What you could expect during an off-topic qualifying exam

You might have heard of the ‘qualifying exams’ that graduate students need to take. You might be curious to learn more, or perhaps you’ve even taken the qualifying exam at your university (if so, congrats!). Regardless of your familiarity, I want to take some time this week to share my experience with you and discuss what your qualifying exam could be like. Keep in mind that every university and individual program has its own qualifying exam which means the type of exam and the time you take it can vary.

My department’s qualifying exams take place in the beginning of the 2nd year and they are off-topic. What does that mean? Well, they can either be on-topic or off-topic. An on-topic qualifying exam will be about the research you have conducted or at the very least be related to the field your PhD will be in. An off-topic exam is essentially the opposite: you will get tested on your extensive knowledge in a field that is not closely related to your dissertation project. Now, you might have a strong preference when comparing the two, but you don’t get to pick (unless that was a big contributing factor when you were selecting which PhD program to attend). My qualifying exam was off-topic and took a bit over a month to complete (hence RiS taking a break from posting earlier this fall). 

The exam goes as follows: a list of about 40 research articles that the faculty members selected are released and you have two days to go through the list and pick your top three choices. You need to make sure that your top choices are not too closely related to your dissertation project, otherwise they won’t be assigned to you. The assignment is first come first served so you want to move relatively fast. After you submit, you hope you get your top choice. By that Monday you will know what paper you were assigned and you go straight to work. You have two weeks to become an expert in the paper you were assigned and write a proposal about it. This is arguably one of the hardest parts.

The proposal must include a description of your dissertation project (the only easy part to write), and a three and a half page article critique where you explain what the paper did well and not so well, with suggestions on how it could be improved. This is then followed by a four and a half page research design. This is where you need to propose what you would do next if you were the authors of your paper. Regardless of your familiarity in the field of your paper this will be challenging. The purpose of the proposal is to demonstrate that you can read a scientific paper, dissect it, and then fully design and articulate future experiments. Additionally, no one is allowed to read your proposal before you submit it. 

Congrats, you wrote a full proposal and hopefully it doesn’t suck. Now you have to prepare a chalk talk. You have two weeks in which you will be assigned a committee of three professors who you will present to. Although ‘present’ might be the wrong word because the goal of this two hour chalk talk is to have a conversation with other scientists about your proposed work. However, as you might imagine, this will be a totally different experience for everyone because chances are every committee will be different and who knows whether or not they will like your ideas. 

If that sounds fairly chill, it gets better (sarcasm). During your chalk talk you will most likely get interrupted very early on. You will be asked questions and each time you answer one right, they will proceed with more until you no longer know the answer. You are essentially getting grilled, but hopefully in a nice way that still feels like a conversation (but that is pretty out of your control). During the chalk talk you also need to ensure that the line of questioning does not get too off topic or in a direction that you are not prepared to discuss - this takes some real finessing. All of this combined is why during the two weeks before your chalk talk you should schedule mock exams where you ask your friends and students in the labs of your selected committee members to sit in as you practice. They will then pretend to be the faculty and ask you questions that will *hopefully* better prepare you for the real thing. 

Typically a chalk talk would be on a chalk/whiteboard, but due to the increase of the delta-variant of COVID-19, my exam was virtual. I had four mock exams with really awesome people who were both good at asking questions and kind. Unfortunately, you can never predict how your real exam will go. I don’t think anyone feels great about their exam, even if they pass. Mine was definitely not enjoyable (and I am someone who passed). 

I understand the benefits that an off-topic exam is supposed to have, like being able to immerse yourself in a field unfamiliar to your own and having an intellectual conversation about it. However, I felt that a lot of it was lost throughout the process. If quals are supposed to prepare me for the science world, then there are some changes that should be seriously considered. 1) Have an on-topic exam at the end of your second year. 2) Whether the exam is on-topic or not, there should be a step added where your committee is required to read your proposal and give you constructive criticism. And 3) You should be given an equal amount of time to edit your proposal as your committee had to read and edit it. This will resemble the review process for publishing papers and will better equip you to address concerns your committee might have. 

Now, if you are a first year student who will have an off-topic qualifying exam, I don’t want to discourage you. Quals suck, but you do get through them. The faculty members should be there to help you and better prepare you to be a scientist, so you should try to not be too scared of them. It’s worth noting that failing isn’t the end of the world as long as you learn from the first experience. Also, make sure you surround yourself with good people. Yeah, there will be days you need to be a hermit and read and write, but take care of yourself. Try to balance your days so that you don’t feel utterly drained by the end of the process, or plan a little trip for afterwards. At the end of the day, remember to be kind to yourself because the way your exam might be set up might very well not be a reflection of your intellect or ability to finish your degree.

Are you someone who took a qualifying exam? Leave a comment below and share your experience!