After the University canceled classes Monday and Tuesday amid record-high snow, some professors who intended on hosting midterms have rescheduled or changed the format of exams.
For some courses, like BIOL 0500: “Cell and Molecular Biology,” rescheduling just meant pushing the test date to the next class time.
The BIOL 0500 class exam was scheduled for Monday but was moved to Wednesday, according to Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry Sofia Lizarraga, who teaches the course.
“We have been lucky, as we were able to find rooms for the exam thanks to our wonderful departmental operations coordinator,” Lizarraga wrote in an email to The Herald.
But other professors with exams scheduled for Monday faced complications.
Professor of Physics and Engineering Jay Tang was supposed to hold an exam for PHYS 0030: “Basic Physics A” on Monday. But the class staff could only start looking for an alternative room on Tuesday, so Tang eventually decided to postpone Monday’s exam by a week.
Now, Tang said his “biggest worry now is really the classroom availability for (the) makeup exam.”
“There’s just no way to get this worked out sooner,” Tang said. “If they … say they cannot find a classroom to the size available for the makeup next Monday evening … I don’t know what to do.”
Limited classroom availability was also a “huge consideration” for Assistant Teaching Professor of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences Jamie Trost, who replaced the Monday exam for CPSY 0900: “Statistical Methods” with an alternative assignment.
The assignment asks students to make a creative product using their study materials for the canceled exam, Trost wrote in an email to The Herald. “It is my hope that this assignment serves to reward their hard efforts in studying while also enabling us to transition smoothly to Unit 2 material,” she wrote.
Because of this change in format, Trost adjusted grade weighting so that the replacement assignment would be worth 10% of the final grade — the first assessment was initially weighted at 20%. She also increased the weight of the course’s remaining exams by 5%.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science Milda Zizyte wrote in an email to The Herald that she canceled the exam scheduled on Monday for CSCI 0111: “Computing Foundations: Data.”
Zizyte had initially pushed the exam to Wednesday, but ultimately decided to instead cover material from the first exam on the second quiz and reweight her syllabus. “This was a better option than asking people to come to campus (Wednesday) or pushing to Friday,” Zizyte wrote.
According to Kaitlyn Budhai ’28, two of her three midterms this week were impacted by the blizzard. Her BIOL 0500 exam was moved to Wednesday and her PHYS 0040: “Basic Physics B” exam — initially scheduled to be in person on Tuesday — is now take-home.
The rescheduling of exams “was definitely a bit stressful,” Budhai said. But she added that she was “relieved to have more time to review course materials.”
Genie Dickens ’28, who was supposed to take a CHEM 0330: “Equilibrium, Rate and Structure” exam on Tuesday, found the rescheduling of her exam “really frustrating.”
“I feel like I could be underprepared now, because I have to focus on other courses,” Dickens said. As a student-athlete, Dickens noted that her practices are being pushed further into the week — leaving her even less time to prepare for the rescheduled exam.
Gianna Ferry ’29 felt like she needed “more time” for her midterms this week — PHYS 0040, BIOL 0500 and CHEM 0330, which have all been impacted by the blizzard. “Now I just feel better about how well-prepared I can be for my exams,” she said.
Review sessions and office hours have also been impacted by the weather. Alex Lim ’27, who had three midterms scheduled this week, said that the Monday review session for Wednesday’s ENGN 1110: “Transport and Biotransport Processes” exam could no longer happen in person.
“Now I’m thinking about if I need to reorient how I want to approach studying,” Lim said. “There’s more pressure on students to study for themselves if there are no office hours in person.”
Zizyte said that, for CSCI 0111, she held office hours remotely on Monday and was available over Ed Stem discussion boards. “I think the delay gives students some opportunity to ask more questions if needed,” she added.
“Personally, I’m very happy,” said Avery Espiritu ’27. His exam for SOC 1020: “Methods of Social Research,” was initially scheduled for Monday. His professor first pushed it to Wednesday and then to Friday.
Over the weekend, Espiritu had to work on assignments for other classes. The postponement gave him more time to prepare. “It’s not really something I have to worry about right now. It’s something that I can worry about in two days,” he said.
Ivy Huang is a university news and science & research editor from New York City Concentrating in English, she has a passion for literature and American history. Outside of writing, she enjoys playing basketball, watching documentaries and beating her high score on Subway Surfers.
