...
1. How long did you study for? For instance, how early did you start, and how intense was the studying. Would you recommend more studying, less studying?
Lulu
Very light study over the summer, weekly meeting with group + listened to 101 and 312 for refresh during fall, then actual studying during January (see Mareena's response).
Pun
0-1 month before quals around 8-12 hours a day; 1-6 month before quals around 10 hours a week average
...
Some of my study partners made note cards for each class. I made post-it notes that I stuck them all over my office and also made QuickRead guides for each class that summarized the main points.
In terms of more or less studying, it's person dependent. The important thing is that you are honest with what you do and do not know, swallow your pride and fill the holes. Everyone taking the qual is a potential resource, whether for material or a different type of explanation of a concept. Working as a team toward learning the material helped me stay focused and acquire a comprehensive review packet.
Lulu
Very light study over the summer; listen to classes + cleanup notes + weekly group meetings in the fall; full-time study in January.
2. Did you study with people? Would you recommend studying alone2. Did you study with people? Would you recommend studying alone, small group, large group etc?
Pun
I studied alone mostly and join study group weekly. I would recommend studying alone then sharing answers and asking questions in group.
...
Mareena
I did study with people and I know it was one of the main reasons I passed. Personally, I like smaller groups (at most 4) where the people have a mutual respect and are equally committed to the goal of passing. It takes these things to not go off on each other while in this high stress situation. Also, every one in the group needs to bring their A game. Its not productive if everyone waits until the day of the study session to review and identify holes. Everyone needs to come to the study session with their questions already identified and an outline of the session needs to be nailed down. There's a lot of temptation to stop early or clown around, but no one really has time for that. An outline helps everyone stick to the script and come prepared.
Lulu
During fall semester a big group meets every week to go through concepts. A schedule was made to cover all the major topics, and each person took one topic to prepare notes and lead the discussion on that day. We didn't have much in-depth discussion happening in the fall as everyone was busy, though it was a good refresher on the materials.
During IAP weekday mornings I studied with a small group to go over concepts and answer each other's questions on practise problems (again we had an agenda for what we cover each day).
Weekend mornings we had a big group study where we checked answers for past quals & exams. All afternoons and nights were reserved for going through notes & practising myself.
3. Any good strategy you want to share?
...