passed my qualifier!

[Bill McBlueState]

I just found out I passed my Ph.D. qualifying exam in astronomy! It was a two-hour long oral exam this morning. In a few weeks, the faculty will vote on whether to admit me to candidacy, but it's kind of a rubber stamp because I've passed everything to this point.

Now I'm ABD (All But Dissertation!) and I should finish up here in two or three years. (Yeah, still a long time.)

It feels like it's been months since I could really relax, so I am happy now.. :D

[jimbo fett]

1. You passed it? Did it hurt? Try some Ex-lax.

Just kidding.

Congrats on your success!!!

[Bill McBlueState]

4. I can't speak from experience, but...

maybe there are some similarities between the hurdle I got over and the hurdle you mention... I certainly feel 'relieved.' :shrug:

[pmbryant]

2. Well, congratulations!

Now the fun part begins. :-)

--Peter

[zbird]

3. Way to go! Congratulations and good luck.

:toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast:

[Richardo]

5. So what's that constellation, you know, sort of box shaped, with stars...

JK, of course. I took Astronomy with George Abell at UCLA in the 70s.

In our first lecture, he said that all anyone thinks astronomers do is memorize the constellations. We soon learned better than THAT!

Congratulations..! :toast:

[pmbryant]

6. Most real astronomers these days have no clue about the constellations

I know from experience. I think I was virtually the only one who could tell Perseus from Pegasus. :-)

Modern astronomers just know coordinates. Then the computers point the telescopes. Takes much of the romance out of the job, unfortunately.

--Peter

EDIT: Added a couple qualifiers, because I suspect a handful of modern astronomers probably do actually know the constellations. :-)

EDIT AGAIN: I should have mentioned that Abell must have been a great teacher if his textbook is any indication. Was that true?

[Dudley_DUright]

7. That is a big step out of the way

I had to pass both a written and an oral qualifier for my physics Ph.D. I did fine on the written, but I flunked the oral my first time and had to do it again a few weeks later. Talk about performance anxiety!

[Bill McBlueState]

8. those orals will do that

I had a few moments where I drew blanks and thought "Do I know *anything* about physics or astronomy?"

Our department abolished the written exam a few years ago. Now, we do two projects over the course of two years. For each one, you write a paper of about 30 pages and give an hour long public presentation with questions. For the first project, there's a one-hour oral exam that just pertains to the project. For the second project, the oral exam is two hours, and questions from all aspects of astronomy/astrophysics are allowed. That's the part I just finished.

It's less rigorous than a written exam, but I suppose it's better training for one's future career.