What’s worse: finals or midterms?

Jason Gehrke, History: “Finals week is definitely better than midterms because all I have to do is talk about history with my friends.”

Mardi Billman, Chemistry: “Midterms are difficult because you all look so stressed and sad. Finals are nice because of the finality of it and once it’s finished, it’s finished.”

Elizabeth Fredericks, English: “Midterms are more difficult because grading starts to pile up and all of my students look tired. Finals are much better because everything is more relaxed.”

Gary Wolfram, Economics: “The hardest time for me to be a professor is the two weeks I spend grading the two midterms. I have between 90 and 100 students and I give essay exams because I want my students to be able to explain a correct answer, not just recognize a right answer. So it takes a good deal of time and effort to get them graded within a week. The rest of the year is easier because I can focus on lecturing and interacting with the students.”

Mark Moyar, History: “I’d say midterm season is more difficult because you still have a lot of other things going on. You may have papers to grade and you are also preparing for your next classes. At finals time most of that has subsided and extracurriculars and other things have stopped.”

Jon Balsbaugh, Education: “I haven’t experienced finals week as a professor, but I think midterms will end up being harder because there is still another half of the semester to get through.”