How to prepare for an academic hearing ?

[YAZAN]

I need your advice please I am a phd student and i am in the fourth semester in the statistics program. I failed my qualifying exam in a second time. i got academic dismissal from the department. I request an appeal for the dismissed decision. Next week I will have a meeting with the committee. How to prepare for academic hearing ? What should I say? Information : *My gba is high (3.56) *I participate in my classes *I come regularly to the classes *The qualifying exam consist of two parts I got 88% in the first part but in the second I got 30%. In the first qualifying exam I admit I focused on one course more than the other, but in the second qualifying exam I really studied so hard I got books from the library, solved the previous qualifying exam, and asked online tutor to help me with some problems. So I was so surprised that I did not pass the exam in the second time even my advisor said that i did not expect that you did not pass the qualifying exam. I really understand most of the concepts that in the course that I did not pass . As a result I published an article in a journal. The article is related to some subjects in the course that I did not pass.

*Finally I want to say I have scholarship from my country, and they will not allow my to transfer to another university for two reason because, first I got academic dismissal second if I transfer to another university i have to extend my scholarship but they will not give me financial guarantee for the new school because of the extension of my scholarship. *I really need the scholarship from .... If I lose my scholarship I will be in trouble because my scholarship covers full tuition and it also includes a monthly stipend for living expenses for me and my kids. If I lose my scholarship I will come back to my country. Should i tell them in my master degree i passed the comprehensive exam from the first time and i received a honorable mention for academic achievement?

[GradSchoolTruther]

I don't see how you can win an appeal failing twice. Passing a qualifying exam is a rite of passage, and it would be unfair if you were able to get yet another chance when others would not get one. The only thing helping your case is you're getting funding from an outside source. 

As for telling people you passed if the appeal fails, that would be a lie. There is no such thing as honorable mention. 

Edited April 3, 2016 by GradSchoolTruther

[fuzzylogician]

I afraid it'll be a tough fight and your chances of succeeding aren't great. The thing to concentrate on is probably the improvement from the first exam to the second and the fact that you passed one of the two parts, and that you've been working hard to improve in the second part and even have a paper in it. Perhaps you could ask for a second chance to retake just the part you failed, because the paper indicates that you are knowledgeable in this area but something went wrong in the exam that isn't representative of your knowledge (is there something you can point to as a mitigating factor for why your score was so low?). 

I would make sure a 3.56 GPA is actually considered high for your PhD program before even saying it, but more generally I think you should *not* spend too much time on your efforts to improve--coming to class and participating, and hiring a tutor, do *not* entitle you to a good grade, it just doesn't work that way. It's your output that counts, not how hard you worked to produce it. Another thing not to mention more than in the briefest terms, if at all, is your scholarship and consequences of having to leave. That isn't relevant to these proceedings, and some professors would view it as unfair pressure on them. 

Finally, for whether you should lie to people back in your home country, those things are bound to come out, and the consequences could be severe. I would not recommend it. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

A 3.56 GPA is close to the threshold to lose funding in many programs. It doesn't apply in the OP's case, but I doubt it's considered high.

[MathCat]

13 hours ago, YAZAN said:

Should i tell them in my master degree i passed the comprehensive exam from the first time and i received a honorable mention for academic achievement?

I don't think the OP meant that they would lie about passing *this* qualifying exam. This sentence seems to say that they passed the comprehensive exam in their master's degree. I interpret this question to mean "should I tell the committee that I passed (a previous) comprehensive exam during my master's degree and received an honorable mention for academic achievement (also in OP's master's)?" If I've read this correctly and it's factual, I think this is relevant information and could be included, but I also agree with everything fuzzylogician said - this is a long shot. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

OK, I misread it. Anyway, it doesn't matter what happened during the OP's master's program. If I were on the committee, I would take a dim view regarding someone who brought up an achievement that is the norm.

Edited April 3, 2016 by GradSchoolTruther

[MathCat]

51 minutes ago, GradSchoolTruther said:

OK, I misread it. Anyway, it doesn't matter what happened during the OP's master's program. If I were on the committee, I would take a dim view regarding someone who brought up an achievement that is the norm.

Passing comps in masters is not the norm in every field and every country. For example, in my undergrad institution (and, indeed, I believe in all math masters programs in Canada), there are no quals/comps. They are only required of PhD students. However, masters students are often offered the opportunity to attempt them, and if they passed, it would count towards their PhD if they stay at that institution. 

[Eigen]

1 hour ago, MathCat said:

Passing comps in masters is not the norm in every field and every country. For example, in my undergrad institution (and, indeed, I believe in all math masters programs in Canada), there are no quals/comps. They are only required of PhD students. However, masters students are often offered the opportunity to attempt them, and if they passed, it would count towards their PhD if they stay at that institution. 

Sure, but I've never seen a school accept comps/quals credit from another institution, even in the case of transferring PhD students. Especially in the case of a student having failed comps at the new school more than once.

It's like making the argument during a grade appeal that you've gotten A's in other classes or at other schools- it's rarely pertinent to failing a current class. 

[ZeChocMoose]

What does your advisor think about all of this?  In order to get a third chance at your qualifying exam, my guess is you are going to need faculty advocating on your behalf and a solid argument about why you will pass this time.  Do you have anyone that will be in your corner that has power in your department?  Without strong allies - I don't think you are going to be successful at overturning an academic dismissal. 

Edited April 4, 2016 by ZeChocMoose