The Physics Exams

I had to go back and check to see where I last left off. When I wrote my last (meaningful) post, I had just passed my last ever math exam for the REST OF MY LIFE!!!

After the exam the professor asked me if I was done with math. I thought he was asking in terms of interest, so I started this long song and dance, “Oh no! I really love math. Now that there’s no pressure, I’d really like to continue, blah, blah, blah . . .” Luckily he cut me off before I could say much more and asked if I was required to take more math. The answer is a resounding NO! (Hallelujah!)

A couple of days after that I had my exam covering the 36 experiments I carried out in the beginner’s lab. I hadn’t talked with the instructor beforehand, so I had no idea what to expect. I spent two days reading and working through the details of all of my reports that I wrote for the experiments. I barely managed to make it through half of my reports, and with a day left before the exam, I realized I needed to speed things up a bit. In the last day I was able to cram through the last 18 reports. At 10am the next morning I had my exam. Being the good student that I am, I showed up early, only to have to wait for the instructor, who was 5 minutes late. We went into his office, and for the first ten minutes of my exam the instructor checked his email and made a few phone calls, while I sat quietly and waited. When then started by discussing the difficulties of dealing with the bureaucracy at the university. After a few minutes of that (and believe me, I stalled as much as I could) we finally started discussing physics. I actually was able to choose which topic I wanted to start with. It turns out that the instructor’s favorite topic is thermodynamics, which just happens to be mine as well! (What a coincidence!) So we talked a long time about thermodynamics. I actually got him to explain how geothermal heating of houses works. It had nothing to do with the material that I needed to know for the test, but it helped kill another five minutes. We then talked a little about classical mechanics and finished off with some atom physics. I ended up getting a 1.0 (which is an A in the German system). The instructor said to me, “I really like the way you do physics.” After getting that grade and that compliment I was floating for the next couple of days.

The following weekend I did absolutely nothing and relaxed, because the next five weeks were going to be spent doing nothing but studying for my physics exams. The first couple of weeks I spent mostly at home studying. I’d get up early and study from about 8am until noon, take an hour for lunch, and then study further. I powered through five of my six theoretical physics books, which was actually way short of my goal of getting through all six, as well as three experimental physics books. Two weeks before the exams started I went up to the university to study in the library. I don’t remember why I did, but in hind-sight, it was the best decision I made. I spent the next two weeks studying with two, sometimes three, of my fellow classmates. I’d get to the library by about 8:30am (some days I slept in and got there at 9am) and we would stay until as late at 10pm. I think the earliest I was ever home was 8pm. The only reason I would go home so early was because the stores close at 10pm, and if I wanted food I needed to go shopping. If it weren’t for all that time studying with my two classmates, I don’t think I would have managed to pass my exams. On Tuesday, the 18th of September we had the written exam. It was three hours long (which really isn’t bad) and surprisingly hard. We had four problems to work on, two theoretical physics, two experimental. To make a long story short, it didn’t go well for me. I was so nervous, that by the end of the test I had sweat through my undershirt and polo shirt, as well as the seat of my jeans. That was kind of embarrassing when it was time to get up an go!

After the written exam was over we immediately started studying for the oral exams. Of our group of three, the first of us had the theoretical exams on Thursday, the 20th, the other two of us had ours on Friday. Normally one has about two weeks between the written exam and the first oral exam, with another two weeks to study for the last oral exam. For some reason this year was different. So we spent the next two days just absolutely grilling each other. Andy was first, and had his exam on Thursday. He ended up getting a 1.0 (an A), which was not really surprising to anyone. Daniel has his exam Friday morning, and received a 1.7 (about an A-). I had mine that afternoon and managed to get a 2.7 (a B-). I think I deserved a slightly better grade, and I understood much of what was asked, just didn’t formulate my answers exactly the way the professor wanted to hear them. (Oh, and on Thursday morning we got the results from the theoretical part of the written exam. I got a 5.0, which is an F. Not good, but it didn’t make too much of a difference. I’ll explain a little later.) Considering that I understood very little from quantum mechanics, I was still happy with my grade. In light of written theoretical exam, I needed to get at least 3.3 to pass the combined theoretical exam. With a 2.7 I was through.

Next in our sights was the experimental physics oral exam. Daniel was the first of us, this time, with his exam at 9am Monday morning. The professor who was testing us is fairly new at the university and had never given an exam like this before. The theoretical physics professor who conducted the theoretical physics part of the exam has been at the university longer. As a result we had copies of previous written exams from him, as well as 20 transcripts of past oral exams from the students who took the exams from him. With the experimental physics professor we had no such help at all, so we couldn’t focus our efforts on a more narrow selection of topics. To make things interesting, Daniel was the very first person to have to take this oral exam from this professor.

Before I continue, I should describe this professor a little. He’s from Bavaria, and when Americans think of or try and picture the typical German, usually what they think of is actually a Bavarian. The whole Octoberfest and Lederhosen culture is very specifically Bavarian, and NOT German. So this professor speaks with a funny accent, in a funny dialect, and has a “Bavarian” mentality. He’s very direct and doesn’t waste time on pleasantries. For us students, this all translates into intimidating. So I was very happy that Daniel was the first to have the exam instead of me.

Monday morning we all showed up at the University and accompanied Daniel up to the professor’s office. The professor came out and talked to Andy and I. I didn’t understand what he said because he was speaking in dialect, so I had to ask Andy afterwards. He told us not to ask Daniel after the exam what questions were asked, because then we would only study to answer those questions and not to have a more general understanding of physics, and that was “Scheisse” according to the professor. Daniel ended up doing pretty well, he got like a 2.3, I think, which is B. Andy was up Tuesday morning and got a 1.3, again an A, and I had my exam Tuesday afternoon. Daniel and Andy also accompanied me up when I went to have my exam. The professor came out again and yelled at us because earlier that day he asked a student (in an exam) about a pV-diagram (thermodynamics) and the student started describing the Carnot Process, which was something he asked in the exams on Monday, but not on Tuesday! What this student did is equivalent someone asking you where the nearest gas station is and you tell them where the nearest drug store is. So it was obvious someone talked. (Of course someone talked. If all of the people who had exams on Monday hadn’t talked quite a few people might not have passed on Tuesday.) So I was even more nervous, but I once again managed to get a 2.7. The day before we also got the results of the experimental physics part of the written exam. I managed to pull off a 5.0 again. It doesn’t matter, though, because with my combined scores I still passed the overall exam.

So, those were my physics exams. I would love to write more, but it’s almost midnight, and I am dead tired. Ever since I started studying for my exams (more accurately, since I started stressing out about my exams) I’ve had very strange sleeping patterns. During the last few weeks leading up to the exams I was so stressed out and on edge I’d fall asleep around 11pm and wake up sometimes as early a 3:30am and not be able to fall back to sleep. Since my exams things have gotten better. However, I still wake up sometimes around 4 or 5 in the morning and can’t fall back to sleep. In the evenings I get home and usually fall asleep on my little couch, which is no more than 4 feet long, around 9:30. So I’m usually in bed by 10. So after sitting in the library all day today, I’m amazed that I’m still awake this late!

God, I feel old!

Chris

P.S. There is more to come. I still have to talk about:
1) my job
2) my trip with Jackie
3) the current semester
4) the new guy (there’s another American here now studying physics!)
5) internship
6) quantum transport