Plan to take a whole semester to prepare for your orals (at least three months), that way you have plenty of time to get everything done, and a definite time period to do it in. That being said here is a suggested time-line (assuming your defense is in the middle of Month 4): Month 1 - The Idea

1. Come up with your grand idea, this usally entails going to the library, 5 nights a weeks, for about 2 or 3 hours and just read the journals or brainstorming.
2. Don't work on Fri or Sat evenings...otherwise you'll get burned out and won't want to do anything.
3. If you are lucky this won't take the whole month, if not you'll have to spill over to Month 2.
4. If you have done any undergraduate research, and even half-way liked what you were doing, use this as a jumping off point to find new ideas.
5. Once you get an idea, do a search (Sci Finder Scholar), and make sure someone else hasn't already done it. If they have, see if you can modify your idea, if not go back to square one.

1. Ok, the hard part is done, now all you have to do is put it all down on paper.
2. First thing, contact your comittee members and find out if they approve your idea, nothing fancy, just the basic idea; also when (in Month 4) can they all meet, then set that date.
3. Next, do a rough draft of your research progress. This is easy (remember your prospectus?--use it!).
4. After this, find all the journal articles, books, other research sources you'll probably be using and start skimming them.
5. Sit down one day, a rainy saturday is really good for this (or a day you just don't feel like coming to lab), and write a rough draft.
6. Make sure to include all the sections listed in the Graduate Student Handbook.
7. Ok, your written exam is roughly finished (it's always good to be able to say something is done)

1. Ok, so you've got a good copy of your research proposal now, good!, send a one page abstract to your committee six weeks before the exam.
2. Revise, cite refrences, revise, have someone else read your proposal, make sure it all makes good sense, etc!
3. After you have a good research proposal, you'll need to convert this into a presentation.
4. Fill out all the forms you will need before the exam, during the exam, and after the exam
5. Submit the Final Doctoral Program of Study form through the Graduate Program Administrator
6. At LEAST two weeks before the defense send an email to the Graduate Program Administrator letting them know the
   1. Date
   2. Time
   3. Room Location
7. At this same time give each member of your committee a copy of the research proposal.
8. Oh, yeah, by the way, you need to be studying all aspects of your project. Make sure you know whats the theory behind each aspect of your proposal, how every mechanism works, the basic chemistry behind it all, the things that could possibly go wrong, etc.

1. Don't crap out now, you're almost done.
2. Now, about a week beforehand, give a mock presentation to people in your group, friends in the department, etc. And listen to their comments, questions, etc. so you can better guess what your committee will ask. Oh, but it's pretty much guarenteed that any question that your friends ask, will NOT be asked by your committee, Murphy's Law applies here.
3. Practice your presentation, in the shower, running in the gym, walking your dog, etc.
4. Day of Defense--Bring the Report of the Written and Oral Comprehensive Examination form, the Student Performance Form, your presentation, food--it helps to soothe the savage beast--I mean your committee
5. After the defense--Assuming you passed, fill out the application for admission to candidacy form, and return that along with the Report of the Written and Oral Comprehensive Examination form to the Graduate Program Administrator.