Bee-Bop the General Exam Bear

Bee-Bop on my desk after I passed my general exam, Woods Hole, October 2008.

This is Bee-Bop, the big, furry, creepy, blue toy that PhD students in the Geology & Geophysics Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) pass from student to student. The toy is held in the possession of whomever has most recently passed her (or his, but most geology students right now are female, so I'll go with her) general or qualifying exam for her PhD. When a new student passes her general exam, Bee-Bop appears on her desk within a few hours-- usually when the newly-minted PhD candidate is busy drinking the important post-generals beer or taking the relaxing post-generals nap.

The Bee-Bop toy has been passed down for the past four-and-a-half years that I have been a student at WHOI. I don't know when the tradition started. If any WHOI graduates read this and know when and how this tradition originated, please let me know. Bee-Bop resided in my office for about two months. I passed my general exam in early October of my third year of graduate school, and I handed over Bee-Bop to another successful PhD candidate in December of that year. I believe that Bee-Bop currently lives in my friend Arthur's office. Depending on when students take their general exam, they have Bee-Bop for a few days or for a few months.

Most PhD programs have a notorious general or qualifying exam. Some programs even have two such exams! Prior to this exam, you are not, technically, in the PhD program. After this exam, you become an official PhD candidate. The exam varies from institution to institution and from department to department, but usually the exam consists of a general knowledge section, which can be written or oral, and a research section, which is often an oral presentation and accompanying research paper. The general exam is graded by the notorious general exam committee, which again varies from institution to institution. At some places the exam committee is selected by the department whereas at other places the student is allowed to select her exam committee. General exams usually happen at the end of the second year of the PhD.