Comprehensive Examinations

As most of the people that will be reading this blog know, I have just finished the second year of my doctorate at Oregon State University. For those that are familiar with academia, I just passed my written and oral examinations, for those who aren't familiar, I will briefly describe the process. Basically after you finish classwork you must pass a series of detailed written examinations that test you on everything that you have learned while studying geology. At OSU, we take about 10 hours of written examinations on various geological topics. The exams are then graded by the faculty members that wrote them, and they decide if you have passed or failed. If you pass the 4 exams, you are then eligible to take your oral examinations. During the orals, the student sits in a room with 4-6 professors, and the professors ask questions to determine the depth of your knowledge, or in other words rather they think you are Ph.D. worthy (failure can lead to termination from the program). The tests not only test what you have learned in the past 6 years, but also your ability to use the knowledge that you have acquired to critically think. This being said, I passed my written examinations about three weeks ago, and Monday morning I passed my oral examinations. The examinations were very exhausting and at times painful, but an overall good experience. Upon passing my oral examinations I have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy. This means that all I have to do to complete my degree is finish my research project, and although this is a daunting task, volcano research is the reason I have remained in school so long and I look forward to completing my projects.