#finalsworkload

[lifeofasmithie]

Overview of Finals Week

Sorry, I haven’t posted in a while, my classes got really stressful around midterms and didn’t really let up until finals. However, the semester is finally over so I thought I would do an overview of what my finals looked like this semester.

CSC102: How the Internet Works: This was a half semester class so I did the final months ago, but I figured I would add it anyway. The final was a group presentation on a topic of our choice, and my group presented on Internet Gambling.

CSC212: Data Structures: We had a final project that we could do in a group or individually, that was a topic of our choice, and could be coding or research. In addition, we had a self-scheduled final that we were allowed a double-sided reference sheet for.

SWG222: Gender Law and Policy: We had a 6-8 page paper on a topic of our choice relating to the course that was due the week before finals as well as a self-scheduled final covering the latter half of the course material.

FRN252: French Cinema: We had an exam before finals week in class and a five-page paper on the films we watched this semester due during finals week.

KOR101: Intro to Korean: We had a group video project due during the last week of classes and a scheduled final (rare at Smith) on the first day of finals period.

Keep in mind that even if you take the same classes, you won’t necessarily have the same finals as I did because professors change or try new things. I thought this would be helpful as a preview into the type of finals workload a Smithie might have.

More posts to come!

[lifeofasmithie]

Finals Workload

I may be doing a full review of the courses I took last semester in the future, however, as Winter Break is almost over and I am now fully recovered from finals, I thought I should share what my finals were. 

MTH112: Calculus II

This was a self-scheduled exam, free response and no calculators allowed. We were given two hours to complete the exam and this was very doable. In essence, it was like a third midterm.

FYS: Reacting to the Past

None! We finished the game (which I will explain if I do a review) and then had a party :)

Pilates

We had a short and easy take-home exam mid-semester and during the last week of classes, we had to prepare and present a Pilates exercise in front of the class. Very low stress

FRN220: High Intermediate French

We had two parts: one oral and one written. The oral exam was kind of fun, we memorized and presented a scene from the play we just read in the theater. The written exam was two hours and it included sections of grammar, vocabulary, and an essay based on the books we read.

EGR100: Engineering for Everyone: Environment

This class I leave for last because it was, put simply, a lot. 

We had group projects that we worked on throughout the semester. For this, we had to submit written updates every two weeks and had three presentations to showcase our progress to the class. At finals time, we were expected to present our final product as well as submit a full 10-20 page report will in-text citations and visuals. To give you an idea of the kinds of projects people did, my group focused on the effects of endocrine disruptors on the marine environment and other groups topics included vertical farming and the potential of autonomous vehicles. 

In addition to our group projects, we also had individual projects that we also worked on throughout the semester and were required to submit updates on. This similarly required a 10-20 page report and any other final products (some individuals did write shorter reports supplemented by physical models.) My project was on the idea of playing God through scientific pursuits, with an emphasis on genetic engineering and endangered species. 

On top of these projects, we also had our actual final, which was two parts. The first part was a reflection essay based on 6 prompts, which was expected to be anywhere from 2-20 pages and include mind maps and visuals. The second part was 20 questions, chosen out of 30 possible questions. These questions were based on topics talked about during class, however many of them required additional research. As each question ended up being a mini-essay, my final product ended up being around 20 pages.

Honestly, it was really stressful and not at all indicative of the general workload throughout the semester.