The Dreaded Comps

What’s the hottest topic in the higher education cohort right now? The comprehensive exam, lovingly known as “comps”. For the higher ed master’s program at GSE, as well as a few of the other programs, rather than completing a written thesis or completing a culminating project of some kind, we take comps, which is essentially a take home essay. Well, it’s an essay that has the power to determine your future – whether you get the master’s degree or not. Actually, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. If you don’t pass the first time, there are options, but you don’t really talk about those until after the exam. In my opinion, the bad part about the comps structure is that they occur pretty early in the Spring semester, before you've been fully immersed and exposed to all of your Spring courses. I keep wondering if things I will learn more about later this semester would have been helpful in my writing…

We had our comps this weekend and I’m so relieved they’re over! We received an email on Friday morning at 9:00am with the two prompts, we had to choose one, write an essay of no more than 2,000 words (that part was really difficult!) and submit it by 5:00pm on Monday. 80 hours. That’s all the time you get to read the essay choices, identify your topic, plan your essay, do any final research, write the essay itself, proofread, revise, and attempt to cut your precious words down to only 2,000. Oh, and don’t forget time to sleep, eat, shower (or not), and if you’re anything like me, factor in some time for coffee breaks, distractions, and procrastination. Sounds really daunting, right? I actually found that the weekend was more than enough time to complete the essay sufficiently and even maintain my mental health. I guess I've been training for this process for the past six months – I love the adrenaline rush from deadlines!

As a cruel joke played by Mother Nature this weekend, we had a break from the snow and below-freezing temperatures and experienced sunshine and temperatures in the high 50’s! I couldn't let that weather go to waste, so I made sure to leave my jacket at home and take a few walks to get food and coffee. They were nice breaks and I made sure to take the scenic route to get places to give me a little more time outside. I also took some time to de-stress by watching the Olympics and meeting my best friend for brunch on Sunday! It ended up being a really nice weekend, excluding the whole writing process, of course :-P

At this point, I've submitted my exam, I did my best, and now it’s really out of my hands. Originally I was worried about writing the exam, then I was worried about receiving bad results, but it’s not worth expending the energy right now. We won’t hear our results back until the end of March, so there’s no sense in worrying until then – I still have a lot more work in the meantime! Passing comps is only half the battle. I still have to make it through the rest of my coursework to graduate!

I figured I’d share a few pictures that I found before, during, and after this weekend. Side note: I wish I hadn't thrown all of my coffee cups away because it would have made a great picture! You would need two hands to count how many iced coffees I consumed in three days…

My stack of materials for the weekend - laptop, iPad, and
all of my old readings and notes from all of my classes.
(Not pictured: copious amounts of iced coffee)

This is how I thought I would feel this weekend
(from Pinterest)

Thanks for the advice, Walt!
(from Pinterest)

This is now my primary concern!
(from Pinterest)

Come Chat With Us

Don’t forget – we have several on- and off-campus events coming up in the next few week!

Also, as promised, we have a handful of online events occurring in the next few months!

Please join us for web chats with current students, alumni, and representatives from various groups and resources around campus relevant to the graduate student experience. This semester our web chats will each have a particular “theme” which will determine which campus representatives will join us. Hopefully you can attend the ones that are relevant to you, but don’t worry if you can’t – we can answer all of your questions at any of the four upcoming chats!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

9:00-10:00 AM (ET)

This web chat will be geared towards students from outside the United States. We will have a variety of international alumni, students, and resources to answer your questions about Penn and life at GSE.

RSVP here.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

8:30-9:30 PM (ET)

This web chat will be geared towards incoming students with families or those who are changing careers into higher education. We will have a variety of current students, alumni, and campus resources to talk about the adjustments involved when coming to GSE.

RSVP here.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

8:00-9:00 PM (ET)

This web chat will be geared towards students identifying with the LGBT community and students of color. We will have current students and alumni from these communities as well as various resources available to discuss the campus climate at Penn and answer any of your questions.

RSVP here.

Friday, April 11, 2014

7:00-8:00 PM (ET)

This will be our final web chat of the semester. It will not be themed, but we will have a variety of individuals present to answer any of your remaining questions to help you prepare for life at Penn GSE.

RSVP here.

Busy, Busy Weeks Behind Us...And More to Come!

 I wanted to give an update on one of my previous posts – due to the snow we had during the first week of the semester, our add/drop deadline at GSE was extended to this past Thursday. I know there were still some people who were trying to find a final class for the semester up until the deadline, but I finally made my decision at the end of last week – I’m keeping ALL of my classes that I mentioned! Specifically, I’m remaining registered for four of the classes and I’m auditing the course on Intercollegiate Athletics. This allows me to attend the class and participate in the learning and discussions without the added pressure of completing written assignments or receiving a letter grade for the class. I’m already so excited about all of the new things I’m learning this semester, but the homework and reading is making for some very long days and nights.

In addition to an immense amount of work for class, we’re also running full speed in my GA office. We host a weekend every year where some of the Ph.D. applicants are invited to come to campus, meet the other applicants who are invited, pick the brains of some of our current doctoral students, and have one-on-one conversations with the faculty members in their department of interest. This took place last weekend so we were incredibly busy last week (hence the very brief blog post and the long delay before this one). In fact, I’m still recovering from the long hours!

The weekend kicked off with a welcome dinner at a restaurant in Center City – this was the first time the applicants and current students were meeting each other, and I’m amazed how quickly they became comfortable with each other. By the time they left that evening they looked like they had been friends for years!

The next morning started bright and early with breakfast and a welcome from Dean Porter, followed by an open poster session where some of the faculty and current students displayed their research and discussed it with our applicants. I was blown away by the informal presentations these individuals gave! There is truly some amazing work being done at GSE!

After Lunch began the stressful three hours during which applicants were able to meet with faculty members to learn more about each other’s interests and research. Even though it had been a long day and night (many had travelled into Philadelphia right before Friday night’s dinner) I was impressed by the constant smiles on everyone’s faces and the positive attitudes that filled the building.

Then came my favorite part of the weekend – dinner at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This is hands down one of my favorite buildings on camps, and having the opportunity to celebrate a great event there was a real treat! I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the dinner – specifically photos of my delicious meal, and my fantastic dinner company – Wesley, Rebecca, and the miniature Sphinx!!

My DELICIOUS dinner: caesar salad, filet mignon, apple tart,
and chocolate gelato. YUMM!

Me, Rebecca, Wesley...and the SPHINX!

After an exhausting Friday and Saturday, Sunday morning brought a leisurely breakfast where a panel of some of our current Ph.D. students spoke to the applicants about living in Philadelphia and answered a few of their questions. The final event was a trolley tour through historic Philly. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the tour, but I heard it was really interesting and eventful! Hopefully I’ll get to go when our Ed.D. applicants come to visit next weekend! Would you believe, I’ve lived in Philly for five years and I’ve never taken the trolley tour? I guess it’s about time to be a tourist…

This week ahead looks to be just as busy as the last few as we prepare to welcome the Ed.D. applicants to campus next weekend. Hopefully I’ll have some more pictures for you next week! As always, feel free to email me any of your questions – I’m working on an upcoming blog post answering a few of the more frequently asked questions, so stay on the lookout for that one.

Finally, I want to give a HUGE shout out and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Lauren, our Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid who planned the entire Ph.D. weekend (and is still knee-deep in the Ed.D. planning) and Rebecca, who helped her every step of the way. You guys are the best!!!