1. They are not as scary as I orignally thought.
2. At least one of them has no idea as to what to say about my project.
3. All of them need to be reminded as to when/where is the committee meeting.
4. Do not write a six month progress report on two glasses of wine.
5. Keep up with the literature.
6. Make like a boy scout; be prepared.
7. Do not schedule long experiments around the meeting time. The experiments will run over.
8. Remember they have control over your graduation; control the instinctual sarcastic response.
9. Eat something before an afternoon meeting. This will avoid embarrassing stomach noises.
And the most important thing I learned:
10. Provide food. People, including committee members, will not talk with their mouth full. The trick is to keep it full more often than not.
I have never had a meeting with my committee, so thanks for sharing your tips!
Your first point makes it sound like you handled it well – good job!
Great lessons. It sounds like you will be well-equipped for future meetings.
I love #10
I’d say you’ve captured it in a nutshell.
One more that I learned from experience at my qualifying exam: Don’t embarrass one of the committee members, even accidentally
Sounds like it went well! 3 grad students in my department had committee meetings of Friday. None of them went smoothly, none of them brought snacks!
Ah, I used candy for my master’s committe and only once did it not work – when my advisor and a committee member got into a fistfight! Which meant they were swcarier then I had thought 🙂