We approached the graduate committee and asked them to give us a more appropriate test that focused on the classes we took and our thesis project. They obliged and changed it so that only our committee members wrote the questions and they had to be applicable to specific classes we took or our thesis project. They also allowed us to type our answers.
So, last night, at 5pm they emailed me 8 questions and I had to answer 4 of them by 9pm (4 hour limit) and email them back to the professor. I'd never seen any of these questions, so I really didn't get to do any studying. Here are the 8 questions:
1. Define the following functions or procedures in the context of rectification of an image to a planimetric map projections.
a. Nearest neighbor resampling
b. Cubic convolution resampling
c. Firstorder geometric transformation
d. Bilinear resampling
e. Intensity interpolation
f. Higher order geometric transformation
g. Ground control points
h. Spatial interpolation
i. RMSE
2. Pick three of the following methods of change detection and describe how they work, what sort of data is required to make them work, advantages/disadvantages etc.
a. Direct Comparison – “Blinking”
b. Write Function Memory Insertion
c. MultiDate Composite Image
d. Image Algebra Change Detection
e. Postclassification Comparison
f. Multidate Change with Binary Mask
g. Multidate Change with Ancillary Data
h. Manual, Onscreen Digitizing
i. Spectral Change Vectors
j. KnowledgeBased Vision Systems
3. Due to depression of wheat prices, many farmers in Idaho that have traditionally grown wheat are looking for other crops that can be grown in a similar manner but yield a greater profit. Of particular interest to the USDA is how much acreage has been converted to growing safflower instead of wheat over the past 10 years on a yearly basis. Detail how you would go about determining this information.
4. Compare and contrast the differences between unsupervised image classification and supervised image classification using an ASTER image to identify healthy forest, burnt forest and regrowth forest. Be as specific as possible.
5. Discuss the different hypotheses of ribbon forest development, and the findings of your research, within the context of pattern-process interactions in landscape ecology.
6. You have been asked by your boss to develop a public relations document dealing with prescribed fire for the state of Utah. What information would you include in this document, and where would you find the information you need?
7. You have been asked by your boss to create a drought probability map for the state of Utah. What information would you include in this document, and where would you find the information you need?
8. Explain the historical and current relationship between water and human populations in the Intermountain West. What issues/problems surround water use and availability in this region?
I answered questions 1, 3, 6, and 8. None of them were very difficult. I finished the test in 3 hours.
Comment starter: What was the hardest test you ever took? ACT? SAT? ITBS? CTBS? GRE? ...
6 comments:
Okay, my worst test was by far the ACT, not because I thought it really difficult, but because I had been throwing up the entire night before and got no sleep. Not only that, but I was in a neck brace when I took it. I don't remember what happened to my neck, but I remember it hurting so bad I couldn't hold it up without support of the neck brace. So, the ACT gets propps for being the worst test I ever took. My score proved that too!
Lindsey
I hated the ACT and was not prepared for it at all - but the hardest test was both CPM tests. It took me a year of daily study to get ready for them. I still have two more to go and I'm dreading them!! Had I studied as hard (and done practice tests) for the ACT as I did for the CPM tests, I might have done a better job. I am not a good test taker so I hate all tests!
I'm sure glad yours is over and that you feel like you did ok! Congratulations!!
I don't know if my GRE was any harder than the ACT. I remember being much more stressed out over my ACT. I put a lot more effort into that test. However, with the GRE, I did very little studying and just kinda walked in and took the test. My score reflected that, but it was good enough to get into graduate school.
I think my best years of test taking was between 2nd and 7th grades. Since then, my test taking ability has slowly dropped and I really struggle with some of them.
My hardest test is the one I get when Mom gets home and questions what have I accomplished during the day. I say things like: I wrote on the blog, fed Ammon, did the dishes, fed my pigeons, and wrote in my history. I usually do not pass this test well. I wonder how lifes final exam will go. I hope its from Father and not Mother.
Dad Clark
You are funny Dad. Mike says he likes to take standardize tests. He doesn't study for tests. He studied for the GRE and did worse than he did for the SAT's (which he didn't study for). "Just goes to show that studying is a waste of time."
Written by Adrianne, with Mike's comments. (this is for Dad)
Standardized test are not supposed to be tests you can really study for. They are supposed to test what you have learned (and hopefully retained)over an extended period of time. That still didn't stop me from trying to study for them. I have taken all the tests Jess mentioned in his post and I thought the ACT was the toughest. By the way, did you know that the ACT company is based here in Iowa City. When I was working for the Deeded Body Program while in grad school, I actually logged the body of the guy who originally designed the ACT into the morgue. I didn't feel that sorry for him.
The hardest test I have ever taken, however, was not one of the standardized tests. It was during my first semester of grad school here in Iowa. One of the classes I was taking was a molecular biology class. Each test we had to take was cummulative and essay style. There were a usually a couple of questions that had no "right" answer. We were usually give a scant set of preliminary data and asked to design an experiment to answer a particular question using the preliminary data as a starting point. I hated those tests. The majority of the class would not finish because we would run out of time. That first semester was by far the most difficult of my life and formed the basis for my decision to eventually leave the Ph.D. program here at the UI.
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