Don’t pay the price of missing final exams

By Mike DeYoung

What’s worse than completely bombing your most important final exam this week?

Forgetting to set your alarm clock to the right time to wake up for that final exam.

Students should beware that if you sleep in or accidentally mix up the time of your exam, your professor most likely will not cut you any slack. Professors are in agreement that if you miss the exam you probably cannot make up the exam.

“If someone misses the exam, they will get a zero,” accountancy professor Juilietta Gilbert said.

Emergency situations are the only way that you are going to get to take the exam at another time.

“If it’s for legitimate reasons, I have a make-up exam for them,” said Eliot Kang, an associate political science professor. “As long as they can provide documentation why they missed, say if their car broke down, I always make a point of giving a make-up.”

Using the excuse that your car was having trouble is not always the best excuse to give a professor when you miss your final exam. But, as long as you have documentation that proves you had car troubles, some professors will give a make-up exam. Not all professors will do this though.

Students who have emergency situations also can be excused from an exam, as long as they have proof.

“What happens is, if there is an emergency situation in the family, I’ll allow them to make up the exam later in the week,” Gilbert said.

Professors are lenient if the student has a family crisis, such as a death in the family.

Students who have a crisis like this can make the exam up later, as long as they show proof, Kang said.

Students also must notify the professor and have documentation if they are too sick to take the exam.

“If someone gets some sickness like mono, I tend to give them an incomplete until they make up the exam, assuming they cannot do it during finals week,” Kang said.