Qual Results in 2009, Tips for 2010

[Quantum Triviality]

I'll be taking the quals in Aug 2010. While there are a lot of useful links to practice problems and other resources, would people be willing to talk about their study strategy and success?

Things that might be interesting:

-What resources were useful to study
-What was a waste of studying time
-How much time did you spend studying
-Successful on the test? If not, what will you do differently next time

[grae313]

I think the quals vary too much from school to school for this to be a very useful general thread. But oh well:

-my 510 writeups
-everything else
-four days
-yes

Cornell quals are super easy.

[blackcat007]

I think the quals vary too much from school to school for this to be a very useful general thread. But oh well:

-my 510 writeups
-everything else
-four days
-yes

Cornell quals are super easy.

what exactly are these writeups of yours? Self made notes?

My post is more about the problems being faced rather than solutions, but anyway here it is:
I have also started preparing for the quals or Preliminary exams (as it is referred in UF), the most difficult problem that I face is the dearth of satisfaction after solving previous year's questions, since there are no solutions to them. I find it quite irritating to go through my solution to check for errors after solving the problem, I guess thats where the group study helps you.

[grae313]

what exactly are these writeups of yours? Self made notes?

My post is more about the problems being faced rather than solutions, but anyway here it is:
I have also started preparing for the quals or Preliminary exams (as it is referred in UF), the most difficult problem that I face is the dearth of satisfaction after solving previous year's questions, since there are no solutions to them. I find it quite irritating to go through my solution to check for errors after solving the problem, I guess thats where the group study helps you.

Yes, get in contact with other students in your class and compare solutions.

510 is the only required class at Cornell. It is an advanced lab course where we do three experiments and turn in reports for them, and everyone knows they almost always ask you about 510 during the Q (an oral exam at Cornell, btw).

[blackcat007]

everyone knows they almost always ask you about 510 during the Q (an oral exam at Cornell, btw).