Confronting my fear of oral exams in Switzerland

Shubhangi Makkar

Indian student Shubhangi was nervous about facing oral exams at her Swiss university but recently found out that they are not as scary as she thought.

During your master’s program, the most common form of a final exam is an oral exam, lasting for 20-30 minutes or longer. Roughly a year ago, when I received my admission into ETH Zurich I realised that I would soon be facing such tests. I tried to get information about them online but never found a satisfying answer.

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During the orientation period at my university, I found out that most of my peers who had graduated from a Swiss university were already acquainted with the system. The others were just as clueless as I was. We were later introduced to how they work via workshops and presentations soon after the semester began. My university even organised the enactment of an oral exam scenario to explain it better, however, I still had some unanswered questions. I also received differing accounts from experienced students. I decided the best way to learn was to go through the process myself.

My experience

At ETH Zurich, the exams take place from January to February right after the winter vacation. Other universities will have different periods. My first exam was Environmental Science and was scheduled for 2pm. I was nervous throughout the trip from my flat to the classroom. I arrived ahead of time and that really helped me calm down.

As the exam started, the professors welcomed me warmly and the test commenced once I was ready. This further helped reduce my anxiety and start on a positive note. I started answering questions that were similar to those I had practiced during my mock exams. A few questions later, the professors asked me more in-depth questions based on the answers I was giving. This led me to believe I did not do well enough in the first round of questions. However, this was not the case and the examiners were only trying to challenge me and stimulate critical thinking skills. I paused briefly for a minute before replying to gather my thoughts.

It was difficult to assess if my answers were satisfactory or not as the examiner tries to maintain a neutral reaction throughout the exam. Hence you should always focus on the content of your answers instead of trying to second guess their demeanour. My preparation gave me confidence to answer questions and elaborate further, which reduced my overall anxiety. At the end of the exam, I was satisfied with my answers and learnt quite a lot.

The rest of the exams also followed a similar pattern of questions on the basics followed by in-depth and then challenging questions. Rest assured, you do not need to answer all the questions if you do not understand them. Its better to say you do not know. Also, the professors will try to keep you on-track in case you digress. This does not mean you will score badly but is an opportunity to learn from experiences to do better next time.

Here are some of my tips to help you prepare for oral exams:

Preparation is key

Oral exams thoroughly test your preparedness and knowledge on the subject much like the written exams, but each question is dynamically decided on the spot by your professor or examiner. This makes things complex to prepare for, but if your concepts are clear you need not worry. To best prepare, make sure you attend the exercise and lectures consistently and also do not shy away from asking any questions to your professors.

Familiarity breeds confidence

Giving the oral exams for the first time may sound stressful. To prepare for the pressure of spontaneous questions, I would advise taking mock oral exams. They help you experience what it’s like on the actual test and prepare you to answer questions on the fly. It will train the mind to think on the spot and get your neurons to connect faster.

In addition, you can try finding “protocols” (otherwise known as past exam papers) by contacting your department or student advisers. These will help get you familiar with the type of questions that are asked.

Group study sessions

After completing your course of study, practicing mock oral exams with peers will help you identify weak spots in your understanding of concepts.

Often, things are clear in our head but become difficult when we try to explain it. This is why oral exams are believed to be harder than written ones. Try explaining a subject to your peers or teach someone. If they can understand you then your preparedness for the actual exam is on the right track.