Most graduate comps exams give you 3-4 unseen questions per day, one to three days total, and you answer them on the spot. You get a month or more to prepare, but you won't see the actual prompts until exam day.
What are the different types of comprehensive exams? The traditional comprehensive exam, which many schools still do, you get to the end of your coursework and then you get a time period, a month, 3 months, whatever your school comes up with, to prepare for 1, 2, or 3 days of questions where you come in and you are given questions. You don't get them ahead of time. You're given questions and you get to write your answers to those questions over those, let's say, 2 days. The first day you might get 3 questions, maybe 4, and then that you go back and collapse. And then the second day you come back in and have 4 more questions, and you get to write or type your answers to those questions, and then you have completed the exam. I've also worked with a number of people to prepare for their comprehensive exams. If you're interested, become a member of our Dissertation Help Group.
