A week consisting of endless hours of studying, an exorbitant amount of stress, and lack of sleep can throw any prepared college student in a complete tailspin. What is known as the last leg of the semester often turns into a complete cramming session.
Finals alone are enough to stress out most students, but this stress is only multiplied for students who have to take multiple finals on the same day.
Unfortunately some K-State students know this stress all to well; however, there is a final examination policy to reduce those conflicts and make it more manageable for students.
According to K-State spring examination webpage, “students who have more than two examinations scheduled in a 24-clockhour period or who have conflicting examination times may petition for a final examination”.
Liz Hernandez, senior majoring in social science and gerontology, was able to have her final examinations moved due to a conflict. She decided to take her finals early because she wanted to attend a graduation in Washington. She emailed her teachers about a month ago asking for permission.
“It’s manageable because I already finished all the major projects and papers for the semester so I only have to focus on my exams,” Hernandez said. “However, it is a little more difficult since it’s not actually finals week; I still have to attend my regular classes. It’s stressful, but I know everything will get done.”
There are some stipulations; the instructor of the examination must grant the student an alternate time to take the final. If an agreement cannot be reached and the examinations are from courses that are in the same college, the academic dean of the college will make the decision. It is also the students’ responsibility to notify their instructor of the conflict and have it resolved at least seven days before the week of finals.
Students who only have one final a day aren’t immune to the feeling of stress either.
“The stress of finals are starting to get to me like they always do,” Taylor Underwood, freshman in hospitality management, said. “I like having one final a day, though, and I like being done with all of my finals before Friday.”
Conversely, some students are not as stressed about finals as others. Olivia Cox, a junior in mechanical engineering, has one final on Monday and one final on Friday.
“Having my finals spread out over the week helps reduce the amount of stress I am under,” Cox said. “This year’s finals week is not as stressful for me because I have enough time to fully prepare for my exams. I prefer it this way since they are such challenging subjects.”
Overall, while understand the finals matrix schedule can be difficult, planning must also be done in order for everything to work out smoothly.
