As part of pretty much any graduate program, there is an oral exam component. Many master’s degree granting schools don’t necessarily have them, but PhD programs certainly do. The content/ topics asked about on the exam differ from school to school, so find out how your oral exam is structured. Here is my account of oral exams:
They suck. It’s not that they are extremely hard it’s all the time, effort, and brain power that goes into studying for it. My exam was naturally during my busiest semester, so I had to put my multitasking skills to the test. This meant cramming study time in within writing my thesis, class time, my RA, and any other assignments. It is important to take a break from studying, however. Draining your brain won’t help you remember things any better. Constant studying also adds to your stress, which when waiting to doomsday (aka the oral exam), doesn't help your psyche.
To study, I asked friends who had already taken it what types of questions were on it so I could think about how I would go about answering the question rather than looking at answers. Check to be sure that your program doesn’t have just one test or else this would be cheating. My oral exam was based on content from all of the classes I had taken from my master’s program and was tailored to each student. I then wrote out notes of things I could not rattle off easily (why waste energy studying things I already know?). I then made flashcards divided into various categories (i.e. paleobiology, phylogenetics, quantitative paleontology, collections management). The flashcards proved to be my best study technique.
On the day of, you’re going to be nervous and they expect that. I was totally calm leading up to the day before my exam. In fact, I worried that I wasn’t worrying. Truly was the calm before the storm. When the test begins you stumble from nervousness, but your stress collapses and you just don’t care anymore at a certain point and just answer the dang questions. It’s almost a surreal experience. They may throw questions in to stump you, just to see how you can reason through something you may not know. I talked outlaid until I had a full grasp on my answer but you can always write things out before giving your final answer. Also, don’t go overboard. Follow parsimony: the easiest path is usually right. I had studied so much I would dive into the complicated when all I really needed was the basic answer.
In all, it was horrifying but I passed. I cried afterward not from happiness or sadness but just from the sweet release from the stress that tormented me for 2 days. Tears are just stress leaving the body! They did find a topic I was shakey on that I would need if I “wanted to be an expert” on a certain aspect of my thesis. So I had to write a chapter on it for my thesis. At first, I felt bad about myself for gaining an assignment on something I didn’t know that was related to my thesis, but since I didn’t know I had to know that (i.e. I was looking at a really localized level but I needed a way broader view for comparison) it was a benefit in the long run (your advisors aren’t out to screw you over they want to help). If your advisor is out to screw you over, think about getting a new one!
