Exhibit A: Week of hell
Yup, that’s my final exam schedule.
Back when I was a student at UBC, finals were spread out during the first 2 weeks of December. Depending on what courses you take and your luck, you may end up with exams that are spaced perfectly apart with ample time to study for each, or you may get a few in a row and end up with a 1-week break before you get to write your last final. Here at BCIT (at least in the med lab program, it may be the same for other programs), the exams are all back to back; we don’t even get a day off between exams.
If you can’t see the picture clearly, this is what it says on my agenda:
- Clinical Chemistry Mon 1030-1230
- Microanatomy Tues 1030-1230
- Molecular Wed 1030-1230
- Hematology Wed 1530-1730
- Transfusion Science Thur 1030-1230
- Microbiology Fri 1030-1230
There are only 5 days in a school week, so those who take more than 5 courses will end up having at least 2 finals in one day. This happened to me last term because we had 7 courses. Since I won’t have much time to study during the exam week itself, this means I’ll have to start studying soon (or now..) and go into mad studying mode the weekend before the exam week. This is basically what I did last term; I can tell you it wasn’t very fun. :( I wish I can share some magical tips to make studying for finals easier or enjoyable, but I don’t have any. The only thing that I can say is don’t wait until the last minute. Not that you could anyway, because we have quizzes all the time and they force us to study. And the good thing about such a packed exam week is it’ll all be over in a week! That’s what I remind myself to feel better…