4 ms·
What's so striking to me, is how similar the exam is (in range, pace, and tone) to the Ph.D. oral exams I took for a doctorate in English (years ago). That sam
by sramsay 15y ago
What's so striking to me, is how similar the exam is (in range, pace, and tone) to the Ph.D. oral exams I took for a doctorate in English (years ago). That same rhythm. The minute you start to set forth an argument, they get you off onto something else. A lot of times, you're groping for the question.
Few people walk away from them feeling like they did well, but later, you have a sense of accomplishment just for having done it at all.
- Cyph0n 15y agoOoooh, you're getting me so hyped up for my PhD! I still have to finish my BS (which I'm starting this fall) and Masters before I can get there, but it excites me nonetheless.
- telemachos 15y agoI did a Ph.D. in Classics, and I had the exact same feeling of "Oh, right, I remember that." This form of exam was the last part of our A exams (A exams => after coursework but before being allowed to start a thesis; B exam => dissertation defense). Hadi Jorati's[1] review sums it up for me: "as soon as they feel you know something they will move to something else!" They sent me out of the room to discuss whether or not I passed. The door stayed closed long enough that I became pretty nervous, but it turned out that two of them were arguing about what they wanted to set as my dissertation topic. By the time they called me back in, I was a wreck. (I paid them back by choosing neither of those two topics.) [1] http://www.math.princeton.edu/graduate/generals/jorati_hadi2.txt http://www.math.princeton.edu/graduate/generals/jorati_hadi2...