<p>“LOL, “significant plans”? Like a date or a party?”</p>
<p>My typical Friday night generally involved performing in a play/concert, traveling to perform in one, or seeing a friend perform in one. These were usually at 7:30 or 8. If I’d had a Friday evening exam, I would have sucked it up and gone to the exam, but I would have been PO’d about it. Evening classes and labs were controversial when I was an undergrad because so many performing arts organizations needed to hold rehearsals when everyone was available, and thanks to classes and labs in the 5-10 pm range, there wasn’t any time on weeknights when you could count on everyone being out of class. I viewed, and still view, these organizations and their performances as absolutely central to college life. I don’t think many families are shelling out 50 grand a year for classes alone.</p>
<p>It’s been said repeatedly from currrent and former students that having exams on Friday night is extremely rare, if not unheard of. I am not sure why you keep making a big deal out of this. I’d think any parent would have more important things to worry about than this! I personally never had one and never heard of anyone having any exam on Friday night. What more do you really want to talk about? Most professors schedule exams during class time but some may give it outside the class (perhaps because they want to give as many lectures as possible). If for some reason, certain professors decide to give the exams on Friday night, the school won’t stop them. The administration trusts that professors are sensible and intelligent adults; I think it’d be silly for the school to put something like “exams should be scheduled such and such with the following exceptions…” in writing! Talk about micro-management!</p>
<p>Wow, Sam, seems that you’re the Official Thread Police on at least three different fora.</p>
<p>THis thread had had no posts in FIFTEEN DAYS, but you had to resurrect it to be a scold.
Sheesh.</p>
<p>It’s disturbing how nasty and judgmental this place has gotten lately. A parent on another thread who was upset that her daughter got closed out of all classes of interested was piled on mercilessly. Judgmental posts seem to run almost equal to helpful ones lately.</p>
<p>Friday evening is a common exam time for core classes that meet at different times during the week that need to be brought together at a common time that works for everybody. This happened multiple times at Princeton and I’m sure it happened at Harvard because a friend I invited for a special event couldn’t make it because of a Friday night due date. I’ve also had Saturday and Sunday night due dates. </p>
<p>If you’re complaining incessantly about this issue, creating three separate threads, I’m pretty sure your kid is embarrassed for you. If he/she himself, has the issue, he does not belong at an elite school where academics are top priority. You’re probably a kid though by the way you’re acting. I agree with Sam Lee here.</p>
<p>I understand that students should not be bombarded with an overwhelming amount of work, but exams are a relatively rare occurrence and students have plenty of time to make arrangements if they have a conflict.</p>
<p>Bottom line: If you can’t handle taking some time out of your social life for an exam that occurs 3 times a semester (whose time/date you knew ahead of time), and you don’t have a religious reason for it, you probably shouldn’t be looking at schools where there is heavy emphasis on academics. That is seriously the least of your worries on the list of stressful things to do.</p>