Final Exams
Final Exam Information for Fall 2024
The Final Exam Period Dates are: Monday, December 16th - Thursday, December 19th.
The lists and schedules linked below will be updated with Fall 2024 information on Monday, September 23rd. Lists and schedules are subject to change.
Important Information Below:
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For Students
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For Faculty
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For Academic Administrators
Final Exam Information for Students
There are three standard exam sessions each day - please note schedule exceptions listed below.
Morning Session: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Afternoon Session: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM Exception: There is no afternoon exam on Wednesday, December 18th
Evening Session: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM Exception: There is no evening exam on Thursday, December 19th (the last day of exams)
Fixed Schedule Exams
A fixed schedule exam takes place on campus in person at a specific day and time (scheduled by the Registrar’s Office) in an assigned classroom. The entire class takes the exam at this time. The Fixed Exam Schedule details which classes will have the type of final exam. The instructor administers the exam (or arranges for an alternate faculty or staff member to administer the exam).
Students who have approval through ADR to take a Fixed Exam with accommodations must contact their instructor to make appropriate arrangements. Instructors will work with the Registrar’s Office to book a space for an exam which allows for extra time. If students need accommodations beyond extra time, they also need to work with the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources to make additional arrangements.
Self-Scheduled Exams
Self-scheduled exams are held on campus in person -- a student enrolled in a course with a Self Scheduled Exam will choose when to take their exam during any of the exam sessions during the Final Exam Period (see above for the scheduled start and end of each daily session). The Exam Center is located in the Science Center Innovative Hub.
Students check out their exam at the Science Center Innovative Hub from the Registrar’s Office and have a set time in which to take the exam and check it back in at the same location. Self-Scheduled Exams are specified as either Closed Book (no reference material of any kind is allowed) or Open Book (the instructor provides details to students about the permissible reference materials they may use during the exam). Students must provide their Wellesley College ID card as identification (or another form of picture ID if their College ID card is not legible).
Students who need to take their Self-Scheduled Exam with any kind of accommodations must have their arrangements pre-approved by the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources. Details about the exam accommodations will be arranged with these students individually. Students with arranged accommodations will check their exams out from the lobby in the east side of the Grey Lot Modulars and will take their exams in the Grey Lot Modulars.
Wellesley College has a strong and successful history of Self-Scheduled examinations. This tradition survives due to our community's commitment to the Wellesley College Honor Code.
Virtual Final Exam
A student enrolled in a course with a Virtual Final Exam will receive instructions from their faculty member about how to access the exam and when and how it must be taken and returned. This type of exam is administered by the instructor (for example, via the course’s Sakai Site) and must be taken during the Final Exam period, to be completed at the latest by 4PM on the last day of the exam period. An instructor may not offer a virtual final exam to individual students if the final exam is scheduled for the class as a Self-Scheduled or Fixed Schedule exam.
The Honor Code applies at all times and to all examination circumstances.
Students are expected:
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To do their own work
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To use only materials the instructor has explicitly allowed during the exam (including use of a calculator)
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To complete self-scheduled and fixed scheduled exams in the designated exam classroom(s)
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To return the exam within in the designated amount of time
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To leave all their materials and the exam at their desk if they use the restroom during an exam
Students should not:
- Take the exam out of the exam room except to return it to the exam center
- Speak with other students about any of their exams, including discussion of the difficulty, content, format, or any other aspect of the exam
Check the Guide to Final Exams below for more information about Self-Scheduled exams such as exam session times and exam center locations.
If you have any questions about Final Exams, please email the Registrar's Office at registrar@wellesley.edu or call 781-283-2307.
Students who observe a religious holiday that coincides with an scheduled examination or an academic deadline will follow the process of providing their faculty with a notification of religious observance and a request for accommodation. The Religious Life website explains these policies and procedures.
Checking out an Exam
When students arrive at the Exam Center in the Science Center Innovative Hub, they will see exam checkout tables arranged alphabetically by student last name. Students may pick up an exam as early as 30 minutes before the exam session begins.
Students have 2 ½ hours to complete their exam plus 10 minutes time to travel to and from the exam room, starting from the time they pick up their exam. An exam that is picked up after the exam session begins must be returned no later than the exam session end time (that is, the student acknowledges that they will not be granted time past the allotted end time of the session to complete the exam). When the exam is checked out, the latest return time allowed will be noted on the exam packet. Students must return their exam by the time noted on the exam packet. If the exam is returned later than this time the instructor will be notified and the instructor may impose a penalty.
Open-Book exams and Closed-Book exams must be taken in separate, designated rooms. These rooms will be listed on the label of each student exam packet and on signage outside of each classroom.
If the exam requires blue books, it will be noted on the envelope. Students should pick up blue books with their exam packet. Students must include any blue books they use in the envelope when they return their exam, even if they were only used as scrap paper.
Students will be asked to sign the Wellesley College Honor Code on the back of their exam packet as part of the exam check out process before the exam is taken.
During the Exam
Once in the room, the student is free to begin taking the exam. No electronic devices of any kind (including cell phones and headphones) are permitted. There is no proctor in the room during the exam. In the room will be displayed several posters reminding students of general guidelines for Self-Scheduled Exams, the Honor Code and what a student should do if they witness a violation, and what a student can do in case they feel ill during the exam. Students are responsible for keeping careful track of the time and for returning their exam back by the time it is due. Students should not set any audible alarm as this will create a disturbance for the other students present.
Students may use the restroom but must leave the exam in the exam room when they do. Students may take the exam out of the exam room only when they have completed their exam, and put all exam materials including any blue books they used into the exam packet and sealed it, and are ready to return the exam to the exam center.
Returning the Exam
Students return their completed exam, along with all blue books, to the same place where they picked it up -- the Science Center Innovative Hub. A staff member will assist the student by accepting the final exam and logging the time it was returned.