4 ms·

I am dim today. Is this Tao getting rejected for some interview for something?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
acjohnson55 3y ago
Princeton PhD students take a general exam as one of the major milestones of their PhD candidacy. https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/degrees-requirements/general-exam https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/degrees-requireme...
lmpdev 3y ago
It's his "general exam" to start his PhD at Princeton It's just faculty ensuring he has enough general knowledge of mathematics At this point in time he would've been a teenager
mcphage 3y ago
He's one of the preeminent living mathematicians.
- pfdietz 3y ago
  Fields Medal winner in 2006. (And, as listed on his wikipedia page, 27 other awards, medals, and prizes.)
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  I knew that, I was wondering if this was Tao rejecting someone or being rejected himself!
analog31 3y ago
These go by different names at different schools, but a grad student has to pass an oral exam, roughly at the end of their coursework and beginning of their dissertation phase. Sometimes called "orals," "comprehensive exams," etc. By tradition, they can ask you anything. But in practice, they're not out to kill you. I went to a second tier university, and it was generally believed that the questions at a top school tended to be harder. I have no recollection of mine. At this time, you also typically present a proposal for your thesis project. Passage of these hurdles makes you a "candidate," i.e., a candidate for a PhD upon defense of your thesis.
- fiforpg 3y ago
  > Sometimes called "orals," "comprehensive exams," etc. — other names I have heard people use for these: prelims, quals, ...
  - CaptainNegative 3y ago
    "Prelim" also sometimes refers to an exam taken shortly after entering a PhD program to ensure you belong there. One of the grad schools I attended had both a written "prelim" in year 1 and an oral "qual" in year 2/3. The other just had an oral "general" in year 2.
  - ping00 3y ago
    "viva" in India
k2xl 3y ago
I think when it is written "They passed me" it meant that he passed the exam.
barkingcat 3y ago
it is an oral exam as part of a phd. this was years ago (1996?), so interesting as a retrospective.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Princeton PhD students take a general exam as one of the major milestones of their PhD candidacy. https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/degrees-requirements/general-exam https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/degrees-requireme...

lmpdev 3y ago

It's his "general exam" to start his PhD at Princeton It's just faculty ensuring he has enough general knowledge of mathematics At this point in time he would've been a teenager

mcphage 3y ago

He's one of the preeminent living mathematicians.

pfdietz 3y ago
Fields Medal winner in 2006. (And, as listed on his wikipedia page, 27 other awards, medals, and prizes.)
quickthrower2 3y ago
I knew that, I was wondering if this was Tao rejecting someone or being rejected himself!

analog31 3y ago

These go by different names at different schools, but a grad student has to pass an oral exam, roughly at the end of their coursework and beginning of their dissertation phase. Sometimes called "orals," "comprehensive exams," etc. By tradition, they can ask you anything. But in practice, they're not out to kill you. I went to a second tier university, and it was generally believed that the questions at a top school tended to be harder. I have no recollection of mine. At this time, you also typically present a proposal for your thesis project. Passage of these hurdles makes you a "candidate," i.e., a candidate for a PhD upon defense of your thesis.

fiforpg 3y ago
> Sometimes called "orals," "comprehensive exams," etc. — other names I have heard people use for these: prelims, quals, ...
- CaptainNegative 3y ago
  "Prelim" also sometimes refers to an exam taken shortly after entering a PhD program to ensure you belong there. One of the grad schools I attended had both a written "prelim" in year 1 and an oral "qual" in year 2/3. The other just had an oral "general" in year 2.
- ping00 3y ago
  "viva" in India

k2xl 3y ago

I think when it is written "They passed me" it meant that he passed the exam.

barkingcat 3y ago

it is an oral exam as part of a phd. this was years ago (1996?), so interesting as a retrospective.