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- Be able to estimate the order of magnitude of quantities. Be careful about the units. Be careful about the sign (e.g., positive vs. negative temperature coefficients). Good examples: first day exams from 22.211(fall 2011), 22.251 (fall 2013).
- Practise speaking in front of people loudly and clearly with confidence. Practise how to handle a question that you have not though of before. Practise how to break a big question apart into several points to attack.
- Always start with an outline of what you are going to talk about if you can. For instance, for the second problem you are not going to have enough time to work everything out in the 5 mins given, but rather you should make a quick outline about stuff you feel comfortable talking about, and write down a few key words to help yourself remember what to talk about.
- For the prepared question, every sub-field (e.g., in fission there are reactor physics, thermal hydraulics, material etc) has a different style and require a different approach, so definitely talk to a senior grad student in your group for suggestions!
Prof. Smith did a mock oral exam practise for 22.211 in Spring 2012, and it is definitely a good practise for at least the neutronics folks!