Fall Make-Up Exams Produce Both Grumpiness and Stoicism

For the majority of Harvard undergraduates, the thought of final exams this early in the fall is remote and somewhat incomprehensible. But 325 students taking make-up finals this week comprehend the idea all too well.

Takers of make-up examinations fall into self-explanatory categories ranging from legitimate convalescents and over-sleepers, to the legendary "sick-out."

Keeping Tabs

The story told by most sick-outs is the same: work has piled up so thickly that mental and physical exhaustion make taking the final exam impossible. Many feel they could do much better given more time.

One senior who missed a spring History final sophomore year explains the general feeling. "It was my last exam and I was very far behind. I just wanted to get it over with, so I worked hard for two days and by the end of my cramming I was both mentally and physically upset."

While the $25 charge for make-ups deters some, by far the most compelling reason students cite against make-ups is that they forget too much over the summer, making the exams much harder.

Students also say the impending exam infringes on their vacation. "I felt pressure from June to September," one senior who asked to remain anonymous said yesterday. "The summer just dragged and I didn't do much better," he added. While the student could choose 3 out of 19 essays on the original one, the make-up asked the student to choose 3 out of 4 essays.

Merely because a student planned in advance to miss the exam did not make the process any easier. Scott Jacobs '85 missed a math exam last spring because of an operation he was to have two days later on his spine. He said he will now petition to take the entire course over again because he has forgotten so much.

Another sophomore, who asked to remain anonymous, had to petition to register this fall because she was behind in two courses due to mono.

While most of those taking exams this week find the process burdensome, there are those who found the time well-spent since last spring and feel they will fare much better now. "I feel great about it," Dave Delgado '85 said of his Calculus exam. "I had time to study my material and catch up on my work."

"I would rather have taken it last year," said another current sophomore, "but I am in much better psychological shape now. I'd do it again."