Finals are only a few weeks away, so many students and teachers are already thinking about review and prep work to have successful finals this semester. 

Before Thanksgiving break, there were rumors that some juniors and seniors would not have to take finals if their class grade was an 80% or above. Seniors in the class of 2023 did not have to take their second semester finals if they had above an 80% in the class, so many seniors hoped that would be the case for them this semester. 

Around the middle of November, news came out that upperclassmen with an 80% or above would not have to take their first semester finals. This news got many students excited to have a longer winter break and a less stressful end to the semester. 

A few days later, the decision was changed and teachers received news that juniors and seniors actually would have to take finals, no matter what their class grade was. 

The change of the decision about whether or not upperclassmen had to take finals sparked debate about how helpful or necessary finals actually are.

Senior Maddie Bumps and Junior Wah Gay Shee expressed their disappointment about having to take finals. 

“I have good grades already so unless I get 100% on my finals they will just lower my grade,” Bumps said.

“I was disappointed that they said we actually have to take finals because I was excited to have a longer break,” Shee said.

Although last semester, only some seniors were exempt from taking final exams, this semester juniors would have also been able to skip out on finals.

“I understand why juniors don’t want to take finals, but I think just seniors should be allowed to not take them because finals are good practice for taking tests,” Bumps said, “I think taking finals would hurt seniors more than juniors because seniors are more checked out.”

Although in some cases finals can raise a students overall grade in their class, usually finals lower a students grade because they do not perform their best.

“Finals usually lower my grades in classes I have A’s in. They count for so much of my grade that I already worked so hard for during the course of the whole semester,” Bumps said.

“I am not a very good test taker, but I get good grades in the rest of my class assignments,” Shee said, “If I don’t do good on the final and it lowers my grade then it doesn’t reflect the rest of my strengths.”

Usually the week before finals, teachers take time to review the material from the whole semester. Review can help students be more prepared for their final and to re-learn information they might have forgotten.

“I think studying for finals is a good way to review the whole semester, but since it’s on a test it puts stress on students. This causes people to worry more than they are actually reviewing,” Shee said.