If there’s one thing students get stressed out about in college the most, it must be finals. Sure, a lot of students have gone through the finals experience during high school, but during college, it’s a lot more intense. This is because in the weeks leading up to finals, for classes that don’t have scheduled finals during actual finals week, there are usually “soft” finals, which are essays, projects, or presentations that serve as a final. Though these projects might seem like a better or easier alternative than a sit-down final exam that lasts three hours, these projects require a lot of preparation, which often means sacrificing some time you’d use studying for your sit-down finals to prepare for your projects.
Thankfully, there’s usually something called reading period, a few days off from school right before finals that students can utilize to study for their sit-down finals. Some professors who assign “soft” finals make these projects due before reading period to give time to students who need to study for their sit-down finals. During reading period, Frost Library is usually the busiest it’ll be all year. Basically, every single floor is full of students silently studying by themselves or studying socially with friends. I’ve witnessed this first-hand since I work at the Writing Center, located on the second floor of Frost.
Speaking of the Writing Center, the center’s appointments are usually fully booked during finals week because of the vast number of essays being assigned to students. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for students to book last-minute appointments if they can’t make the drop-in hours. Truthfully, this proves that it’s always best to plan ahead during finals week. I personally develop a study strategy with daily study tasks for each class or project that I need to do at least 3 weeks before finals week so I can be prepared once the whirlwind hits. Doing so also helps me spread out my studying so I don’t need to cram or don’t feel pressured to study at the last minute.
However, no matter how prepared I’ve been for finals, something could always disrupt plans. For example, last fall, I suddenly got sick to the point where I couldn’t talk or get out of bed for two consecutive days the week before reading period; this meant that I had to delay my presentation and that I had a lot more catching up to do in terms of studying and work once I recovered. Fortunately, a lot of my professors were understanding and willing to be flexible. I’ve also heard about people who have been able to get extensions for their finals past the end of finals week due to personal circumstances. Finals is definitely a stressful time, but like with anything related to college, it’s always best to be prepared!