Study Breaks During Finals Week
Experiencing finals week as a freshman can be a little daunting at first but I found a great deal of support within the Tufts community where my peers…
Finals (with organic chemistry)! For a pre-med, pre-PhD biology student
You’re certainly well accustomed to what the process of taking finals in your high school is like, but you might be wondering what happens at Tufts. Are college finals similar to your experience? Different? More stressful? Higher-stakes?
To help illuminate these curiosities I will describe how I prepare for finals as a third-year student, and what I’ve learned in my few college years.
This semester, I am taking six courses, only two of which have traditional finals - organic chemistry I and immunology. Both are cumulative, which has been the case for all my classes at Tufts thus far. For my violin lessons, I have a “proficiency exam” in front of a jury of music professors (which honestly is almost more stressful than a normal exam!), and for my philosophy course I have a reasonably large essay to write. Luckily, though, I will have a week to focus only on the essay after my other finals have concluded. For physics I, there is no final - only a project! Since we have had all semester to develop the project, physics is stress-free. In lab courses, exams are rare, and along those lines, I have no final in the lab component of organic chemistry I or physics.
This is a lot of work, but it’s manageable with careful planning.
I always wanted to know what to expect from “organic chemistry,” the notorious class everybody vaguely says is difficult, but never gives specifics on. So, I’ll describe how it goes at Tufts. Although Tufts’ organic chemistry is accelerated (in one semester, we cover what other schools would consider all of organic chemistry I and approximately half of organic chemistry II), we have many opportunities to practice, and to be tested, along the semester. Every week, we have had one quiz, and in some cases, two! To account for our humanity (we all make mistakes…), five of the twelve quizzes are dropped. Resultantly, quizzes are less stressful, and with proper preparation, I have been able to do well. The aggressive schedule forces me and other students to constantly be grappling with and internalizing the material, making preparing for the final easier. Ample novel, thorough problem sets have been provided by the professor (7 so far), and recitation worksheets are to be worked through weekly. Combined with the assigned book problems, there seems to be an endless set of practice. Exams are high stakes relative to my other courses - 76% of the grade is composed of 3 exams. The remaining 24% is composed of quizzes. Because the entire grade in the class is derived from examination, I prepare extensively for the class’s exams and quizzes, use the provided tools, and am able to perform at a level I feel happy with. Ultimately, one must be sure to stay up to speed with the material and be willing to reach out for help when necessary. I find it quite stressful, as there is no chance to take a breather, but I have learned a lot; additionally, I feel my memory of the concepts will not be fleeting, which will be immeasurably helpful when preparing for the MCAT. The key for preparing for any exam is to practice daily and diligently. Ample help is available through various campus tutoring resources, or directly with the professor. All of my professors at Tufts have been easily available to talk about the course concepts.
For violin, I have to perform for ~10 minutes, with one piece being entirely memorized. I like to study in groups and talk out problems, so I try to arrange a time daily with my friends who are taking the same classes to do that. The only way to learn is to be slightly uncomfortable and frustrated, grappling with the ideas at hand. Feeling flustered when the right word was on the tip of your tongue (or finger, rather) when writing an essay, but conveniently disappeared, or staring at a problem for a couple minutes before having a eureka moment is part of effective learning. Finals at Tufts, in my experience, have been all along the spectrum of low-stakes to high-stakes. But, with proper preparation and utilization of friendly resources, you will indubitably perform at the level you desire.
Cover image downloaded from here.
