# Why are final exams made to be worth 30-40% of the grade?



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Do you think professors are just being sadistic or what? There is no way I can study properly for this many finals when I'm taking 5 classes. I can understand making one exam 20-25% of the grade but 30-40% is crazy, especially when the professors know that we have other exams as well. And on top of that, many final exams are cumulative. How the hell do you review 600 pages?

I'm particularly pissed off at my history professor. She gave us the study guide on the last day of class probably on purpose so that she didn't have to hear too many complaints. Somehow I am supposed to write 4 long essays (3 of which will be on the final) and answer 5 short answer questions that she won't say what they will be about. I feel like wringing her little neck.


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## Hadron92 (Apr 17, 2009)

My suggestion is that you leave the internet alone RIGHT NOW and resume your studying. Being pissed off won't make matters any better. Especially when you have your finals coming up.


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

I think exams in general are **** and shouldn't exist. Assignments are SO much better when it comes to learning the material because they actually teach you in a practical manner instead of these one off short questions which would never be used in such a manner in the working world.


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## Black And Mild (Apr 11, 2011)

From my understanding, the final is worth such a large percentage of the grade because it is the best measure of how much information a student has retained.

For me, if a final is cumulative rather than covering new information, I usually don't even study for it.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I should have taken the history class pass/no pass. I really debated it but I had not gotten my mid-term back by the time of the deadline to decide on whether to take the class for a letter grade or not. I did okay on the mid-term but that only had one smallish essay on it. At my university we can take up 30% of our units as pass/no pass but only 2 classes in my major. I was afraid taking too many classes pass/no pass might not look good for future employment or grad school (which I kind of doubt I'm going but...).

Anyways, 2 finals are already over (the easy ones) and the last one is 5 days after the last two, so I have time for that one. I'm just pissing my pants over the 2 I have on Friday, back to back; this history one and a finance one that is cumulative. At least I'm taking the finance class pass/no pass. I don't know how I am going to write 3 essays after doing 2 1/2 hours of finance calculations. I'm going to be shattered. :|


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## Black And Mild (Apr 11, 2011)

^^^What is pass/no pass?


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Black And Mild said:


> ^^^What is pass/no pass?


Credit/no credit. You either pass or you don't. Pass usually means anything above a C-. So whatever grade you get won't affect your GPA.


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## Dissonance (Dec 27, 2011)

Wow sounds pretty nerve wrecking good luck on your Finance and history test. Remember to calm yourself down and revise as much as possible. It sounds daunting but go in with the confidence that you know the material given in the test.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Dissonance said:


> Wow sounds pretty nerve wrecking good luck on your Finance and history test. Remember to calm yourself down and revise as much as possible. It sounds daunting but go in with the confidence that you know the material given in the test.


Thanks. I'm just not used to this type of exam. I've only taken multiple-choice, short answer, or calculation type exams. I've never had to write a long essay in class, except for English and I only got a B in that class. I don't have a good memory and I suck at writing, so this is like a nightmare. The professor won't even be grading it. She has a TA that seems to have some sort of checklist and if you don't write everything in that checklist points get taken off. At least that is what seemed to happen with the mid-term.


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## Perfectionist (Mar 19, 2004)

Why?

1. Having one thing worth half the grade of the course generally means less grading work for the profs/TAs.

2. Having the final worth more than the midterm gives students a chance to prove themselves if they struggled all semester. Even if you didn't get a concept right away, as long as you get it by the final your mark won't be that terrible, even if you were super confused halfway through on the midterms. It's a way of showing that regardless of everything else, on the last day of class this student knew most stuff.

3. Most of the more complicated stuff in a course is at the end. If you made stuff early on worth more, it might not indicate that students were learning, just remembering material from other classes which was reviewed early in this class.

4. Finals usually have longer timeslots to be written in, so you can make the exam longer and thus quiz students on more material. 

In high school I did International Baccalaureate and 80% of your grade for most classes was determined by one exam. At the end of two years. Covering two years of material. The exam was usually split into two sections, and you took part A on day one and part B on day two. Univ finals don't scare me as much after that.


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## cafune (Jan 11, 2011)

Perfectionist said:


> In high school I did International Baccalaureate and 80% of your grade for most classes was determined by one exam. At the end of two years. Covering two years of material. The exam was usually split into two sections, and you took part A on day one and part B on day two. Univ finals don't scare me as much after that.


Yeah, currently going through final exams and I'll be surprised if I don't just drop dead. It's pretty awful. It'll be over soon enough though.

Anyways, I _hate_ final exams and the fact that they are worth so much is ridiculous. :/


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

Because they want you to know the information.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Perfectionist said:


> Why?
> 
> 1. Having one thing worth half the grade of the course generally means less grading work for the profs/TAs.
> 
> ...


I understand your points. I just thought that it had been shown that people learn better in small chunks. If I was a professor I'd probably make homework 10% of the grade (just to keep the buggers from procrastinating), graded assignments 10%, and 4 exams each worth 20% of the grade. Or maybe more points towards the assignments.


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

Perfectionist said:


> In high school I did International Baccalaureate and 80% of your grade for most classes was determined by one exam. At the end of two years. Covering two years of material. The exam was usually split into two sections, and you took part A on day one and part B on day two. Univ finals don't scare me as much after that.


I am suddenly very glad I was never smart enough for any of that!


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Well those 2 horrible exams are over. Man, my back hurts now from sitting there for 5 hours doing finance calculations and writing my 3 crappy essays. Physiology presentation is over too. That was Thursday night. Of course it had to be the night before my two exams. The beta blockers for the presentation worked, so didn't freak out too bad. Looks like I got my "Pass" grade in finance.


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## The Professor (Jul 31, 2011)

komorikun said:


> Do you think professors are just being sadistic or what? There is no way I can study properly for this many finals when I'm taking 5 classes. I can understand making one exam 20-25% of the grade but 30-40% is crazy, especially when the professors know that we have other exams as well. And on top of that many final exams are cumulative. How the hell do you review 600 pages?
> 
> I'm particularly pissed off at my history professor. She gave us the study guide on the last day of class probably on purpose so that she didn't have to hear too many complaints. Somehow I am supposed to write 4 long essays (3 of which will be on the final) and answer 5 short answer questions that she won't say what they will be about. I feel like wringing her little neck.


you just have to make it happen... they make it that way on purpose. Essentially it's like putting a time limit on your studying. 40% is way too much though. My school isn't allowed to have a final be more than 30%.


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## Mia Q (Dec 30, 2010)

I kinda like having exams take up a huge %, it means I can slack off during the semester then cram for the exam and still pass :3 But yes, I also understand where you're coming from. You're history teacher sounds like an @$$.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Mia Q said:


> I kinda like having exams take up a huge %, it means I can slack off during the semester then cram for the exam and still pass :3 But yes, I also understand where you're coming from. You're history teacher sounds like an @$$.


I hate cramming. I prefer to have 5 smaller exams rather than 3 huge ones. I think the professor just has unrealistic expectations since she has a PhD in history and probably loves writing. Her lectures were great though. I did enjoy her class....all except for the final.


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## eyedlemon (Jan 11, 2007)

I always thought cumulative finals were stupid. I've already been tested on it once, so what's the point in testing me again? Am I going to be tested again at the end of the year? 5 years from now? No. So there's no point in testing twice.


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## lisbeth (May 18, 2012)

Some of my final exams are 100% of the grade...


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## Banzai (Jun 4, 2009)

lisbeth said:


> Some of my final exams are 100% of the grade...


Think in America, "Finals" means exams at the end of your whole degree. Or something like that.


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## lisbeth (May 18, 2012)

Banzai said:


> Think in America, "Finals" means exams at the end of your whole degree. Or something like that.


I'm really ignorant about the American education system... I'm sorry if I just misunderstood the entire thread!


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Banzai said:


> Think in America, "Finals" means exams at the end of your whole degree. Or something like that.


End of the semester. They reserve one week only for exams, so that the professors can give you exams that are longer than the class.

I was reading that in some countries they also have dead week for study, no classes or exams. That would be nice.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

*Grades*

Okay, I got the grades back for 4 out of the 5 classes. 
Physiology= A
US History= A
Management= A
Finance= CR (credit)

I have no idea how I got that A in US History cause I did not even write an essay. I just wrote what I remembered about the subject. No intro and no conclusion. She must have curved. I guess it helps that most of the students were lazy.

I'm taking the physiology at city college (the rest at my uni) and they just have the A,B,C,D,F grading system, no A-, B+ crap. Thank god, cause the professor gave us horrible grades for the lab project/presentation. Only 3 groups (out of 11 groups) got above 80% and the highest was 85%. My group got 79%.

I was kind of surprised cause she graded very generously on exams/papers/homework and in my experience professors are nice about group projects and especially presentations. She was being a bit cagey about the presentation grade. Wouldn't tell us until today. She also made a mistake with a couple of the marks for the whole class. Made the lab reports 120 points and the quizzes 100 points when it was supposed to be the reverse. Corrected it though after I sent an email.

I barely got that A with just 91.3%. This was the one class where I really wanted an A cause it is so competitive to get into nursing school. I need all As in the pre-reqs.


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## frenchie (Mar 27, 2008)

I've done quite a few end of semester exams worth 100% of the grade. They are pretty scary. I'd say the average weighting for a final law exam in Australia is about 60%.


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## Unkn0wn Pleasures (Nov 24, 2011)

It's ridiculous hey. Exam results reflect how people cope under pressuer as much as how well they actually know their stuff. What's worse at my uni is that 15-20% is from participating in class dicussion (which is usually uneducational conversation).


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## Mia Q (Dec 30, 2010)

komorikun said:


> I hate cramming. I prefer to have 5 smaller exams rather than 3 huge ones. I think the professor just has unrealistic expectations since she has a PhD in history and probably loves writing. Her lectures were great though. I did enjoy her class....all except for the final.


Ah, at least she's good at her job and you enjoyed her class. You did fantastic in the end, good work! :yay


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Mia Q said:


> Ah, at least she's good at her job and you enjoyed her class. You did fantastic in the end, good work! :yay


Thanks. I appreciate it.


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

Nice job on the straight As. Still pretty ridiculous of them to schedule a presentation the night before finals.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

alte said:


> Nice job on the straight As. Still pretty ridiculous of them to schedule a presentation the night before finals.


Thanks. That happened because I'm taking one class (physiology) at city college. City college finals were one week after my university's finals. Not sure why city college starts one week earlier and ends one week later than the university.


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