Preliminary Exams: A Guide from entrance to PhD to exams
The first question I ask any PhD student I run into at school is how're they planning for their exams. Few have an answer unless they're mid-exams. This post is written for what I wish was said to me, and what I hope to share with others.
One should keep in mind their exams throughout every step of the PhD. Everything you do and learn culminates in the exams, therefore plan each step with them in mind.
Each class should be taken with one's exam subjects in mind. Prior to my PhD, I would take any class that I was interested in. While there is room for that, I highly advise considering how each class benefits your exams and overall PhD career.
Don't waste your time spent reading. Every book you read can be used for your exams and your future career. Therefore, you must have a standardized format of notes so that you can use what you learn. This will be especially helpful for exams, while also saving you from having to reread the books two years later. Additionally, with preliminary exams typically having around 80 texts in humanities, having already read many of them will be a great stress reliever.
Plan a reading methodology. Focus on the introduction, thesis, and conclusion of the book. Do the same for each chapter and power read through the chapter finding important parts. Many of these books will be fascinating but you will not have enough willpower or time to read everything nor remember every detail.
Standardize your notes. My final method was to take notes stream of consciousness with page numbers as I read. Then I would go back and rework these notes into two page documents including: brief ideas, summary, chapters, connections, questions, theories, and tags.
Each term paper should be written as a potential exam essay and publishable paper. Though your time spent on term essays will vary from rushed to weeks, keeping in mind your exams and future publications will make this time well spent. Also, remind yourself that every time you write you're practicing!
In the end you should have four 40 page documents, one per written exam. Going over these is a great review.
Your examiners are on your side. They're not going to ask you an impossible question.
After your written exams, you're more than likely already prepared for your oral exams. I found the process of writing these four documents enough to fully understand my material.