Quals (qualifiers) - A mysterious, largely unexplainable, dreaded, and scary exam that lets a graduate student's committee decide in an hour, if she is good enough to conduct research over a period of about five years and get a PhD.
I passed my quals today.
The other really good thing is that as a result of all the reading I did in its preperation, I think I have a much better idea of what exactly I want to focus my research on - both in the short, and long term.
The only discernable immediate effect is that I can now apply for a closed study carrel in the library (so what if there is an eight month waiting list for that)!
Yea, its a great feeling to get done with Quals. Congrats !
Posted by: Sayantan Sur at July 5, 2025 09:41 AM