Steve Tippins Ph.D. walked into his oral comprehensive exam unprepared and flippant, and faculty questioned whether he was serious about his work. He warns that casual behavior can alienate examiners and cost you everything. Tippins has helped many students prepare for comps and offers support through his dissertation help group.
I can't stress enough to go in respectfully. I was a little flippant when I went into my oral, and I had to overcome that because it kind of bothered some people. Now, how do you prepare? So when I went into my oral exam, I walked into a room with all of the faculty from my department, 12 people, let's say. First, I didn't know that was going to happen, that who was going to be there. And they began to ask questions, and I wasn't quite ready for all of this. In my defense, mechanism is to be a little jovial, maybe look a little flippant. And a number of people thought I wasn't taking this with enough seriousness. I wasn't really as serious as I should have been. I eventually overcame it. Obviously, I got to here. But I would caution you to be very respectful when and if you have to go into oral exams. 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.
