Should I Stop Research to Prepare for Oral Comprehensive Exams? How to Ask your Adviser for Permission?

[Marvin_Renteria]

Hello,

 

I am studying a Ph.D in Medicinal and Organic Chemistry (starting 3rd year), and I am presenting my oral exams in later October. I already wrote a research proposal and my committee accepted for defense. Half of it will be defending that proposal and the other half random question about course work and things I am supposed to know.

 

What is the best way to prepare for that? I think I should take 2 months off the lab to fully study everything (I already started the proposal studying part). However I told my adviser and he got very angry, even if I am doing well in regards of publications and advance. How do I explain him I need that time to study?  

 

If it helps I have a fellowship, so he does not pay anything. But, I am the only student and person working in his lab right now, since he does not have money. 

 

Thanks and please give any advice.

 

[TakeruK]

2 months completely off from research does seem like a lot of time off, so I can understand why a professor might be worried if you just flat out told them that this what you would be doing. I think a better approach may be to remind your supervisor that your comp exams are approaching and that you would like to discuss a plan with them for research/studying schedule.

 

This approached worked well for me and my colleagues. In my program, we take our quals at the end of our first year and they are like 90% research based (we defend two projects we complete in the first year). These are mini projects though--mostly to demonstrate proof of concept and our ability to do independent research (i.e. no need to completely finish and have a paper by quals time). However, these are the only exams we have (no comps exam here). The exams are late September every year and at the start of summer (June ish), we all talked to our supervisors about our projects and the exams. We basically took that time to mutually agree on the "scope" of our project. That is, we both decided what stage the project should be at before the exam, and a timeline of goals so that I would also have time to study. 

 

I think this method would work better because 1) you are involving your supervisor in the decision which affects him as well as you (i.e. you wouldn't want him to unilaterally decide your study schedule for you so it makes sense for you to not unilaterally decide when you are going to stop working too) and 2) it's in your own best interest to use your advisor's wisdom/experience in helping you determine where is a good stopping point for your research so that you make the best possible presentation for your exam!

[fuzzylogician]

Taking two months completely off from your research sounds like too much. You need to find a way to integrate studying with research in some way, meaning that you need to reduce the amount of hours you invest in your research somehow, but without coming to a complete halt. Starting up again will be significantly more difficult if you completely stop as opposed to slow down. Given that you have already had a conversation with your advisor about this, I think you need to go back and instead of just informing him of what you're planning to do (which is never a good idea, btw), have a conversation where you ask for his advice on integrating intense preparation for your exam with your current research. It may be helpful to start by confirming exactly what level of preparation is expected of you. It's possible that you don't need to do much more than be familiar with your proposal and information from your current coursework (which you basically already know and don't need to study for), and on the other hand you may be expected to remember everything from every course in detail (which obviously requires more preparation). After you both agree on what's expected, you can assess together with your advisor how much work you need to do to be prepared, and come up with a plan for getting the studying done in time. I am sure that this approach will work better than the one you tried before. 

[St Andrews Lynx]

A couple of weeks spent mostly focussed on studying would be more appropriate. I don't think you are going to convince your PI that two months off from lab work is a good idea - remember that you are there to be a researcher, not a student. 

 

Perhaps if you devote 1 day or two half days to revision now - with the rest of the week spent researching - and then gradually change that ratio as you get closer to the date. There is also a lot of revision that you can do while you are researching: looking at flashcards while your reaction is running, reading a textbook chapter over lunch, etc.

[biotechie]

My qualifying exam is literally in about 10 hours (yikes!). We were given a total of two months to work on it: two weeks for the abstract, one month for the proposal, and two weeks for the presentation. My defense sounds like it will be very similar in style to yours. I have been in lab daily working on my presentation and practicing, but I only stopped doing experiments in the past week or so. I would say a maximum of two weeks halting experiments is acceptable so long as you're still in the laboratory and accessible by the professor to show your progress.

 

I agree with the above posters. We're in graduate school to be researchers. I could accomplish a lot of experiments in two months and it would be a great deal of lost work which would ultimately slow my progress and delay graduation. Two months is far too long. Had I not been in the lab, I would have lost authorship on two papers that I generated data for.

 

You really do just need to manage your time. When I was writing the proposal, I would do lab work in the mornings, then write in the afternoons until I got bored. I'd do a couple of lab chores, and then start up writing, again. Your organization of your time will be key.

[Marvin_Renteria]

Thanks to all of you for your nice advice. You are completely right, I guess I am just scared about the oral exams. Plus I had hear  of people who take 3-6 months off to prepare. 

 

Thanks I will definitely balance my time

[TMP]

I would also consider the department/university culture.  

 

These days given the enormous shift in the way the universities work (more like corporations), the faculty don't look good if they have to report that a student failed his/her exams and needed to be dismissed.  That's my university's culture, at least.

 

Your committee already knows your fate before you walk in the room.  You will pass unless you screwed it up so badly that the examiners have to second-guess themselves.  Your preparation will show through conversations with your PI and committee members from now to the oral exam.

 

That said, being at the lab working away when you wish you could be home studying will have some advantages.

[Tall Chai Latte]

When I prepared for my prelim, my advisor only gave me 10 full days off. And those were the 10 days prior to the actual exam day! I had to find time between experiments to read papers and study one-two months prior. Many fellow students in my department didn't get too many days off either. 

[juilletmercredi]

I think I took a week off before my comprehensive exams to review and prepare, but definitely not 2 months.  You'll have to learn to balance your studying with your research work, although I would be sure to negotiate some protected time for studying.