THE MYSTERIOUS GBO : FAQ

1. What was your expectation of the nature of the GBO before the exam?
2. Do you feel that you had a good understanding of the nature of GBO, before the exam?
3. Now that the exam is over, do you have any new impressions of what the GBO is about? What are they?
4. How long was your GBO, and what was the format?
5. Is there any particular person who you feel has a good understanding of the GBO? If so, who?
6. Is there any particular advice you would give to someone about to take their GBO exam?

1. What was your expectation of the nature of the GBO before the exam?

   A: I thought it would be a technical review of my thesis proposal, to determine whether it is "weighty" enough.

2. Do you feel that you had a good understanding of the nature of GBO, before the exam?

   A: No

3. Now that the exam is over, do you have any new impressions of what the GBO is about? What are they?

   A: As far as I can tell, the GBO is not a test of the adequacy of your thesis proposal per se. Rather, it is a test of your ability to present your work in a clear and persuasive manner to an extremely broad audience. It is also a test of your ability to competently field a broad range of questions-- in the sense of engaging the questioner in an effective dialogue, not necessarily providing the "right" answer. In short, it seems like a test of your ability to function in a combatitive academic environment.

4. How long was your GBO, and what was the format?

   A: About two hours. I began with a presentation of my thesis proposal, which was supposed to run ~30min. However, so many questions were asked that the presentation, and accompanying questions, took about 1.5hrs. The last .5hr was devoted to the "question" period, where each professor asked whatever question they wanted. The questions were general, but touched on my research area. After the question period, I was asked to leave, and they discussed my case for about 15min.

5. Is there any particular person who you feel has a good understanding of the GBO? If so, who?

   A: Yes, Prof. Amir seems to have a very good handle on how to prepare for the GBO.

6. Is there any particular advice you would give to someone about to take their GBO exam?

   A: Prepare a really good, clear and interesting presentation that you are sure your entire committee will understand. Don't worry about conveying the nitty gritty technical details; it is more important that everyone is engaged and understands the "core" ideas and value behind your work. Also, the more everyone is engaged by your talk, the less likely they are to attack you with some weird question on a topic you know less about. Furthermore, the committee members seem to get hostile if they don't understand what you're talking about, even if it has merit in an objective sense. Therefore, it really pays for your talk to be very clear. Listen very carefully to questions, and make sure you understand before trying to respond-- that's where they got me. Of course, all this advice could be wrong and it might just be the case that no matter what you do, they're gonna get you.