I have passed the System & Networking qualification exam and is now officially a PhD candidate at UIUC CS Department.
To me, this exam was a painful but valuable experience (click here for more information regarding the exam's format). For students who are going to take the same exam, I have composed a short guide on how to deal with it. It is presented in the form of things that you should NOT do.
Below is a summary of the guideline, you can download the full version here. You can also find a list of sample qual questions here.
How to NOT give your Qual presentation
- Try to explain everything in the paper
- Try to go fast so you finish your presentation
- Try to answer questions quickly
- Don’t give your opinions, or give too few
- Write a word that you cannot explain
- Write a complete sentence
- Write something that you will not talk about
- Write too many stuffs
- Block the view
- Turn your back on the committee
- Look at your computers most of the time
- Don’t practice your talks
How to NOT answer general reading list questions
- Talk about something you did not read
- Don’t look at the professor who asked the question to see his reaction
- Don’t ask if you answered the question if he doesn’t seem really happy about it
You can also find many useful information at Hoang's website (Hoang is a more senior student at my department)
