Passing the general exam

Notes from an April, 1998 seminar at the University of Washington Department of Computer Science and Engineering
by Michael Ernst (mernst@cs.washington.edu)

Also see the Official Guidelines for the General Examination.

Kevin Hinshaw's notes

WHAT I DID

• strategy: related work for my thesis
• looked at lots of papers
• worked on rough outline with advisor (iterative)
• advisor wrote charge, committee approved
  • strengths and weaknesses of different methods
  • apply ideas elsewhere
• stress, stress, stress
• done

BAD IDEAS

• taking forever to finish (you will never feel ready to start!)
  • finished quals: Dec. '94
  • committee set up: Sep. '95
  • candidate papers: Oct. '96
  • got charge: Dec. '96
  • start exam period: Jan. '97
  • talk: May. '97

SCOPE

• 60-70 papers read (too many?)
• 27 refs
• 10 key papers
• 5 assigned
• 23 pages (double-spaced)

GOOD IDEAS

• notes/summaries as you go
  • slows you down, but it's worth it!
• narrow topic
• practice talk!
• plan some time off afterwards

SURPRISES

• you know more than you think you do :)

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

• don't have to give all papers equal emphasis (some might not fit)
• make sure you know what your committee expects
• do a little reading every day

ADMINISTRIVIA

• set up a committee ASAP!
• contact grad faculty rep and introduce yourself
• plan ahead when scheduling talk

TIMES

• committee approval: 4 months before exam
• study period: 2-3 quarters?
• exam period: 4 months max (1 month extension by petition)
• talk: 1/2 hour (but schedule 2 hours)

Marc Friedman's notes

When to do generals?

• Dead time after camera-ready paper done?
• After quals?
• Before thesis?

Focus on your weakness.

• Need to flesh out a thesis topic.
• Need to write the related work section of your thesis.
• Want to explore a new area.
• Reading, paper, talk.

What do you want out of it?

• Expand your breadth into a new area?
• Write a chapter of your thesis?
• Get to know some profs for recommendations purposes.

Committee feel about generals?

• Just a pain in the butt?
• Time to get your related work section in order?
• Flesh out thesis research questions?

Don't put the charge before the horse

• You will probably write your own charge
• You'll know when you're ready

Intensive reading

• You've done this before
• One difference: future work section
• Paper is just notes cobbled together

Back to Advice compiled by Michael Ernst.