November 18 marked the beginning of the Fall Term Exam Week for the students of The Peddie School. Students mainly took mathematics exams on Monday, history exams on Tuesday, science exams on Wednesday, and biology exams on Thursday. Students had a wide variety of exam schedules, with some having no exams at all while others having to face numerous exams. The Peddie News Office gathered opinions about the Fall Term Exam Week from 37 students.
General Data About Exams
“How many exams are you taking this week?” was the only question that was related to general data about exams. The most common response was 3 exams with 16 students. Out of all the students who had responded, only one student had no exams. 8 students had 1 exam, 9 students had 2 exams, 3 students had 4 exams (The one response about having 5 exams was false, and the following student only had 3 exams).
Responses to Questions About Exams
Students were asked to respond to various questions related to how they felt about their exams.
Regarding the question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you about your exams?” The average rating was 5.95. The majority of students believed that they performed above average on their exams (22 students), while 15 students believed that they performed average or below.
Regarding the question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you about the exams positively affecting your grade?” Students gave an average rating of 5.16. Considering the average rating of the question above, it can be inferred that some students believe that their grades will be negatively affected regardless of their performance in the exams. The strongest response was a five with seven students, and the majority of students were not confident about the exams positively affecting their grades (22 students).
Lastly, students were asked about how their mental health has been affected due to the Fall Term Exams. The average rating was a 2.95, and the strongest response was a 3 (10 students). The responses were very equal, with 9 students each giving a response of 2 and 4, and only one less student giving a response of 5 compared to a response of 1 (4 students and 5 students, respectively).
Additional Comments about the Exams
To conclude, below are comments in regard to the Fall Term Exams.
“I’m fried.”
“This is not fun.”
“They should be weighted way less.”
“RIP GPA.”
“They were too hard.”
“The upside to exams is extremely limited. Once your grade is above a 94-96 an exam can only serve in dropping your grade.”
“I’m so cooked, and I’m so stressed out for college. Peddie has genuinely made me realize how smart people are, and I know I have to do better with discipline and time management, and do better when I get to college. This time period has reminded me of that.”
“They should not have history and language on the same day. Also, I would love it if PFS could make more nutritious food during exam week.”
“It’s a lot of work. I mainly stress about whether my studying will actually help me in the exam.”
“Please pray for me to pass AP Bio.”
“I think that the pressure of exams is one thing, but on top of that there is also pressure to perform well because it’ll be the last form of assessment that will count towards college applications.”
“I hate exams.”
“I like it because it’s basically a free week as a freshman but I know in future years it will become harder as I hear my upperclassmen friends complaining.”
“I love being a senior done with their credits!”
“I believe exams are stupid.”
“This was a great end to a fun fall term.”
“They weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I think a lot of people psych themselves out about not doing enough when, in reality, yes, you do a bunch of review, but you also need to trust yourself about what you know and what you’ve done to prepare. And then, after that, it’s done and you shouldn’t think about it. Also, sleep! It’s not worth it to stay up late studying if you can’t think straight during the exam.”
“I don’t have it as bad as some other kids do. I have friends who are taking 4 exams, and I’m honestly really concerned about their health because they’ll be awake studying for so long they forget to sleep.”
