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/sci/ - Science & Math

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1553107 No.1553107 [Reply] [Original]

taking the quals in the fall. mech eng. how did /sci do on theirs? how did you study?

>> No.1553165

apparently none of you are grads...? how does /sci maintain???

>> No.1553167

>>1553165
lol, you actually think these neckbeards graduated

>> No.1553169

Physics was here, MechE is a...

>> No.1553200
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1553200

hmm... my impression is that /sci is actually populated by wannabe physics students, and that none of you hold any advanced degrees... i'll quietly leave.

>> No.1553214

>>1553200
>implying you can't have intelligent discussions in all topics of physics without advanced degrees
the scientific merit of a discussion should stand on its own.

>> No.1553219

Undergrad meche here. Work in a lab under a phd student, he basically lived in the library the semester he took quals... good luck man.

>> No.1553228

>>1553214
>implying that arousing intelligent physics discussions was OP's angle.

fag

>> No.1553232

my roommate failed his quals so cant help ya buddy

ill be in ur position next yr tho

>> No.1553234

WTF are quals?

>> No.1553238

>>1553214

implying there's anyone capable of scientific discussion on 4chan...

>> No.1553241

>>1553234
qualifying exams. basically yet another hurdle in the adventure to learn a shit ton and make marginally more money.

>> No.1553242

>>1553234

qualifying exams

>> No.1553249

>>1553241
>implying engineers make more than dentists on average

>> No.1553250
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1553250

>>1553238
second

incidentally, the captcha is: future hassle

>> No.1553251

I passed my quals by working my ass off all summer. I'm working on my Ph.D in mathematics, so maybe it's different, but I basically proved theorems and solved problems in textbooks all day, every day.

Oh yeah, and tons of alcohol.

>> No.1553264

>>1553251
vastly different, im sure. congrats though.

>> No.1553279

Do you mean quals as in "first test in Ph.D. program where they test your undergrad knowledge" or as in "second test in Ph.D. program where they test you on the graduate coursework"?

Either way, shit sucks, I studied for about half a year for my prelims (increasing in frequency/difficulty as I got closer to the exam) and just fuckin destroyed it.

>> No.1553305

>>1553279
quals, the first test you take in phd program. generals are the second test, more specific to your course of study. i was of the impression that people worked their ass off, yet, when i emailed the graduate coordinator for a list of people taking the exam this year, he mentioned that he doesn't even send out notifications until 3 weeks prior, saying im "way ahead of the game." 3 weeks to study all that material, albeit undergraduate material, seems like a crunch.

>> No.1553325

>>1553305
yeah, hopefully you were paying attention the other 4 years.

>> No.1553332

>>1553325
...*cough*...

>> No.1553335
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1553335

>>1553332
>>1553325

>> No.1553352

>>1553305
Yeah, as I said, my program calls that "prelims". The timing was similar for me too. Offered 2x a year in fall and spring, usually given towards the end of the quarter but they don't decide on a date until maybe 3 weeks beforehand.I knew only a few people who held off on studying until they knew the date, and they all failed the written portion miserably (and thus failed the exam overall).

You *are* ahead of the game but don't allow that fact to make you complacent. Instead, use this lead time to learn the *fuck* out of the material, inside and out, upwards and downwards, forward and back. Find out what topics are covered, what undergrad courses those correspond to, then do every problem set, every exam, and read every lecture slide from those classes. This will be especially useful if the profs writing the exam reuse questions from their previous exams in the classes they teach.

>> No.1553356

What's so difficult about a single test that you need to study an entire goddamn semester for it?

>> No.1553385

>>1553356
Imagine being told you need to take 5-6 final exams in the hardest undergraduate topics in your field, but you only have 4 hours total to do it with no references, notes, or books. Imagine that even if you do "well" on that exam, you are then subjected to a panel of professors who have decades of experience on you throwing out even harder questions in those areas (sometimes while insulting you), and all you have is your brain, a dry erase marker, and a whiteboard.

If you fuck up even *one* aspect of it, you fail. Fail twice, you're out of the program, no questions asked, and you will probably never get into any other program ever. Your academic career is done. That's why you need to study for a month straight at minimum.

>> No.1553388

>>1553352
OP. 'ppreciate the advice man.

>> No.1553400

>>1553385
What kind of faggot shit is that? Is this to get into a Master's program?

>> No.1553408

Why do they only give you 2 chances? Goddamn higher education is such bullshit.

>> No.1553418

>>1553388
No prob. Actually, let me add to that. When you find out the corresponding courses, go to *other universities* and find out what courses *THEY* teach that material in. MIT OpenCourseware is a good place to start for engineering/math/etc. Then, do the exact same process you did with the courses at *your* university: do all problem sets and exams, read all course materials. The diversity in teaching styles and question types will reinforce your understanding of the material, plus it allows you to hedge your bets against a prof who uses a buddy's old test questions or ones from *his* alma mater(s).

Good luck, /sci/. Take no shit and crush those exams.

>> No.1553435

>>1553400
>>1553408
No, it's in the first or second year of a Ph.D. program, where you may or may not already have a Master's degree.

If you can't cut the mustard on the *basic shit* that you should already know from your undergrad years, then you have absolutely no fucking chance at understanding the topics you'd need to cover in a competitive research environment. (Good) Ph.D. programs *pay you* to be there, so they don't have the time or money to waste on someone who can't handle the fundamentals of the field they supposedly loved so much that they wanted to sacrifice another 3-7 (or more) years of their life in school for.

>> No.1553634

>>1553408
this