By Tasnim Oyshi
Staff Writer
Finals season is a time that many students associate with stress. All that they have learned throughout their courses during the semester culminates into big exams at the end, which count for at least 15% of their grade at the College. This puts a lot of pressure on students to do well in their finals.
A good final exam schedule can be crucial in these times for students to be able to thrive. However, for many at the College, this does not end up being the case. It is up to the College what schedule each student ends up getting and oftentimes, students end up being unfortunate.
In the two and a half years I have been a student here, I’ve experienced various different finals schedules. Sometimes, I have been lucky and occasionally, I’ve had back to back finals scheduled for the same day. Or even worse, two exams scheduled at the same time.
In an ideal situation, every exam would be on a different day. This scenario is not fulfilled for many, however, and that is understandably so. With the amount of classes that each semester offers, it can be hard to plan out a time and day for each exam based on the availability of all the students in a class as well as the professor.
Luckily for students with accommodations, the Accessibility Resource Center allows them to schedule their exams for a different period, depending on their accommodations. This may include the need for extra time or a lack of distractions.
For those without accommodations, back to back exams are nearly unavoidable. It is only when there are more than three exams on the same day or if multiple exams are arranged for the same time that they get to request a change.
“Students must not have three out-of-class or in-class final assessments due in a 24-hour period,” according to the College’s Final Assessment policy for the 2025-26 year. If this occurs, the policy states, “In even numbered years, the final assessments falling third should be rescheduled and in odd numbered years the first final assessment should be rescheduled.”
With the amount of worry and exhaustion that students already face during the finals season, having to complete multiple exams within the same day can be taxing. At such a demanding time of the semester, the College should seek to lessen the pressure students face.
Perhaps exams should not be allowed to be scheduled ten minutes after one another. Although, the amount of coordination that it takes to curate a student’s exam schedule might not permit for this to be possible. In that case, maybe students should be allowed to request rescheduling for exams if this happens.
It is helpful that the College discourages students having more than two assessments within 24 hours. If that is the policy, however, students’ finals exam schedule should reflect that. While students should be responsible for keeping track of their finals schedule, it should be up to the College to take their own policy into account when making final exam schedules.
