ABSTRACT
The purpose of the comprehensive exam is to demonstrate to the committee and the graduate college that you have mastered your program of study. When preparing for the comprehension, remember these five key words: compare, contrast, analyze, synthesize, and integrate. These intellectual skills are intended outcomes of all graduate education. Comprehensive examinations are usually given once course work has been completed but prior to the development of a final project or the development of the dissertation or thesis proposal. ReadingComprehendingOutliningWriting(RCOW) Begin by reading the exam all of it. During the oral, it is important to be honest about what you know and what you don't know. Another strategy is to paraphrase the question before answering. This is based on the idea that people communicate in many different styles. A good way to maintain control at this difficult time is to use the 'count to three' technique before speaking. This simply means mentally counting to three before responding.
