How to succeed in the Ph.D. candidacy exam (or prelim)

Worrying about your Ph.D. candidacy exam (prelim)?

Been there, and here to help!

I will cover everything from what candidacy is and what a first-year grad student should focus on, to what to do on the day of your oral exam.

It’s an exam. Get ready to study!

Make sure to visit your school’s official website and look up the candidacy requirements for your specific graduate program.

Here, I share my personal experience and guideline, having completed my Ph.D. candidacy in Physics at Ohio State University.

What is the Ph.D. candidacy exam?

• The 6-week formal exam required by the graduate school
  
• Advisor/committee chooses a topic
  
• Typically not something you have worked on
  
• But good for you to know
  

You do a literature review, some calculations and become a mini-expert on the assigned topic

Deliverables: 20 page paper (at the end of 4 weeks) + Talk (at the end of 6 weeks)

The talk / oral exam makes students nervous because they can be asked any question from the assigned topic and in-context Physics during the talk.

In my program, this talk is given only to the candidacy committee. In other programs, the talk may even be open to the public.

If you are a first-year graduate student

Focus on finding a good Ph.D. advisor

Professor with whom you feel relatively comfortable

To interact with regularly and ask questions

Has research money OR ability to get TA support

Has project ideas that interest you

Yes, in that order

Full blog post:

https://howtophd.org/2019/02/how-to-succeed-in-the-phd-candidacy-exam.html

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