> Most students who still need to deal with this system don't know that you need to... In my program everyone knew these things. Because we talked to each othe

> Most students who still need to deal with this system don't know that you need to... In my program everyone knew these things. Because we talked to each other. Our individual backgrounds didn't matter so much because we were really in it together in many ways. I didn't pass my prelim (what most people call "qual", I think) because my parents taught me (they didn't) or my advisor was competent (he was, but he was also even more distracted). I passed because the previous years of students told us how to do it, and we told each other. > if I want to fail any student, no matter how brilliant they are, rest assured I can This I agree with. > This is not her failure. It is the failure of her advisor. Who was negligent And this I strongly agree with. We all knew in my program that if someone failed their prelim or orals, it was because their advisor dropped the ball. Badly. (At least, it would have been bad if it had ever actually happened....)