was
considereinf to work on. Get very familiar with the stress of solving
problems under time constraints. Practice a lot problem solving once i
knew i had enough theoretical background about it. Trying ot get self
confidence solving problems i liked a lot, and specially, looking at the
QualsProcess more like a game. If you don't have fun with the Quals
process, you should worry. Looking for problems that require a lot of
brilliant reasoning, but not too much theory, that is dificult problems of
elementary things. Finally, trying to get very relaxed during at least
three days before the Quals. During the day of Qulas, I brought a wwalkman
with me to help relaxing an d enjoying the experinece.
For each professor you might have, try to review all the problems you can
from quals of previuos years, doing first the areas you like more in order to improve your self confidence.
In summary, a very positive attitude towards Quals helped me a lot.
-2nd year, 1998, ISL, 1st pass
I debated whether or not to take the quals my first year. I decided to wait until second year, and I felt this was a good decision because it allowed me to gauge more accurately the interests of various professors, which is a good indicator of the material they are likely to use as the basis of their quals questions.
Another strategy that I felt was a good one was to not become overly
attached to areas that I had spent a lot of time studying for. More
specifically, though I had prepared significantly for professors in
my secondary area, devices, I reminded myself that scoring is always
relative to other students, and as this was my secondary area.
-4th year, 1996, ICL, 1st pass
| | | Student Quotes Regarding Various Strategies from 1998 Survey |