Well, here it is -- August, the third part of the term. We have been taking classes for nearly two months, and have only 17 days until final exams begin (17 DAYS!!!). Of course, I'm sure that all of you out there have been keeping up with work, so there is no need to panic. You haven't been distracted by the beautiful weather, the (relatively) skimpy outfits of the opposite sex, or the allure of outdoor pong. You certainly haven't let Tubestock, Summer Carnival, Parents' Weekend or fraternity and sorority formals keep you out of the library. You've used this summer away from home to hone your studying techniques, rather than to shave strokes off your golf game and seconds off your chugging time. I'm sure that all of our parents would be proud to know that they have such mature, future-conscious sons and daughters to take care of them in their old age.
Of course, most other college students don't have the opportunities that we Dartmouth students take advantage of. They don't get to spend a sticky summer in quiet contemplation, reading Catallus and practicing the cello. Instead, they have to settle for going to the beach, or taking road trips or going barhopping in places that have buildings higher than three stories. They have to get those unsightly tans, rather than keeping the healthy computer glow that a summer of taking classes gives you. Of course, when we get our month off in 17 days (17 DAYS!!!) they will just be returning to school. This is helpful, because we won't have to see any of our high school friends, and can instead spend a month hanging out with our parents, who will, of course, be the only people around.
But there is something else that other students will never know the thrill of -- taking exams after a mere two-day reading period. Most of those other suckers get a week, or two, to study a semester's worth of work. Of course, they also get 16 weeks to learn a subject, rather than 10. Think of how unprepared for the stress of the real world they will be. Oh, how lucky we are, to be able to learn everything so much quicker and better than the rest of the world.
However, I for one would be more than willing to give up this medieval stress training for a few extra days of reading period. I don't understand how the College can expect us to kill ourselves to learn a semester's worth of material in 10 weeks, and then give us two days to get ready for exams. Don't get me wrong -- I like the quarter system. It's quick, and it allows you to try out a number of different subjects. It also has alot more flexibility than semesters. For the most part, I don't have much of a problem with any of the academic systems at Dartmouth -- except for the reading period.
Let's take Harvard for example, the school every administrator at this college wishes they were working at. They have two weeks to get ready for final exams. This is enough time to take a ski vacation, which a friend of mine does every year. Not that I am advocating adding some vacation time in the middle of the term. Just like everybody else, I would love to get things over with and out of Hanover. But the task of reviewing three courses worth of material in two days would drive anybody batty. I mean, at Cornell they're throwing themselves into gorges, and even they get more time than that.
My proposal is to extend the reading period throughout the weekend, and then to condense exam period from four days to three. I think that people would more than happy to be done by Wednesday instead of Tuesday, and double the reading period in return. It's not exactly enough time to go skiing, but it at least gives a day to each of the subjects. I can't imagine that it would hurt anybody, and it would definitely make the end of the term more humane. Maybe then, we wouldn't need as much grade inflation to get our mean near the rest of the Ivy League. Not that I'm knocking grade inflation ...
