Difference between revisions of "General Advice"

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Every year, between 20%-40% of students do not pass UCLA's comprehensive exams. Not passing the comps is embarrassing. Don't be unnecessarily embarrassed. Firstly, your colleagues probably know your results. Information gradients quickly equilibrate and with them dissipate any future potential for embarrassment. Therefore, don't avoid your friends and colleagues for fear of being asked about your comp results. They want you to do well and are likely to offer help and advice for next time. In the meantime the albatross around your neck can be a character building bird. Secondly, let it be known that some students who have not passed UCLA's comprehensive exams have gone on to become leaders in their field (including an assistant professorship at MIT straight out of graduate school). Therefore, not passing is not a measure of your innate ability, but merely an instantaneous measurement of your training status. Therefore, do [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUWBbepsdmY more] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxEtJoK0-jA training]. The best training strategy for your next attempt will probably involve some modification of your last strategy. Therefore, try to identify your mistakes from last year. 
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===In the event===
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Every year, between 5%-40% of students do not pass UCLA's comprehensive exams. Not passing the comps feels embarrassing. Don't be unnecessarily embarrassed. Firstly, your colleagues probably know your results. Information gradients quickly equilibrate and with them dissipate any future potential for embarrassment. Therefore, don't avoid your friends and colleagues for fear of being asked about your comp results. They want you to do well and are likely to offer help and advice for next time. Secondly, some students who have not passed UCLA's comprehensive exams have gone on to become leaders in their field (including an assistant professorship with subsequent tenure at MIT straight after receiving their PhD). Therefore, not passing is not a measure of your innate ability, but merely an instantaneous measurement of your training status. Therefore, do more training. The best training strategy for your next attempt will probably involve some modification of your last strategy.
  
 
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===Training===
Some good training strategies include:
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Some good strategies include:
* '''Be careful not to fool yourself'''. J. Sakurai says that "''the student who has read the book but cannot do any problems has learnt nothing''". It is tempting to read rather than getting your hands dirty. The best preparation for comp problems is practicing previous comp problems (UCLA's previous comps, previous finals and midterms of committee members, comp question and answer books by Lim, Chicago, Princeton).
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* '''Give yourself enough time.''' You are tasked with practicing 6 quarters worth of course material in one quarter's time. Consider taking that time and doing research on the back burner.
* '''Do problems, carefully'''. One may be tempted to prefer quantity over quality in order to collect a large canon of completed questions. However, it is important to find a balance between quality and quantity of problem practice. A quality problem session involves working on the problem for 30 minutes, checking one's answer with the solutions and then going back to the question without the solutions as aid. If one does not check the answers, one is merely revising the things that one already knows rather than learning new things that one does not yet know. Studying takes time, so prioritize problems by relevance.  
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* '''Be careful not to fool yourself'''. It is tempting to read rather than getting one's hands dirty. Sakurai forebodes that "''the reader who has read the book but cannot do the exercises has learned nothing''". The best preparation for comp problems is practicing previous comp problems (UCLA's previous comps, previous finals and midterms of committee members, comp question and answer books by Lim, Chicago, Princeton).
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* '''Do problems carefully'''. One may be tempted to prefer quantity over quality in order to collect a large canon of completed questions. However, it is important to find a balance. A high quality problem session involves working on the problem for 30 minutes, checking one's answer with the solutions and then doing the problem again without the solution. If one does not check the answers, one is merely revising the things that one already knows rather than charting unknown territory.  
 
* '''Leave your comfort zone'''. Learning has an uncomfortable activation potential. Overcoming this potential means leaving one's comfort zone and accepting the fact that one does not know something. When you transform this confusion into curiosity, learning is fun and motivation intrinsic.
 
* '''Leave your comfort zone'''. Learning has an uncomfortable activation potential. Overcoming this potential means leaving one's comfort zone and accepting the fact that one does not know something. When you transform this confusion into curiosity, learning is fun and motivation intrinsic.
* '''Work in small groups'''. Working with peers helps with motivation, problem debugging and is mentally stimulating.
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* '''Work in small groups'''. Working with peers helps with motivation, problem solving and can be more fun!
* '''Be optimistic'''. Research has shown that optimism motivates for long term reward rather than short term reward. Therefore it is important to remain optimistic to fight procrastination. Similarly, your confidence boosts your psychological immune system.
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* '''Be optimistic'''. Research has shown that optimism motivates for long term reward rather than short term reward. Therefore it is important to remain optimistic to fight procrastination. If you know that solving problems will help you pass and pass well, what point is there in delay?

Latest revision as of 00:11, 2 June 2022

[edit] In the event

Every year, between 5%-40% of students do not pass UCLA's comprehensive exams. Not passing the comps feels embarrassing. Don't be unnecessarily embarrassed. Firstly, your colleagues probably know your results. Information gradients quickly equilibrate and with them dissipate any future potential for embarrassment. Therefore, don't avoid your friends and colleagues for fear of being asked about your comp results. They want you to do well and are likely to offer help and advice for next time. Secondly, some students who have not passed UCLA's comprehensive exams have gone on to become leaders in their field (including an assistant professorship with subsequent tenure at MIT straight after receiving their PhD). Therefore, not passing is not a measure of your innate ability, but merely an instantaneous measurement of your training status. Therefore, do more training. The best training strategy for your next attempt will probably involve some modification of your last strategy.

[edit] Training

Some good strategies include:

  • Give yourself enough time. You are tasked with practicing 6 quarters worth of course material in one quarter's time. Consider taking that time and doing research on the back burner.
  • Be careful not to fool yourself. It is tempting to read rather than getting one's hands dirty. Sakurai forebodes that "the reader who has read the book but cannot do the exercises has learned nothing". The best preparation for comp problems is practicing previous comp problems (UCLA's previous comps, previous finals and midterms of committee members, comp question and answer books by Lim, Chicago, Princeton).
  • Do problems carefully. One may be tempted to prefer quantity over quality in order to collect a large canon of completed questions. However, it is important to find a balance. A high quality problem session involves working on the problem for 30 minutes, checking one's answer with the solutions and then doing the problem again without the solution. If one does not check the answers, one is merely revising the things that one already knows rather than charting unknown territory.
  • Leave your comfort zone. Learning has an uncomfortable activation potential. Overcoming this potential means leaving one's comfort zone and accepting the fact that one does not know something. When you transform this confusion into curiosity, learning is fun and motivation intrinsic.
  • Work in small groups. Working with peers helps with motivation, problem solving and can be more fun!
  • Be optimistic. Research has shown that optimism motivates for long term reward rather than short term reward. Therefore it is important to remain optimistic to fight procrastination. If you know that solving problems will help you pass and pass well, what point is there in delay?
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