Prepping for your comprehensive exams

Establish a Study Schedule

Once you have an idea of format, potential topics, and time frame, it can be helpful to develop a study schedule to help you stay on track. This can be especially useful if you are busy with coursework and research as well. Start by outlining a study schedule that works for you. Some important things to consider for your schedule include: When do you have non-negotiable commitments such as classes, labs, or fieldwork? When do you feel most productive? Where are you most productive? When do you need time to relax? Consider making a list of your short- and long-term studying goals. For example, a short-term goal could be to read and take notes on a specific chapter by a certain date. A long-term goal could be to conquer your weakest topic areas and have a practice exam with friends to test this. Start drafting a study schedule based on the answers to these questions and your goals, but remember to be flexible! Your initial schedule may seem like the right fit but may not work in the long run and could require adjustments. After a couple weeks, revisit your study schedule and make changes if necessary. Maybe you found that you are more productive in your office on Monday, but need to work from home or at a coffee shop another day. Perhaps when you thought you’d be the most productive is not the same every day. It’s ok to make these adjustments so that you can stay focused and on top of things without feeling overwhelmed.

Take Good Notes

Taking good notes is critical. Establishing a note-taking system may be a helpful resource. Some people organize their notes in a notebook while others use a digital system. Tag each entry with keywords. If you have an open book exam, or if you end up writing a proposal or literature review for your written component, these digital systems can be extremely helpful. When you’re looking for an article or book during an exam, these tags can save you time. Also, try taking notes using a mind map approach. This is great when you need to think creatively and can help you connect ideas once it shows the overall structure of a subject and the relative importance of individual parts. This is also super helpful when you have problems to solve. Other note-taking strategies are the outline method, which uses a bullet list with tiers to include details, and the Cornell method. The Cornell method calls for dividing your paper into three sections: notes (regular notes), cues (questions that connect this text to others, macro ideas, and main themes), and summary (one-to two-sentence summary of the most important ideas that you covered). Find an approach that works best for you to organize your thoughts and resources.

Determine Knowledge Gaps

Everybody has knowledge gaps. Most people have likely experienced a feeling of inadequacy when trying to explain something. This is nothing but the discovery of a knowledge gap. It does not mean you do not know anything about the topic, but maybe it is just outside of your list of strengths, something you haven’t thought of in a while, or a topic that came up in an unexpected context you haven’t explored before. One of the best ways to identify and tackle your knowledge gaps is to try to communicate your ideas in your own words by speaking or by writing. Note which topics or ideas you have trouble communicating. It is an extra effort but undoubtedly a useful resource and a helpful way to take notes. Once you identify your gaps, use your network to overcome them. Ask friends, professors, post-docs, and other graduate students to provide potential questions related to your research or field of study that might help you identify knowledge gaps. Then, see if they will help you talk over new ideas or if they can provide material that could help you to fill out these knowledge gaps.

Practice with Friends and Colleagues

Going through a mock oral exam with friends and colleagues can help put you in an exam setting, be beneficial for identifying knowledge gaps, and also boost your confidence. Ask your friends and colleagues for helpful tricks and tips, especially if they have already gone through the comprehensive exam process. Recruit fellow graduate students, post-docs, and friends from your department and ask them to role-play as one of your committee members and develop a few questions each. As you go through the mock exam, jot down the questions that stumped you, so you can read up on that topic later. Your adviser or another committee member may also be willing to go through some practice questions with you. This can be a great opportunity to work through some hard questions and put yourself into the setting you’ll experience on exam day. Remember, your committee wants you to feel prepared and succeed!

Know When to Take Breaks

Tips for Exam Day

One of the best things you can do to prep for exam day is to get a good night’s sleep the night before. If you aren’t read up on a topic the night before the exam, chances are you won’t be able to cram it all in overnight anyway, so you may as well give your brain a break! Plus, if you’re tired and groggy from a late night of studying, you’re unlikely to remember any of that information you spent so long studying.

Conclusion

Comprehensive exams are a right of passage and should be viewed as an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge, readiness to pursue your research, and ability to think critically. Careful preparation and a mindful approach to exam day will help reduce the anxiety associated with comps, so you can showcase your competency with confidence.