Facing comps?
If part of your comprehensive exams are oral, you can always practice public speaking in front of your ever-patient cat or dog.
But how can you get ready for and ace those multipart essay questions?
 Compose a reading list
While some departments disseminate a suggested reading list of journal articles and review papers, many require students to create their own. To do so, read journal articles in a logical order, and organize them chronologically and by topic. Have a professor review your list.
Take detailed notes, and organize them
After reading an article, writes down the main points and store that information in a way that will be easy to access later. Consider using citation software, such as Endnote or Procite, to download citations directly from databases and create an index of articles organized by topic and author.
Think about the present
Professors often get ideas for questions from current debates and reading the latest research, so read up on recent issues of your field's top journals.
Seek advice from older students
Ask students who have already passed their comprehensive exams for advice, or even for copies of their graded essays.
When in doubt, ask
It's better to risk looking uninformed by asking a question about your exam than to write four pages on the wrong topic.
Read the directions
Even normally meticulous students might overlook a requirement under exam pressure. Note the number of pages allotted to a question and the formatting requirements. Check that you have answered every part of every essay question.
Be thorough, not encyclopedic
Packing in too many citations is an all too common mistake. There's no need to cram in citations that are only tangentially related to a question.
Want more tips on clearing comps? See our April 2004 article http://gradpsych.apags.org/apr04/comps.cfm.
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