Mentoring Scenario 3 Discussion 2

Mentoring

Students accepted for graduate study in US institutions are not dumb. If a student is failing the qualifier, you should find out why. A discussion with the student and with the student’s teachers is a necessary part of the process.

Points An Outside Observer Might Raise

Institutions Using Qualification Exams

  • Should the program chair or counselors be aware of the classroom performance of graduate students before they take the qualifier and arrange appropriate counseling and learning opportunities to insure success?
     
  • What kind of counseling was offered to the students after their first failure?
     
  • What is the attrition rate for graduate students in this department?

Institutions Not Using Qualification Exams

  • Are their students less able than yours?
     
  • Is the success rate of their students as professional scientists less than the success rate of yours?
    This scenario opens up the question of whether a program uses exams to weed people out.  Some programs have a reputation for intentionally accepting more students than would pass the qualifier or comprehensive because they needed the TAs.

Gray arrow Submit a Comment (APS Members Only)