A number of graduate students who took the qual Feb 1 2013 agreed to share their experience and tips for preparing for the exams.
A high-level summary:
- Plan ahead. e.g., make a schedule, and keep track of your progress.
- Know thyself! Identify your strength and weakness, and develop a strategy (e.g., comprehensiveness vs. efficiency, see Lulu's response).
- Balance group study time with individual study time.
- Make summary sheets as you study, so that you have a condensed version of the most important concepts to go through for the last week or so!
- Take practise exams seriously (see John's and Mareena's responses).
- Take advantage of the senior grad students (esp. the ones in your group!) and ask plenty of questions.
The following is a list of questions and responses that will hopefully give you an idea of what to expect in the next couple of months. I do want to note that people studied very differently, and this is by no means a representation of everyone!
...