So today was my PhD Qualifying Exam and as you can imagine it was fun and exciting. NOT! It was horrible. I was practically crying.
The exam was divided into two sections and each section was 2 hours long. At the beginning of the first section there was 15 to 20 minutes of silence in the room (all the students who were taking the exam were in a classroom at a computer), as no one was typing, including me. I know I was in shock over the questions for the first part of the exam. I think everyone else was in shock also. One student sat down read the questions and a few minutes got up and left! There were questions asking for information that that I did not recognize, never read about and there was even a chapter listed that I had never hear of before. I dont know what PhD students they created that exam for, but it was not for the group that was sitting in that classroom. Did they use an old exam? No idea! It was just terrible. The second part was not too bad and I figure I have a 50% chance of passing, but it also was odd. They asked things in weird ways and covering subjects we did not really cover in class or in the readings or asked they questions on items that were just briefly mentioned. Also the format changed. On the instructions for the old exam, students were given the choice of what questions they wanted to answer. We were not allowed to do that.
So the Qualifying Exam was a terrible experience and not a positive learning experience. Now I wait for a 2-3 weeks to be told if I passed or not. I am pretty sure that I did not pass. From what I have been told, there will be no feedback. Just a pass or no pass. So I guess I will be taking it again. Oh fun.
Then after the exam I raced to the airport to catch my flight. Little did I know that there was no need. Due to bad weather in Dallas and my flight being really delayed, I had the option of still going to Dallas, even thought I was totally missing my connecting flight, to spend the night on the airport floor, as American Airlines was not giving out vouchers and they were told all the hotels were booked. Or spending another night in Gulfport and then getting on a flight with Delta tomorrow morning. So I opted for spending the night in a hotel (the Hilton Garden Inn, its nice but too pricey for its location). So hoping to get to Minnesota tomorrow morning and then racing off to work. What a bad day!
Hilton Garden Inn room