"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." –John 16:33

Tag: Quals

Christian passes his PhD quals

Studying Singapore Math in Albany
The kids and I spent many, many hours laying on the floor or sitting at the kitchen table or on the sofa correcting homework, reading, drawing, etc., etc., etc. On Friday, Christian hit a new milestone by passing his PhD qualifying examination. He has not finished his schooling yet, but has moved from PhD student status to PhD candidate status. He has anywhere between two and a half and four years before he has a chance of finishing, but that he passed his PhD qualifying examination on Friday was a very big deal. Many of the people with whom I have spoken on the topic say that is often the most difficult single part of the PhD process. Lorena and I looked at a bunch of old pictures while we celebrated and got a little nostalgic. Mostly we reminisced about how fast it all went. All-in-all, because we sent the kids to government school for three years (counting kindergarten), we homeschooled them only a total of seven years and one of Christian’s years was really preschool. We would not trade those years for anything.

Betty Blonde #408 – 02/08/2010
Betty Blonde #408
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Christian has oral PhD quals today

Christian PhD Quals imageWikipedia says that PhD Preliminary exams (Prelims) and PhD Qualifying exams (Quals) are the same thing:

The use of the term Prelim (short for preliminary examination) varies and is synonymous with qualifying exam, but it generally refers to an examination (usually one from a sequence) that qualifies a student to continue studies at a higher level, and/or allow the student to comprehend his/her studies and see how prepared they are for the looming examinations. It is almost a gauge on how knowledgeable one is within the chosen subject. These exams are also referred to as Quals at some institutions.

He has been preparing for the quals for over a year and will present the research he has performed since he arrived at Arizona State and be questioned by his committee on both the research and his classes. It is a big deal to have this behind him. Everything has been on hold while he prepared for the last couple of months and he is chomping at the bit to move on. Many say this is the hardest part of the PhD, even harder than the doctoral dissertation and thesis defense at the end. It starts at 2:30 PM today and we are excited to see how he does.

Betty Blonde #407 – 02/05/2010
Betty Blonde #407
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Christian prepares for his qualifying exam

Christian driving to his PhD qualifying examChristian sent me the paper he wrote as partial fulfillment of his qualifying examination and will turn it in later today. He does the oral qualification examination for his PhD on Friday, his last day as a teenager. What a great way to leave teenager-hood. Actually, he has done much more than we ever anticipated he might do by this time in his life. He has a few more classes after this, but the bulk of his time will be spent on identification of a research topic (he has a pretty good idea what it will be, but needs more specifics) followed by research for his dissertation.

Betty Blonde #400 – 01/27/2010
Betty Blonde #400
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