Dude, That's Rude: Midterms Edition

Midterms. Once they start, they literally never end. You wake up on an otherwise ordinary day in September to start studying for your first midterm and then you never stop until your last “miDteRM”— which is most likely a week before your first final. Of all the things that suck about academically rigorous work at an academically rigorous school, midterms take the cake for being the absolute worst part of it. Here are my main qualms with midterms at Harvard:

They’re Never in the Middle of the Semester.

In fact, my first “midterm” this semester was during the second week of school. Dear Dean K, who decided that the middle of the term was the beginning of September? Midterms in September should be banned — I’m still figuring out how to get to all my classes and eat three meals a day. Or at least two. And sleep eight hours. And socialize. Spoiler Alert: I’m not entirely sure if I'll ever figure that out.

They Somehow All End Up On the Same Day.

Even though they’re spread out from Mid-September to Mid-December, all your midterms somehow end up being on the same day. I’m looking at you MCB 60, Chem 17, and potentially Psych 1. Thank you for stealing all my friends on the dreaded last Wednesday of September.

You Can’t Make Plans With Friends.

With midterms spread throughout the semester for every class, there’s nothing you and your friend’s excellent g-cal skills can do for anyone. At least one person will have an exam the week that you all want to grab dinner, go to a party, or finally explore what’s out of the Harvard Bubble.

And then there’s still MORE work.

Professors still think it's a good idea to assign psets, lab reports, essays and weekly Canvas discussion posts for the very same class you have an upcoming midterm for. Incoming petition to give us a break: loading…

Their Existence.

Deep down, I know we all know that midterms might somehow, maybe, kind of, ish, serve a purpose (potentially?), but it doesn’t change the fact that the biggest ick of them all is that they exist in the first place. How dare you evaluate my knowledge of a subject I signed up to learn and master. Ridiculous.

All jokes aside — we’re wishing you all the best on your midterms during this never-ending exam season! Exams or no exams, the future is looking up because it's also Spooky Season → Thanksgiving → Harvard-Yale → Winter holiday season!