-5 to 6 months

Form yourcommittee

-2 to 3 months

Set your examplace and time(reserve a room

for a total of ~4 hours)

-1 month

If you want to doa mock qualifying exam, turn in the

application&

Begin hard core studying*

-3 weeks

Get with Roz about forms that MUST be

filled out at least 15 days before the exam

&Get people, your PI or

students in your lab to readyour proposal**

-2 weeks

Turn in your proposal to all committee

members

-2 weeks to -3 days

Take MockQualifying Exam

Day before

Get refreshmentsfor the exam

&Stop studying

&Get some sleep!

Begin finding papers that are relevant to your work

Start reading the papers you found&

Start forming ideas for and writing your proposal

*Many students stop bench work the month leading up to the exam; talk with your PI.

**Many PI’s will read their student’s proposal, but some do not. It is crucial that someone besides you reads and gives feedback about your proposal!!! If there aren’t any students in your lab find someone to help. I cannot stress to you how important this is.

General Timeline for Qualifying exams in Biological Sciences

-Note: this is a general outline, so don’t freak out if you think you are behind. It can be modified to fit your style of studying, but it is based on what other students have done. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any other student who has taken their exam.

EXAM