Final Exams’ Week Approaches Howard University
April 2016 | Written by Judayah Murray

Finals’ Week can be a very trying time for college students, especially for those who spent their semesters pledging for organizations instead of being in the classroom during the day and with their textbooks at night.

While some students can handle the pressure and, in turn, rise to the occasion, others fail to perform. The University of Alabama’s Center for Academic Success states that the number one cause of failure in college is a student’s misunderstanding of the amount of work required. It can be inferred, then, that procrastination in college is what causes students to perform poorly during final examinations.

According to the Huffington Post and the Boston Globe, a study done at Harvard University found that 75% of college students admitted to cheating in the 1960s and that number has remained consistent to this day.

“I think it happens more often than we think and at more universities than one would suspect. I definitely heard of people who are now graduates of Harvard that cheated on their finals to get by,” said Echoe Malone, a 2012 graduate of Howard University.

“Only at Howard do you come to the library to study and leave with a finesse plan,” a current undergraduate Howard student tweets.

“Finesse” seems to be HU slang that refers to a smooth manner in which students get by in their classes without actually having to do the work. It can also be applied outside of the classroom.

Professor Milbert Brown, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media, Journalism and Film Communications empathizes with students.

“It’s all a part of the college experience to sometimes procrastinate and wait until the last minute. The cramming thing is kind of like a panic in which everyone is trying to leave and get out but seemingly every professor is trying to give [work] at the last minute. But, unfortunately that’s just a part of academia–it’s part of the process,” Brown said.
Not everyone agrees with the act of “finessing” or even procrastinating at the end of the semester. Frederick Engram, Jr., an Admissions Counselor at Southern University and a resident of Washington, D.C. is one.

“Cramming might work for some, but it’s certainly not a good habit to form. Why stress yourself in a few days when you could’ve simply applied yourself all semester,” he said.

He suggests that rather than trying to work the system, students should look toward extra credit, when available, for a moral boost of points.

“I think extra credit can be useful in helping drive the desire to learn from the students. Providing incentives is sometimes helpful in motivating students,” Engram said.

Malone, on the other hand, recognizes a loop hole with providing extra credit for students. She says it makes it possible for some students who aren’t as consistent to do menial work at the end of the semester and get the same grade as a fellow student who has been working very hard all along. She, however, agreed with Engram that it is “a perk to be able to do a little extra work to help your grade a little bit.”

According to Engram, no matter how far a student might fall behind, with an honest attitude and these five tips he or she can still succeed:

Engram’s Top 5 Tips For Stressing Students
1. Make sure you’re well rested before you begin, falling asleep helps nobody and being fatigued will not help you to remember.

2. Don’t be afraid to come back to it, if in that moment it doesn’t seem to click.

3. Ask for assistance, it never hurt anyone to seek help in fact it’s actually a really good idea!

4. Find whatever studying situation that works best for you, in undergrad quiet libraries didn’t work for me. Neither did extremely loud areas, so I would turn my tv on in my dorm room and study there.

5. Find a study group where everyone is dedicated to passing the exams, AND retaining the information. If you want to pass, link up with the top performers in the class; that’s ALWAYS a safe bet!