Harvard's decision last year to align its academic calendar with other institutions' policies by moving fall-term final exams from January to December leaves Princeton alone in its adherence to its archaic current schedule. Many students feel that the nearly one-month ...(back to the article)
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brainbreak schmainbreak. this article is 100% legitimate, dog
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But if I remember correctly moving exams meant having a shorter, more stressful reading and exam period. I would rather not be stressed!
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I wish exams were before Christmas...so much. My high school played with this same issue during my four years there. Two years exams were scheduled after Christmas break, and then junior year the schedule was changed so that they were before Christmas. And while yes, it was a little bit daunting having to push through an exam period without a break beforehand, I think it would be hugely beneficial to the princeton experience in general. Say we started in mid-August. Maybe we don't start classes, but orientation week has started and people are moving back in. We could then have fall break somewhere in early October instead of the end of October, and if the scheduling worked out really nicely, have sort of an extended reading period starting with Thanksgiving and extending into the next week. Since there are usually 3 weeks of reading period/exams, I don't setting this up as particularly hard. You could then actually have a bit of a break as you went home or wherever for Thanksgiving, come back the next week to work on papers. Exam period is usually not too busy, so there is plenty of time to study. I feel that without the stress that comes from knowing that exams are relatively soon, its easy to just let studying slide during the current 3 weeks of Christmas break. You essentially have 6 weeks of lag between when you last did anything useful in the class and when you have to be able to do a final.
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Do that many students really support moving fall-term exams until after Christmas? I am, along with most of my friends, in favor of keeping the calendar as is and beleive it is vastly superior to the calendars offered by other schools. Here's why: (1) Fall break provides a very important brain break after midterms, in the same way that spring break does after midterms. If this break were moved until Thanksgiving, the timing would not be ideal for this brain break and it would be hard to continue working after midterms. Likewise, if the break were moved to Thanksgiving, then over half of the week would be consumed by the obligation to travel to see family for Thanksgiving; with the calendar like it is, Fall break is a very important opportunity for travel with peers that is essential to solidifying on-campus friendships. With the status quo, there is still (almost) enough time to travel to see family for Thanksgiving so that's already (almost) fine. (2) Intersession provides an additional important brain break unencumbered by obligations to see family. Likewise Fall break, this is important for both travel among friends and trip to complete thesis research. (3) Putting reading period and exams before Christmas would make the December schedule much too hectic. Students at Yale already don't typically finish school until about 2-3 days before Christmas, which is certainly not ample time for preparation for this crucial family holiday. Likewise, it has become very clear to me that the work produced for final projects for classes is much higher in the Fall semester than in the Spring semester. I attribute this to the three weeks of break before reading period: rather than forget everything they've learned, student have the time to digest what they've been learning all semester in a low-pressure environment --students generally do not actually work over winter break--and then return very fresh and ready to perform. In the spring semester, we are all so burnt out that we don't have the energy or ability to put in our all and produce great things like we do during January reading period. Basically, the current calendar is, despite certain drawbacks, very much an asset to the university and to simply do what other universities are doing would be a big mistake.
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