Hello everyone, it is Jack and I am back to tell you about the midterm experience at UC Irvine! While this post may not include descriptions of events that some may find fun, it will still provide some useful information surrounding the academic life at the university. Without further introduction, I would like to welcome everyone to the midterm or should I say quarterm experience at UC Irvine!
The first question some may have is, “what is a quarterm.” Well it is a name I have given to midterms at UC Irvine, because in my experience there are three to four of them in certain classes. The disclaimer I will give here is that this is just something I have found in my experience at the university as most of my friends and I are taking science classes where I have found that those classes have multiple midterms compared to classes in other disciplines, which seem to only have one. These quarterms are something that a student must be prepared for as they happen suddenly and at a fast pace. Having only ten weeks per class and then having four midterms, results in an average of a midterm every two-and-a-half weeks. Then having the fact that some classes only meet twice a week and one of those classes is taking the midterm, students may only have four class periods of actual instruction before a midterm exam takes place.
However, there are many resources for these classes which students can use to prepare for exams and although there is not a lot of in-class instruction time, these classes with multiple midterms tend to use in-class time for a review of content, rather than an introduction of content which takes place as homework.
But there are still classes which have the traditional single midterm and final and this midterm can take place in a variety of forms. For example one of my classes has a single midterm and students had the option to take the midterm in-person or to take it online. Usually the option of taking exams online comes with a fee which students must pay, but the in-person option is one that I have seen professors and other instructors prefer the most.
Being in my first year, I am in many classes with other first-year students and something that I see other students realize is the idea that the rules for exams and the content that they are required to know is concrete. I have been in a midterm where tens, if not over a hundred students have been thrown out for not following a professors instructions, students assuming that they could take an exam at home, even when an exam seating chart has been created and other students who assume that certain exams (not midterms) are optional. This is not something against students, it is just an observation that I made at how sudden some students have to follow new rules that they are not accustomed to. Also at times, there are some instructors that could make their policies more understood or less challenging to follow.
I have completed two midterms up until this point, but I have two more this week. The general content of midterms is not the most entertaining so, I decided to share some advice in this post. I hope everyone does well on their midterms and exams at UC Irvine and elsewhere!