A few days before Thanksgiving Break, I got the email: I passed comps! It felt incredible to be done. But it was a long process getting there.
As a music major, the comps process is particularly grueling. In order to graduate, you need to pass a six-hour exam on all of music history and music theory, give a public performance or presentation, and write a long paper as part of your presentation.
Since I am graduating in December, I started my comps process last spring. I took the exam the Saturday after Spring Break with the class of 2017. The music majors all studied together: we came back a week early from Spring Break, and gathered in the conference room to study every day.
The hardest part of the music exam is the fact that you’re not just being tested on all the classes you’ve taken: you’re only required to take two of the four history courses, but you’re tested on all of them. This means that you have to learn everything that you haven’t taken yourself from your classmates. This definitely causes you to bond as a class, but it’s also extremely stressful. In fact, that idea kind of sums up the whole comps experience: you will learn a lot and bond with your classmates, but it will be extremely stressful.
I expected the exam to be the hardest part of the process, but actually, the public presentation was much tougher. I chose a composition performance, which meant that I had to write my songs, rehearse them, write a 20-page paper, and write and rehearse a shortened 10-page presentation. I didn’t realize just how much time this would take until I was in the middle of it, but comps took up almost all of my time right up until the day before the performance.
That being said, it was worth it. The Monday after my comps, when I got the recording, I listened to everything and was amazed. I couldn’t stop thinking, “I made this!” In that moment, looking back at everything I’d done, I was thankful for everything. I had thought I was going to drown in all of the stress, work, and all-nighters that it took to pull it off, but I made it, and the result was better than I could have imagined.
Advice
Now that I’m done with comps, I’d like to offer some advice for people who have yet to go through the comps process. While this advice comes from my experience music major, I think you can apply it to almost any discipline.
1. Choose a project that focuses on something you love
The moment, when everything is done, and you can look at a project that you’re passionate about, and that you can be proud of, that’s what makes it all worth it. So do something you love, and you’ll be so happy to see the final result.
2. Take a lighter course load while working on comps
Studying for comps, and especially working on comps projects, takes a lot of time. I only took 1.75 units this semester, and it was still a lot to try and balance comps and homework. Don’t overdo it the semester that you have comps. You’ll thank yourself later.
3. Embrace the process
Comps are miserable. It’s normal to be miserable when you’re in the middle of comps, so don’t worry, everyone else is in the same boat. You’ll get through it.
4. Rely on your classmates to study and commiserate
You feel a lot better when you’re not the only one who is miserable. But on top of that, you learn better when you teach someone else what you know. And your classmates will remember things you don’t.
In the process, you’ll struggle, be miserable, discover that you’re stronger than you think, bond with your classmates, and experience that incredible feeling when you’re finally done. I survived comps, and I promise you will too.
Image Credit: Writer’s Own