MrT

Oh one more note- I had a discussion about taking all of my courses in one year with my advisor and the program department head before attempting this. I had their full support which I think was essential because overall I had much less time in lab since I was taking more classes. If my advisor was not on board, I think it would have been very difficult (and very unpleasant) to try to do this.

I just finished my first year in a life sciences PhD program. I took 18 credits the first semester and 19 credits the second semester completing all of my required coursework in a year. Needless to say I was incredibly busy between coursework and still trying to make time for lab work. I did well in all of my classes, with an overall gpa of 3.8. I think if you really feel you need to delve into the courses you are taking, taking fewer courses over time may be helpful so you have adequate time to spend on each class because each class will be demanding and you want to get the full benefit of the material you cover. But if you think you can have a handle on the material, a year is totally doable in my experience.

Hi Everyone, I'm going to be taking my comprehensive exams at the end of the summer in August. My program does a 3 day written exam and a 1 day oral exam. I plan to reach out to each of my committee members to ask about specific study areas, but does anyone have any recommendations/suggestions for how to organize studying/studying tips? Specifically, how did you review? Read textbooks/articles? Go through old class notes? Was it helpful to type up notes? How many hours a day did you dedicate for study? Thanks in advance for your feedback!

I know exactly how you feel- I'm in my first year in a life sciences PhD program which I'm starting 10 years after graduating from my science undergrad. In-between, I went to law school and was practicing law. I am planning to take my comps at the end of the summer (for us its a 3 day written and 1 day oral). I just had my first committee meeting in which I had to present my background and research to date as well as my plans for my future research project. It was terrifying because I really felt that I did not have adequate background knowledge in my subject area. However, what was helpful was that in the months leading up to my meeting, I set meetings with my advisor to discuss very big picture what I was thinking of doing for my PhD project. After I got the big picture direction, I went back and did some research and after discussing with my advisor what would work, we broadly discussed experiments I could do. I then went home and made a much more detailed outline which I've reviewed with her a few times until I felt I got the bearings of what would be important in my area to focus on to start filling in knowledge gaps. Going through this process in stages big picture to more narrow meeting with my advisor and discussing things as well as spending the time to really write things out (or in my case diagram as well- I like pictures) made me feel more confident. I'm slowly learning that the knowledge gaps will be there (and are expected to be there), you just have to keep moving forward in identifying them and filling them in as you go. I also have friends in the science field and before my presentation to my committee on my research, I made sure I practiced presenting the material to them which helped me tremendously.

Have you heard anything yet? I’m still waiting : X

I didn’t apply to those programs but when I spoke with an admin at UA regarding my program I was told final decisions would be made mid-March. Good luck!

Which programs did you apply to?

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Has anyone applied to/heard back from University of Arizona?