Finals season is almost coming to an end, if not already over, and we can all agree that it's not easy. Some professors give you final papers while others assign group projects, and at least one has an in-class exam or even a take-home exam.
As college students, we always face a game of would you rather. Would you rather have a final paper so you can have the comfort of knowing you won't have to stress out for days and let 2 hours determine your final grade, or would you rather have an in-class exam to have the satisfaction of being finished instantly rather than inevitably procrastinating and still having the same amount of stress?
Let's weigh some of the pros and cons:
The Final Paper/ The Take Home Final:
PROS:
1. You have all your resources right in front of you.
No need to worry whether or not you remembered your information from the whole semester; you have Google right at your fingertips.
2. You have the comfort of being able to write anywhere you want.
All you need is your laptop (and those resources that should be right in front of you) and you can write away on your bed, on the floor, on the couch, on your messy desk.
3. You can ask your professor questions.
The best thing is that, if you haven't procrastinated, you still have the chance to email questions and (hopefully) get answers so you know for sure that you aren't screwed.
CONS:
1. Timing.
Sometimes the professor will have the prompt up and ready all semester, so you can get it done early. But...some evil professors will decide to give you just the right amount of time to be stressed and handout the assignment with a week to finish...
2. You might be screwed if you haven't done any readings.
Surprise Surprise, you might have thought it would be easy enough to get by without doing the assignments since the syllabus said "final paper", but if you have a week, and have to write about 10 books and 20 articles you didn't read...good luck.
3. Procrastination.
If you know you have a final paper since the beginning of the semester, you probably know that you shouldn't worry about it because you have 3 months ahead of you. But days, weeks, and months go by fast, and life happens. You might catch yourself having other papers and exams or projects to do.
The In-Class Exam:
Pros (and Cons):
1. Just 2 hours (or less) and you're done.
The best part about an in-class exam is that you know you WILL be done after the exam is over. We won't know how long it's going to take to study, but it definitely will be like ripping a band-aid off. But...you won't really know what's on the exam and 2 hours could determine the fate of your GPA.
2. Actually having to study.
This might just be me, but sometimes it feels refreshing to study and go over all the material you learned over the semester...but only to forget it all if you're cramming. But having to study means actually having to labor over tons of notes you probably didn't even take.
3. Curves Curves Curves!
Even if you do terribly, there's still hope! That's if everyone else did terribly too, but if there's that one genius in the class, and your professor curves on a individual score basis. Sorry. May the curve be ever in your favor.
and last but not least...
