Finals "Crunch" Time

With finals week fast approaching, students should be focusing on starting to study for their exams, but as it turns out, not everyone is.

“I have been extremely busy working on a two-part music history exam, a paper and next Wednesday, I have three exams,” junior voice major Rachel Weinstock said. “And all of that doesn’t even include the five finals I have.”

This semester not all students are focusing on their finals because their professors assigned other large assignments due the week or two before the last day of classes. Some students are hitting a record high stress level worrying about not only their final exams which could make or break their grade for the semester in the course, but these other assignments that will weigh heavily on their grade.

“It’s not fair that we have to rush exam studying because we have other assignments due until the end,” Weinstock said.

Sophomore business major Molly Alsobrook says she’s had a tough semester taking 16 credits and having a major assignment due every week. But these next two weeks are even worse with two presentations, two group papers and a quiz all due before the last day of classes.

If students are struggling to get assignments done before finals week and then have to focus on finals, it begs the question: should there be more than one reading day?

“I think that more than one reading day will be beneficial,” Alsobrook said. “We do not get enough time to study prior to reading day because we are too busy turning in and completing all of our other projects and work that is due.”

Weinstock also agreed that students should get a few reading days.

“Professors think their class is the most important, so they assign work as if their class is the center of our world,” Weinstock said. “Students are extremely busy with many classes so professors need to remember that, thus, extra assignments up until the last minute are not compassionate.”

However, not all students dislike having all these assignments due before finals week. Cali Mrohs, junior food science major, prefers having these assignments over final exams.

“I wouldn’t want to change having these assignments because I know I do terribly with final exams so it’s a good way to earn points through a different form of assessment.”

Even when Mrohs had six final exams one semester, she still didn’t mind the workload and didn’t think any extra reading days would be helpful.

“The only thing I think you need more than one reading day for is if you have to meet with groups for final group work and not everyone’s schedule works together,” Mrohs said. “Otherwise, I have never needed more than one day to study even when I had six finals.”

Every student carries a different workload, but all students stress toward the end of the semester and with the end of the semester here, finals “crunch” time begins.