Graduate school Oral Exam

Some schools have comprehensive exams (comps) at the end of your Ph.D. coursework. My school has a more focused exam, with questions coming from four designated areas of the literature, tailored to your proposed dissertation study. Regardless of the nature of the exam, I think these tips are helpful, and I was very glad someone shared them with me.

1. If you don't know an answer, say so. Faking it will just up your anxiety and lead to more questions on the topic to make sense of what you said. Instead, say "that is an area I will need to do more reading in."

2. If you need a minute to think, say so. Taking the time to gather my thoughts and take a few breaths, helped me to relax and prepare my answer.


3. Have a pad and paper and take notes; then, come back to things as the opportunity arises (the committee likes to see that you know topics well enough to bring them up yourself)

4. Beforehand: Research each committee member's educational background, advisors, mentors, etc. to know how their academic career has been shaped. This helps to anticipate the types of questions they might ask and the literature they likely see as most important.