Pre-Med Holiday from Hell

"Holiday" has lost its meaning. For the students of Chemistry 30, there will be little to give thanks for this Thanksgiving. Professors Peter Chen and Yoshito Kishi have scheduled the third exam in Chemistry 30 for Monday, November 29th at 8 a.m. When one considers all the drawbacks of scheduling the exam for that date, one must wonder how such poor planning could have come about, and why, once objections to the date were raised, the date has not been changed.

Students who have purchased airline tickets in advance have had to change the dates of their flights (generally paying a fee to do so) in order to return Sunday night instead of Monday morning. For people flying on reduced rate tickets, the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the Thanksgiving weekend are likely to be black-out days (days on which reduced or free tickets from frequent flyer bonuses cannot be used). Thus, if they want to leave Harvard for Thanksgiving, they must return on Monday and miss the exam. In addition, students who rarely see their families will have to spend a significant portion of their Thanksgiving break studying for their exam. Students who are not at Harvard will not have the advantage of studying with others. Moreover, if questions arise while they are studying, there will be no way of answering them before the exam. Normally, teaching fellows hold review sessions for one or two nights before an exam. Since the exam is preceded by a long holiday, it is unlikely that students will have commenced studying or be prepared to ask critical questions if review sessions are offered before the break.

Admittedly, Chemistry 30 is a course with a vast amount of material to cover and must proceed on a tight schedule. It is also a large class, making it difficult to cater to individual needs. Hence the policy--NO MAKE-UP HOUR EXAMS. However, if the instructors of Chemistry 30 are unwilling to offer make-up exams, one would think it reasonable that the slightest bit of effort be made to schedule exams for times that would be practical for the greatest number of students. It is hard to imagine why the exam cannot be given on Wednesday, December 1, so that students with vacation plans could actually enjoy their holiday.

Some Chemistry 30 students cite this exam date as another of the trials endured by Harvard pre-meds. One said, "if this were a Core class, the instructors would never schedule an exam for 8 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving--No one would go." I'm not a pre-med. Why do I care? Why am I writing this letter? Many of my good friends are pre-meds. I hear frequent complaints about 9 a.m. classes, clicker pens, and 20 page problem sets done on the computer. Perhaps some Chemistry 30 students would choose to spend their Thanksgiving break studying--they can do so regardless of impending exams, but I think it is reasonable to say that a fair number of students would prefer to spend their break unwinding, vacationing, or spending time at home with their families. Harvard should not encourage the "anal" tendencies of some pre-meds by forcing all Chemistry 30 students to spend their vacation studying. I am writing this letter because, as a non-concentrator, I can. I'm not trying to impress the professor and I won't fail Chemistry 30 because of it.

P.S. I'm spending Thanksgiving at the beach. Kate Clark-Schmidt '96