Good luck w/ comps, guys

10.19.2004

Just a brief moment to wish my friends in the grad department who're finishing comps this week the best of luck. If you don't know, camps is crazy time for anyone in our department. And if you don't know what that's like, I'll explain:

Most people spend at least 2-3 months doing nothing but studying for comps (you do this when finished w/ all coursework). I went home to Saginaw, and hid out an entire summer. During this time, you tackle a reading list 8-10 pages long (books & articles). Or, at least, as much as you can. You study in two fields (either comparative politics, political theory, or American politics); I tested in theory & comparative.

Once back on campus, you spend a month or two looking over your notes. Then come the testing days. Each field is tested two days during one week (w/ a day between for rest) — three hours on, one our break, three hours on. Mostly, you sit in front of a computer & keyboard, typing frantically everything you can remember from your summer reading. You do this four different days, covering two weeks, until you finish two field exams.

When it's all over, you get to go home. To sleep, mostly. And wait about a month to see if you passed. Because if you pass, then you get to prepare for the oral exam, which takes about half a day, sitting in front of your test committee, defending your answers & expanding on them, as prompted by the committee.

When that's over, you get to sit alone for a while, waiting to hear whether you pass. If you pass? Congratulations! You're now ABD ("all but dissertation"). Now, go start working on your dissertation proposal & applying for research grants.

Because in a few months, you'll do a half day proposal defense before your dissertation committee. At least after that, you usually get invited out for dinner w/ your committee. I chose Cosmo's Cucina.

Posted by Miguel at 12:58 AM

Comments

Now you scarred me even more, lol (hysterically). N.

Posted by: Nenad at October 19, 2004 07:27 AM

And people survive this?!?

Posted by: Kara at October 19, 2004 09:01 AM

so, do you remember a few of the questions?

Posted by: Stephanie at October 19, 2004 12:14 PM

I don't, offhand, remember any of the specific questions, but I've a hard copy of my exam at home. Also, I'd only have the questions I answered, since the format was often "answer one of these three questions" or "any two of the following five".

On average, I typed about two single-spaced pages per hour, for about 3-4 page answers per question. My shortest anster to any question was 3 pages (if I remember right), my longest was about 6.

Posted by: Miguel [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 19, 2004 12:18 PM

I am just glad it is over now. Thanks Miguel for wishing luck. The last part this afternoon was the hardest - simply due to exhaustion.
I was writing less on my answers than you did, but I hope this does not mean I need to worry.

Posted by: Melli at October 19, 2004 07:08 PM