Applied Science and Technology, UC Berkeley

Appendix

 

Appendix

I. AS&T Preliminary Examination Guidelines

The Preliminary Examination has two purposes: to provide guidance to the student, and to determine if the student is qualified to continue in the Ph.D. program. All students who enter the Ph.D. program must take the exam. The exam must be taken by the end of the second semester after entering the Ph.D. program. Students who fail to pass the exam are allowed one more attempt, to be taken no later than the end of the third semester after entering the Ph.D. program. The exam is a one and a half hour oral exam. The suggested format is a series of short (5-10 minutes) question and answer periods covering the areas of examination.

Examination Committee

The Preliminary Exam Committee numbers three (3) members of the AS&T Group with research interest similar to that of the student, and one member may be the student’s research advisor. The Committee Chair will be selected from the List of Approved AS&T Preliminary Examination Committee Chairs. The Examination Committee and its Chair will be appointed by the Chair of Graduate Advisors, after consultation with the student. The student’s Research Advisor cannot be the Chair.

Examination Protocol

The Preliminary Examination will cover basic undergraduate coursework appropriate to the student’s chosen research area, broadly interpreted, and which, if possible, is consistent with the student’s undergraduate coursework. Students are urged to consult with the members of their examination committee in advance to determine the scope of the examination. As an example, for Applied Physics, students with undergraduate backgrounds in Physics will normally be examined in three areas: Electromagnetics (Phys 110AB or equivalent), Quantum Mechanics (Phys 137A or equivalent), and one other area of Physics, Mathematics, Engineering, or the life sciences, roughly equivalent to a one or two semester undergraduate course of study. Students with other undergraduate backgrounds will normally be examined in three coherent areas, each equivalent to a one or two semester basic undergraduate sequence, as above. The appropriate areas of examination will be specified by the Head Graduate Advisor after consultation with the student, and the student’s Research Advisor, if available. The student will provide a list of past and future planned graduate courses to be approved by the Head Graduate Advisor before the exam is scheduled. The courses must form a coherent program of studies and a firm foundation on which to base a future career. The location, date and time of the exam will be scheduled by the SSA. The Chair of the Examination committee will pick up the student file from SSA’s office. The Chair of the Examination Committee will conduct the exam. The Committee will meet immediately after the exam is over to determine if the student passes or fails. In addition, the Committee should identify strengths and weaknesses in the student’s exam performance and in the student’s overall record of performance in the AS&T program. The Committee can make recommendations for future coursework and other actions to be undertaken. The pass/fail decision and the recommendations should be communicated immediately to the student by the Chair of the Examination Committee. The Chair of the Examination Committee will provide a written description of the Committee’s actions and recommendations to the Head Graduate Advisor. The results and recommendations will be recorded on the student’s “Blue Card” which documents progress toward a degree.

II. Sample AS&T Preliminary Examination Proposal

Graduate Group In Applied Science And Technology Preliminary Examination Proposal
Name of Student: Oski Bear, SID#: 12345678
Date: May 20, 2005 10am-11am
Location: Room 120C Bechtel Engineering Center
Major Area: Applied Physics, emphasis on sound propagation technology
Minor Area: Semiconductor Devices
Committee: Professor XXX (Research Advisor); Professor YYY (Chair); Professor ZZZ
(AS&T Committee)
Area of Examinations: Semiconductor Physics; Fluid Dynamics; Quantum Mechanics
Graduate courses already taken or currently taken: (Transferred) Quantum Mechanics I and II (8); Physics 250 Special Topics in Physics (4); MSE 202 Crystal Structure and Bonding (3); MSE 223 Semiconductor Materials (3); MSE/AS&T 225 ThinFilm Science and Technology (3). Future courses: Physics 250 Course on Surface Science (3); MSE 242 Advanced Characterization Techniques (3); Physics 223 Applications of Group Theory in Modern Physics (4); EECS 143 Processing and Design of Integrated Circuits (4); Physics 211 Equilibrium Statistical Physics (4). Other possible courses: EECS 231 Solid State Devices (4); EECS 243 Advanced IC Processing and Layout (3); Undergraduate Courses: Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Optics, Analogous Electronics, Digital Circuit, Modern Physics and Quantum Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Crystal Growing Theories, Solid State Physics, Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics, Materials Structure and Property, Crystal Physics, Crystal Diffraction.
__________________________________
Professor XXX, Head Graduate Advisor
__________________________________
Professor YYY, Research Advisor

III. Tips and Suggestions For Oral Examinations

Preparing for the exam

Confirm the format of the exam. Talk to students who have recently passed their exams, especially students with whom you have committee members in common. Ask about the format of their exams. Did the exam begin with a short summary of the student’s academic career by either the chairperson or the candidate? If your department includes a talk as part of the exam, how long was it? Did the faculty members interrupt the talk with questions?

Talk to your committee

Many students neglect this all-important resource, even though much of the intimidating mystery of the exam lies in what the faculty members will ask. Find out what you’ll need to know for the exam. Prepare a brief outline of what you know about your three areas and take this with you when you talk to your committee members. Ask them what else you need to know. This outline will help you to organize your studying, and you can plug facts into this framework to illustrate your ideas. If the outline approach isn’t appropriate, present a bibliography for a particular area to your committee and ask what other sources you should study. Ask which publications the professor would read to review a certain area quickly and effectively.

Synthesize, don’t memorize

As you study, keep in mind that part of your task during the exam is to be convincing, as well as accurate, in your arguments. Professors want to see how you’ve organized your knowledge and how you can use facts to bolster your arguments. Many questions will have no “right” answer; intelligent, informed conjecture is acceptable in many cases. Begin studying early enough to permit rehearsal time. Be sure to give yourself time to practice. Most students report that practicing for the exam was extremely helpful. Besides giving you a chance to review what you know about the subject matter, a mock exam gives you the experience of answering questions before a group and makes you more confident in that setting. Often major advisors, as well as other students and postdocs are glad to give you a mock exam. If an oral presentation will be part of your exam, practice it several times. Use a blackboard if you plan to use it during the actual exam.

Prepare for the occasional mistake

Imagining a perfect exam in which you know every answer and are consistently brilliant for two or three hours simply is not realistic. Instead, rehearse saying that you don’t know and plan what you will say in case you draw a blank. You can gain time, for example, by saying, “Let me take some time to consider that question.” Your committee will understand and wait for you to recover.

During the Exam

If you are nervous, say so. Keep in mind that the committee members are instructed by the Graduate Division to “try to humanize an inherently difficult examination” and that the chair should “do all in his or her power to put the student at ease.” It’s perfectly fine to say, “I’m a little nervous right now; I’ll have to get myself organized.” And it will give you time to think. Take control of your exam as much as possible. If you’ve talked to your committee and other students, you should have a good idea of what to expect. In some cases, you may be asked your preference about the order of topics. If you have prepared answers to questions you are fairly certain you will be asked, you will have well- organized responses with no unfortunate tangents that may lead to questions you can’t answer.
Take your time in answering questions. Listen to the questions and give yourself time to think about them. Although the silence can be unnerving while you think about an answer, rushing in with a disorganized response is worse. If you can’t answer a question, say so and ask for hints. Don’t pretend that you know the answer. Going off on a tangent is a transparent attempt to avoid the question. Most committees will simply re-state the question. Say you don’t know. If you can’t answer a question or feel you have given a poor or incorrect answer, don’t dwell on it. Remember that no one expects you to know all the answers. Most likely, the very people who are examining you didn’t know all the answers on their exams. (Twenty years later, one Berkeley professor remembers the exact wording of a question he couldn’t answer on his exam.) Instead of worrying about a wrong answer, concentrate on the next question, the one you will field with confidence.

Antidotes to Anxiety

If you’re worried about failing the exam, fortify yourself with the knowledge that your chances of passing are excellent. Recognize that your committee wants you to pass. These faculty members have a great interest in seeing you do well. They selected you for graduate study and trained you in courses. Most students report that their committee members were very cordial and gave them every opportunity to show what they knew during the exam. Often committee members would re-state questions of other committee members so that students would understand. Finally, believe it or not, 83 percent of Berkeley doctoral candidates consider the qualifying exam to be a beneficial experience, according to the Graduate Division exit questionnaire. It is a rite of passage that can build your confidence and affirm your readiness to take the next step in becoming a scholar.