Nothing strikes fear into
the heart of a young graduate student quite like
the preliminary oral examination. The term 'oral
exam' in this article refers only to the preliminary
oral exam, not to the final thesis defense. The
oral exam, along with its cousins the cumulative
or qualifying exams, is one of the first major
hurdles that you will face in graduate school.
Oral exams are usually taken during the second
year of graduate school, after you have adjusted
to the business of taking classes and teaching,
and after you have done some amount of research.
Practices vary among graduate schools and can
also vary among different departments at the same
institution. Most institutions have a written
and an oral component to their qualifying exams.
Different schools will vary
in the type of exams that are required, but most
schools demand some combination of the tests described
here. Obviously, all graduate schools require
some amount of course work, which is usually concentrated
in the first few years of the program. In addition,
some schools have a set of preliminary examinations,
which test basic undergraduate chemistry knowledge.
These exams are usually given in the beginning
of the first year, and you must pass them or take
the appropriate undergraduate course. At some
institutions, you may have two or three chances
to pass the exam before being required to take
the related class.
The second year is the most
important year for qualifying examinations. Some
graduate schools have a qualifying exam, which
occurs over a few days and tests general knowledge.
Other schools use a cumulative exam system, where
you are required to pass a certain number of exams
before the end of the second year, or to pass
a specified percentage of exams. Cumulative exams,
or "cumes," are usually given on one
Saturday each month and you have a set time period
in which to finish the examination. The topics
of cumes vary from month to month, and they are
designed to test you on a broad range of subjects.
Professors usually write the exams on a rotating
basis. Some schools allow the topic of the cume
to be announced ahead of time, while others may
not even divulge the writer of the exam. At the
end of the second year, most institutions hold
the oral examination, which will be discussed
more specifically below. Some schools will require
you to give a seminar about your research. Finally,
there are some programs that assign a graduate
committee at this point of graduate school who
will remain with you throughout your school career.
Yearly reports and occasional meetings with this
committee may be required. You should determine
all of the requirements of your own graduate program
and know the general time frame in which your
exams will occur.
The format and focus of the
oral exam vary. A large component of most oral
exams is a test of your general knowledge of chemistry.
In addition, many schools ask you to write a research
proposal or summary about your project. This paper
is given to your committee in advance of the oral
exam, and you orally defend it. Other schools
may want you to write an original research proposal
and orally defend that. Most oral exams last roughly
three hours. Typically, you begin by giving a
short presentation, during which your committee
will ask questions. The faculty committee consists
of three to five members, and may or may not include
your research advisor. In some departments, there
may be a requirement to have one faculty member
from a different division. Additionally, in cases
where you have the same committee for your oral
exam as for your thesis defense, you may have
a faculty member from outside your department.
Once you are aware of the
types of examinations that you will face, the
next step is to prepare for them. Most of the
following discussion pertains directly to preparation
for the oral exam, but can be extrapolated to
preparation for other preliminary examinations.
Dr. David Harwell, manager of the Office
of Community Activities at the American Chemical
Society and a former professor at the University
of Hawaii, says that it can be overwhelming
to prepare, because you feel the need to learn
everything. He suggests starting with one broad
textbook in your field, reviewing the material
and working problems from the book. You can then
look up related materials and information. He
also suggests speaking with the professors on
your committee about things that they consider
to be important. Dr. Harwell cautions against
being too specific, however, since you do not
want annoy anyone by asking explicit questions.
When she was preparing for
her oral exam, Dr. Heather Shafer, a visiting
assistant professor at the College
of the Holy Cross, remembers that she studied
her old textbooks and highlighted aspects that
were pertinent to her research. Looking back now,
she says it would have been a good idea to "thoroughly
focus on general chemistry, and especially review
topics that were specific to my project."
In general, it is a good idea
to try to stay current with the literature in
your field. Knowing the research that is happening
at the moment may also help you on your oral exams,
in case a professor asks you a question about
other work that is related to your research. In
addition, reading the current literature might
help you to think of an idea for an original research
proposal. Dr. Harwell suggests starting with Accounts
of Chemical Research, which is geared
toward graduate students and contains broad reviews.
Next, you might want to browse the Journal
of the American Chemical Society or the
premier journal for your area of chemistry. Keeping
current with the literature does not mean reading
every article in a journal; rather, familiarizing
yourself with the abstracts and reading a few
articles that interest you should be sufficient.
In addition to having an idea
of the research that is currently happening elsewhere,
you should be familiar with the research in your
own department. It is particularly important to
have a general idea of the research and techniques
of the members of your oral exam committee. A
member of Dr. Shafer's committee was upset that
she did not know more about the work in his laboratory.
It is also important to attend your divisional
and departmental seminars. During seminars, note
the questions that professors ask; Dr. Harwell
points out each faculty member will usually ask
the same types of questions. Paying attention
during seminars may also benefit you for cumulative
exams, as many professors like to ask questions
about recent seminar topics.
Another good way to prepare
for your oral examination is to have a practice
exam. Dr. Shafer's research advisor and group
held a practice oral exam session for her. She
claims that while it was humiliating, it was also
very helpful. She was able to see how the process
would work before being in the exam, and learned
the approach to use when answering questions.
If your advisor is unable or unwilling to stage
a practice oral exam for you, you may want to
ask friends or older graduate students to help
you.
Whether it involves your own
research or an original idea when writing your
proposal you should:
Organize your proposal
so that it makes sense and is more persuasive.
Remember the basic rules of English grammar
and composition. Dr. Harwell advises reading
the proposal like a reviewer would, looking
for any possible gaps in your arguments.
Try to start early
so that you are able to write the paper over
a longer period of time. Assuming that your
graduate program allows it, Dr. Shafer suggests
having your advisor proofread your proposal
in case you have addressed an issue that you
might not understand, and so that you are sure
that you have an appropriate focus. If your
advisor cannot read the proposal, ask someone
else read it for you. Besides gaining insight
into any problems that your proposal might have
and correcting any grammatical mistakes, you
learn how to handle criticism in a friendlier
environment.
Keep an idea file
where you put notes about ideas as you think
of them if your oral exam involves defending
an original research proposal, recommends Dr.
Harwell. Periodically looking back through your
file may help you to come to a more concrete
plan for your proposal.
After planning and studying
for your oral examination, the big day will eventually
arrive. Here are some techniques to help you maintain
your confidence during the exam.
1) Spend more time answering
questions that you know, and go into detail about
the facts you know. Even if you are having trouble
answering a question, it is important to remain
calm and keep the conversation going. Repeat the
question if necessary. Your committee members
may try to help you, but it is key to attempt
to correctly answer their questions given to help
you.
2) Dr. Harwell notes that
one of the most important factors for passing
a student is whether she can see the big picture.
You don't go through your work like a technician,
but you really know your project and why you are
doing it, go beyond rote memorization of facts,
and really show ownership of the project. You
should know what you have done, where you are
going, and why. You should have an understanding
of what the numbers in your data mean, as well
as the errors you have or expect.
3) Dr. Harwell advises that
any pressure you feel about the exam is internal,
and it isn't as big of a deal as you might think.
Dr. Shafer adds, "It is only three hours
of your life."
After your oral exam is finished,
most committees send you out of the room to confer
upon your fate. There are usually three outcomes.
The best option, of course, is to pass unconditionally.
The worst option is to fail, although the end
result may differ at different schools. In many
cases, if you fail your oral exam, you may still
receive a master's degree. In this case, it is
important to remember that not all master's degrees
are awarded because of a failure to succeed in
graduate school, and that in some fields, a master's
degree might be more desirable than a doctoral
degree. There may be situations where you would
not receive a degree at all and would simply leave
the program, however. The third outcome of an
oral exam, to pass with conditions, has several
possibilities. One common result is to be required
to return to your committee at a later date for
further questioning about a particular area. Another
possibility is to write a paper about a subject
that you did not defend well. In the end, hopefully
you will come out with a better knowledge of your
research as well as a passing result.
Sarah L. Roberts received
a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame in 1994,
and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University
of Colorado at Boulder in 2000. She now lives
in the Washington, D.C. area.
Related Reading
Here are some sample examination
requirements from different universities so you
can see how they vary:
SUNY
at Bingamton
Northwestern
University
University
of Denver
UCLA
New
York University
Boston
University
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