How to prepare for an Operations Research qualification exam?

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  1. Learn the content of the exam

    2. There is no universal curriculum for Operations Research(OR). Of course, some materials are indispensable: linear programming, statistics, stochastic processes etc. However even for the same course the content could be very different in different universities. Therefore, in the first step we should know the material that we are responsible. For this reason talk to your supervisor and make a list of people which are responsible of preparing the exam and ask them to learn the content of your exam.

  2. Look for the previous exams (if available!)

    3. Generally there exists an archive of the past qualification exams in your department, so find it! It would be most valuable study material. Solve as much as possible questions from this archive. You can always consult your professors for the nightmare questions. Finally, those are the OR-related qualification exams that I could find on the web: 1, 2, 3. Do you know more? Please share them by leaving a comment on this page.

  3. Find good resources

    4. Once you know the content and found the archive, you may also need extra resources to study like lecture notes, more exam questions. Visit MIT OpenCourseWare or make a google search to find lecture notes. Each lecture note for the same course will have different point of view on the same material, read them.

  4. Start early, practice a lot

    5. While you’re taking courses, try to think that you will be responsible of this content. Take notes during this period and do not lose them, I mean create an archive for yourself. Collect good questions to solve them when you will have time. Don’t worry you will have time. Most importantly, don’t forget that practice a lot does not mean that solving same type of questions over and over again. Be efficient.

  5. Collaborate with other PHD students

    6. Share archive, knowledge with others. Attack to the nightmare question together. There is always something new to learn from others.

Good Luck

P.S. This site is a great resource of all sort of advices (writing thesis, presentation, timet management etc.) for people in academia.

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