Deadline: Monday, April 27, 5:00 pm  Last day to withdraw from a spring term course.  The form is available in your TC Dean’s Office.

Friday classes (not Monday classes) will meet on Monday, April 27, the last day of classes.

Deadline: May 4: “Deadline for all course assignments, including term papers.  This deadline can be extended only by a Temporary Incomplete authorized by the student’s residential college dean,” and only for dean’s excusable reasons.

Schedule of Final Examinations:  http://www.yale.edu/sfas/registrar/exams.htm

In order to view a list of the classroom locations, please click on the link "Yale College Spring 2009 Exam Locations." This will display a static list of all courses, sorted by subject, that are scheduled to hold a final examination. The list also contains the day, start time, and assigned classroom, or classrooms, of the final exam. A link to the building codes and street addresses ("Building codes and locations") is located just below the link to the exam list.

Postponement of Final Examinations:  The residential college dean (and only the residential college dean) may postpone an examination (ordinarily to January) only for certain reasons: if a student has three examinations scheduled within four time slots, whether or not each of these slots has an examination group number assigned to it (the 7 PM slot is included in this calculation); if a student has three examinations scheduled during the first two days of the final examination period; if a student has an incapacitating illness, family emergency (or another matter of comparable moment), or for the observance of religious holy days (See YCPS, page 61-62.)  Be sure to see me if any of these is an issue for you and before the examination takes place (in case you misunderstand, for instance, the rules about postponing an examination). Reminder:  An examination cannot be postponed on account of travel arrangements or mis-arrangements.

Writing Center Essay Contest: -Each year the Writing  Centers  selects 10 to 20 good papers written in WR courses and posts them to their web site. Student writers receive a $50 prize. How to apply: http://www.yale.edu/bass/students/wr/contest.html

At this time of year, it is my custom to send you my tips for examination period.

Keep perspective: The term will be over. You have succeeded before. Remember: Yale is difficult, but you can handle it. Have confidence. Believe in yourself. Repeat to yourself often: "I can do it". "I am a good test taker."

Use reading period effectively (easier said than done, of course).

Go to review sessions. Find out in advance the format of the exam (IDs, essay questions, etc).

Check the exam schedule, which tells the room where your exam is given, DAILY. It will be posted on the web (see above).  Changes do happen.

Find the way and place you study and prepare best, and go at it that way. Don't compare yourself with others. Find a way and level of study that works for you.

Take time for yourself each day -- a small indulgence, perhaps. Take a walk. Do something small for someone else. Visit friends. Eat well.  Schedule quiet and private time. Get out.

Get enough Sleep, especially the night before the night before the exam. Lack of sleep inhibits efficient studying, concentration, and the ability to learn for recall later.

Study with a purpose. Determine your purpose for reviewing a particular book or lecture notes. Prepare (study) in digestible amounts. Schedule your time accordingly. Review lecture notes before the night before the exam, for instance.

Keep in mind the big picture of the course -- its major themes. Exams are the occasion for you to pull together in a coherent way what you have learned.

Look again at the syllabus to get a sense of the larger purposes and goals of the course. Be sure you did not miss any assigned reading in the small print (as I did once).

Find a study place or places that work for you. Sometimes changing study places can help. Some like studying in the same place all the time. It's OK to rely on stuffed animals, cozy clothes, totems, charms, and magic food.

Find a "study buddy." Study collaboratively.

Find library materials before the last minute when you may find them already checked out. Likewise, use the language lab early. It can be packed the day before the language exam.

Be courteous and thoughtful of the stress of others and their study needs. Remember the quiet hours (after 11PM during exam period). Rumor has it that mornings are a quiet time to study.

Put your alarm clock out of reach of your bed. Help each other remember when exams are. Get up an hour or more before the exam starts to wake up sufficiently, to get some nourishment, and to gather your thoughts. Take some treats with you to the exam (lifesavers or the like). Bring extra pencils or pens.

Read the exam all the way through before you start it. Try to follow the time suggestions for each question or part. Pass over questions that are too difficult or stump you; first answer the ones you can readily answer; return to the others later. Read the directions carefully. Make an outline for long essay questions. Give long essay questions a title to remind you of your focus. Write legibly; it matters. And try to remember that thinking can be fun, including the kind of extemporaneous thinking required for exams.

Suggested "awakeners" while studying: lots of water (yes, water -- a major cause of fatigue is dehydration), gum, going for a walk, short breaks, changing chairs, splashing cold water on your face. Leave the room. Stretch. Do Exercises. Take a walk in the cold air. Beware caffeine, which can inhibit much-needed sleep.

When you are running on little sleep, make no big decisions, draw no big conclusions (especially about your abilities and character). Your judgment and studying efficiency are impaired when you have too little sleep.

Exams are a test of your knowledge, not of personal worth.

When an exam is done, it is done. No need to dwell on it. Move on to the next task.

And remember: You belong at Yale. It is difficult, but you will be fine. A demanding college takes getting used to. You will get used to it and even better -- you will discover resources within you that you do not know you have. Be optimistic!   You have the good fortune to be surrounded by others who care about you.

Well, that's it, except again to say what must be said and then some: I know you are working hard to finish.

I want to remind you, as I have before, that exams are a test of your knowledge and not a test of your identity and personal worth, although it is difficult to make those distinctions sometimes. Also, keep perspective if you can. Exam period is a difficult time, but it is a finite time. And even this difficult time is an opportunity to look after yourself and others -- a cheerful word, some encouragement, a cookie -- small things that can mean so much, small things from one human to another.

And while taking an exam or writing a paper or finishing a project you might even have fun thinking -- putting ideas together, calculating clearly, discovering themes, recalling with good effect, making connections coherently, making connections spontaneously, and finding you have personal resources you did not know you have. All these are possible. Remember, you will be fine.  Really you will!

Best wishes as always during our final weeks together this term.