Final schedules: too unpredictable?

I would like to end this semester with a thought that is sure to be on everyone’s mind – finals. We all have to suffer through them in some way, be it in the form of a paper, multiple essays, take-home test or the beloved multiple-choice format.

But what seems to bother many people on campus – and not just the commuters – is the scheduling of the finals. Why are finals set on a three-hour block schedule at three different times during the last few days of the semester? Why not just have finals during the regular class time during those last few days instead?

One of my professors informed me as to why there are three-hour blocks of time for the finals – finals actually were once set up to take three hours to complete. But for many classes currently, the entire three-hour time block is not used. Most of the time, it only takes about 1-2 hours to complete a final, due to the material on most finals only covering the last half or third of the semester.

The finals that seem to need the entire three hours are the comprehensive ones, including information from the entire semester (I personally believe the comprehensive exams are sick and twisted torture devices set up by professors to make our brains go into overload while trying to remember what information was covered in the beginning of the semester – but that’s just me).

I have discussed this topic with several of my classmates in all of my classes this semester, and we all have come up with the same thought about the finals schedule: It makes absolutely no sense. Why are the finals set up at different times during the day when we could just as easily come in to class at the normal time and take the test then? Why go through the trouble of making a completely different schedule when the class schedule we have become accustomed to this entire semester could just as well be used for finals?

If this method were applied, a lot of the stress that surround finals could easily be subsided. Commuters would not have to worry about coming in at odd hours of the day to take their finals because they could just come to class at the regular time. For most people, the time of day of taking the final could affect their grade since they are not used to thinking about the work for that particular class at that time – an example of this would be someone who is not a morning person taking a philosophy exam at 8 a.m. for a class that usually meets at 11 a.m., or even at 3 p.m.

And speaking of schedules, how many people have had to argue with a boss about changing their regular work schedule, or even having to take numerous days off, just so they can take their finals at odd times during the day? How many people have arrived late to a final because they had to rush through traffic to get to campus? If their final were at their regular class time, would they have to rush as much to get to the test on time?

And then there are the people who commute to campus every day. Some people are coming from Williamsburg, Charlottesville – places that are up to 2 hours away from campus. These people have to make a committed drive to and from campus every day to try and get to class at the normally scheduled time. Why change this up so drastically for them by making them drive into campus at an odd hour? If finals were scheduled at the regular class time, they would not have to worry about changing their already set schedules to meet the school’s needs.

And what is the point of having a finals schedule for those of us who have an oddly scheduled class time during the week, an evening class or even a weekend class. They have the final during the regularly scheduled class time, so why not do the same for everything else?

The last two weeks of finals should be scheduled around the regular class meeting time. It would lower the stress from massive studying. It would lessen the schedule changes needed for those who work and/or have to commute into campus from far distances. And it would just make more sense. If we have to be here, why not be here when we normally are anyway?

Danielle Moss may be reached at ytwithlove@hotmail.com