Finals follow students abroad

Beyond added stress, Tolfa and other students in her situation expressed concern that Princeton’s unique academic schedule will have a negative impact on their spring semesters, especially as they adjust to living and studying in new environments.

Despite efforts by the University to alleviate study abroad students’ concerns about taking fall exams while abroad, Tolfa said her lingering academic obligations could be detrimental to her first few days in Ireland.

“Princeton’s scheduling exams after Christmas break is incredibly stressful for those studying abroad,” she said in an e-mail. “It could potentially have negative effects on my first few weeks in Dublin ... After all, that’s the time [when] all the international students will be trying to make friends and get to know the city, and I’d rather not be holed up in my room finishing papers and exams.”

Nancy Kanach, director of the Office of International Programs, said in an e-mail that her office recognizes the difficulty students face when they leave campus before the end of finals period.

“Having to take a final exam in the first week or so upon arrival is not ideal, but we have tried to lessen the anxiety by working closely with all concerned,” she said.

Kanach explained that students who leave before the scheduled date of their final exams must either arrange to take their exams ahead of time or have them administered where they are studying abroad.

Brian Rice ’11, who will fly to Salamanca, Spain, this week, will be taking one take-home final earlier than the scheduled date for the course, “which is not a huge inconvenience,” he said in an e-mail. He must also take two finals once abroad, however, “right in the middle of orientation.”

“I will undoubtedly have to lock myself in my room to study for my bio and physics exams while everyone is out exploring together,” he explained.

While Rice said he “doubt[s] this will have profound effects on the experience as a whole,” he is nonetheless “forecasting it to be a rather large inconvenience.”

Not all study abroad schedules, however, conflict with Princeton’s finals period.

“Scheduling finals hasn’t been a problem for me,” Scarlett Barker ’12, whose semester at the University of Melbourne begins in March, said in an e-mail. “If anything, it makes it easier to handle the stress of finals because I know I’ll be in Australia soon!”