Practical Tips for Approaching Comps

So I've gone around and gotten tips from everyone re: studying for comps.

First of all, pull out that piece of paper that says "READ ME WHEN YOU PANIC"

1. What do I already know about this topic?
2. What else do I need to know?
3. Break the assignment into pieces: what are the elements?
4. How much time do I have to do this? With Plan A in place? Plan B?
5. Who do I need to ask for help with this?
6. What do I want to accomplish with this exercise?

I find that having a Plan A and B is especially important, since my Plan A seems to always turn out to be overly ambitious and wildly unrealistic. I feel this is common among lots of obsessive perfectionists who find themselves in grad school.

After you've talked with profs and colleagues and have devised your plans, get a study carrel. I got one at our library, and pimped it out "brain style". That means I've applied every trick for calming, focus, memory and mental stimulation I can come up with: posters with calming colors, posters of blue sky, rosemary essential oil, a lucky stuffed animal, lights, snake oil, you name it...
I think of my carrel as a study nest where I incubate my intellect.

Once you actually start getting your ass to the carrel on a regular basis, (hopefully during your peak concentration time, for me it's the a.m.) study like this: Set up your goals for the day in order of difficulty. Study for 30 min. intervals with 5-10 minute breaks in between. During your breaks stand up walk around, do something clerical like look for a book you need, go to the water fountain, go to the bathroom, look out a window and re-focus your eyes. Your brain and body will take a break from keeping up the same literal and figurative posture, which will give you energy to keep going for longer without burning out.

In terms of reading, you may reach a point when you realize you're going to have to do a hell of a lot more skimming and scanning. If you are like me, you tend to lapse into careful reading by force of habit. When you catch yourself doing a close reading that you don't have time for, maybe set a timer that will remind you that in 10 minutes it's time to MOVE ON!

Rip it!