I'm studying for my comprehensive exams right now. For those of you who might not know what those are, those are the exams a student has to pass at the end of grad school (or at least, after they've finished the course-work for their grad degree), in order to become degree candidates. At my university, every member of your thesis committee is required to give you a comprehensive exam. I just looked at the study guide that one of my members sent me. Holy shit. This is what I have to know for his comp:

How does mitosis differ from meiosis

Ecosystem defined & Components of ecosystems.

food chains and what limits the length of food chains

Primary vs secondary production

Theory of Natural Selection, concept of “Fitness”, and modes of selection

Group and Kin-selection

Concept of “minimum viable population”

Crude vs ecological density

General plant and animal patterns of dispersion and movements

What are the mechanisms that “regulate” a plant or animal population

Mortality and survivorship curves

Exponential vs logistic growth of populations

Density-dependent regulation vs density-independent regulation

Intraspecific competition vs interspecific competition

r-selection vs K-selection

Types of mating systems found in nature

Competition theory: Lotka-Volterra Model and Competitive Exclusion

Concept of resource partitioning

Concept of the “niche”: fundamental vs realized

Models of predation and postulated functional responses to predation

Foraging Theory and concepts of optimal diet, foraging efficiency, and risk-sensitive foraging

Parasites & Diseases: parasitism as a regulatory mechanism

Mutualism: origins of mutualism and its population effects

Concepts of vertical stratification, horizontal heterogeneity, “edge”, and ecotones

Theory of Island Biogeography

Interactions & Community structure: role of competition, predation, parasites, & diseases,

Concepts of succession: primary vs secondary, climax

Ecological disturbance; small-scale vs large-scale disturbances

Ecological disturbance & nutrient cycling

Continental drift, climatic changes & dispersal of species

How is a “species” defined, and how species are maintained

Methods of communication between organisms

Concept of “Biological Magnification” or “Biological Amplification”

How does “Conservation Biology” differ from “Biology”

Concepts of endangered vs threatened species

How does a species become “endangered”

And that is for only one exam. For one of the others, I have to know the following chapters out of an ornithology text for the exam given by my advisor (he's an ornithologist):

Diversity of birds

History of birds

Mates

Breeding systems

Populations

Species

Communities

Conservation

And I have one other member of my committee that doesn't tell anyone what they have to know for the exam.

Holy fuck. :faint:

Piece of cake, Laurend. You'll knock it out of the park.

(What degree IS this, anyway? I think I'll pass on this one...)

Piece of cake, Laurend. You'll knock it out of the park.

(What degree IS this, anyway? I think I'll pass on this one...)

It's a Master's in biology.

I don't think god will help you Laurend. Particularly as you are an athiest LOL

I don't think god will help you Laurend. Particularly as you are an athiest LOL

Yeah. I think that right now I'm just going to go quietly hyperventilate. Damn, I'm gonna have to beef up on my shit. I mean, most of that stuff is material that I have seen before, since I got my B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Now I just have to go read up on it again and hope that I don't freak out and forget everything when I'm actually taking the written exam. I just feel so sorry for the folks in my program that don't really have a background in wildlife or ecology, 'cause a lot of that stuff is material that you don't get a lot of (or at least, not in-depth) in general biology classes.

You have my deepest sympathies! I took my comps for my Ed.S. degree in July--6 hours of writing answers to essay questions! I had already completed the SLLA (School Leadership Licensure Assessment) exam in June--another 6 hours of writing answers to essay questions. What a living nightmare!

Remember that a lot of the information you need to know really is stored up in your brain. The trick is to be able to access it under pressure. I made up stupid mnemonic devices to help me remember facts.

For example, the sentence "The dumb boy stepped in lamb poo" reminded me of these legal terms: tort, duty, breach, standard of care, and in loco parentis. Once I had a series of sentences made up, I created another mnemonic device to remember the first letter of those sentences. I jotted those down on the scratch paper as soon as it hit my hot little hands.

Hang in there--it won't be easy, but remember that this is the culmination of all of the learning you've already done. You can do this!!

You have my deepest sympathies! I took my comps for my Ed.S. degree in July--6 hours of writing answers to essay questions! I had already completed the SLLA (School Leadership Licensure Assessment) exam in June--another 6 hours of writing answers to essay questions. What a living nightmare!

Remember that a lot of the information you need to know really is stored up in your brain. The trick is to be able to access it under pressure. I made up stupid mnemonic devices to help me remember facts.

For example, the sentence "The dumb boy stepped in lamb poo" reminded me of these legal terms: tort, duty, breach, standard of care, and in loco parentis. Once I had a series of sentences made up, I created another mnemonic device to remember the first letter of those sentences. I jotted those down on the scratch paper as soon as it hit my hot little hands.

Hang in there--it won't be easy, but remember that this is the culmination of all of the learning you've already done. You can do this!!

I usually tend to do best if I just do straight memorization. I get confused when I use mnemonics. I spend so much time trying to remember them that I forget what they stand for! I just hope they'll let me type on a computer instead of writing by hand. I can think faster when I'm typing, for some reason. Plus, I don't get hand cramps. :biggrin1: Luckily, I have a two week period to take my comps in, so I can spread them out a little bit and decompress between exams.

To add to my above post:

I'm lucky in that I have a good memory for details, in terms of stuff like this. Usually, if I can remember the basic idea behind a concept, I can come up with a decent essay answer, mainly because I can remember more details as I start writing.

jeebus....

My comprehensive will be either summer or fall term 08, depending on how quickly I can get my last elective taken care of. I'm NOT looking forward to it. The one nice thing - I already know the questions that are on it. Ours aren't done by professor, they're comprehensive across the entire program, and they give you the questions after your 30th credit hour, when you officially have to have declared your emphasis (if you're carrying one).

Do you know your questions ahead of time, or just the topics?

My comprehensive will be either summer or fall term 08, depending on how quickly I can get my last elective taken care of. I'm NOT looking forward to it. The one nice thing - I already know the questions that are on it. Ours aren't done by professor, they're comprehensive across the entire program, and they give you the questions after your 30th credit hour, when you officially have to have declared your emphasis (if you're carrying one).

Do you know your questions ahead of time, or just the topics?

Nope, just the topics. :phanvan

Better you than me! :eek:

is it good or bad that I read the list and knew what every single topic was about in a general way?

Good, I think! You must either be into ecology/wildlife science or read a lot!

Man Lauren! Good luck to you! I will stop complaining about my exams coming up, they look like a piece of cake now!

I doubt that this will make you feel better, but I am so jealous of you right now!! I am hoping to start grad school in the fall 08..in biology. I graduate this december w a degree in Zoology/minor in biochemistry.

Just remember that you know most of this stuff, if you can breathe during the test..if not, well when you pass out from lack of oxygen to brain, maybe he'll take it easy on you!!