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5 Surviving Written Exams

Dianne Prost O'Leary
©1996,1999,2009,2016
Last modified October 12, 2016.


Many departments use a written exam as a major component of the graduate degree requirements. Typically, the exam covers three areas of your major in depth equivalent to one or two graduate level courses plus their prerequisites. Sometimes, though, the purpose is to ensure breadth at an undergraduate level, and the exam might cover the content of perhaps 5 undergraduate courses. Less commonly, there may be a ``practical'' component to the exam, requiring you to write a program or solve an applied problem within a specified time limit.

Whatever the level of the exam, there are some features that distinguish it from exams within courses:

5.1 Preparing for a Written Exam

Here are some suggestions on preparation:

5.2 In the Exam

Follow the common sense rules that have gotten you through other exams:

5.3 After the Exam

If you fail the exam, make an honest assessment of your weak areas and prepare to try again!

Most departments have procedures for appealing the results of an exam. If you believe that your exam has been graded incorrectly, compose a thoughtful, concise, and non-belligerent summary of what you believe the error to be. Don't ``nickel and dime'' the graders, disputing every point. Concentrate on errors that you can document in textbooks or by other objective means.


next up previous contents
Next: 6 Surviving Oral Exams Up: gradstudy Previous: 4 The Life of   Contents
Dianne O'Leary 2016-10-12