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The weekend before finals has long been a time to camp out at the library, putting in hours of studying for the upcoming week’s tests. This year, some students will be setting their alarms before 8 a.m. Saturday morning not for a study date, but to head to their final exam. 

Because of a change in the finals calendar to make sure grades are submitted in time for a financial aid deadline, final exams will be held this Saturday for students in 357 class sections.

For some students, this means getting to head home for the holidays early. Others will miss having the weekend off, which they usually use to study. And although this benefits the administration, it’s not surprising that more than a couple of students are chafing at this new finals schedule.

Atalie Delgado, sophomore in ACES, is one of the many students who will be affected by this new change. She currently has an exam scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday for her molecular and cellular biology class with Kenneth Chapman. 

“I am not particularly enthused about the time, but the fact it is a Saturday morning doesn’t bother me too much. I would rather that than have a packed finals schedule during the week,” Delgado said.

Rebecca Kelly, sophomore in ACES, also shares this opinion, but finds her schedule time on Saturday to be more convenient. 

“I have one at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. I don’t really mind too much though, because I want to get done early so I can go home to my family,” she said.

While some students may take the positive approach, agreeing that it could be beneficial, others think the new change will cause problems for their set study habits.

Joe Conway, sophomore in Engineering, thinks Saturday finals are unnecessary. 

“I think Saturday finals are kind of stupid because I usually use the whole weekend to study for my finals that I have on Monday and Tuesday, but a Saturday final just takes away from my study time. And who wants to take a test on a weekend?” Conway said.

Even students who do not have to take a final on Saturday feel remorse for those who are not as fortunate with their finals schedule.

Kevin Szubrych, sophomore in Engineering, said: “I do not have a Saturday final this semester. I think Saturday finals are a bad idea because students need the free time of the weekend to put more time into the more difficult subjects they may be studying.”

But when all’s said and done, students might be able breathe easy for at least this reason: administrators don’t expect a repeat of the weekend final until December 2017, hopefully long enough for all current students to get their Saturday finals out of the way. 

Christen can be reached at cmcglyn2 @dailyillini.com.