Am I Stupid For This, Or Does It Matter?

[__patiently_waiting]

Soo, normally I make sure I do extremely well throughout the whole semester, then when finals come I have a really high grade & don't necessarily have to pass the exam to keep my grade.

Example: Going into the exam I had a 97.7 in Chemistry & only needed a 50 on the exam to keep my A.

Not saying that failing an exam is ideal, but not having to study as much does take ALOT of stress away since finals week is so intense. Does anyone else do this or is it just me?

[Hazel Newin]

I've been doing this since middle school. At the end of every semester, I take out the syllabus and do the math: If the final is weighted at x%, an A is any score above y, and I currently have an average of z, what's the lowest score I need to achieve to still pass the course with an A? It's a great feeling to map how well I've done plus the idea that I can do moderately well on some or most of my exams and still keep up my GPA is a huge relief and takes away a lot of the stress and worry I normally associate with test-taking.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Not stupid. However, I have seen courses where the final is cumulative and you must pass the final in order to pass the course, no matter your average from the other exams. Just make sure that is the case before you "write off" the final.

[Nursing2102]

I never go into an exam without trying to prepare, but I definitely know what you mean. I had maintained around 96ish in one of my nursing courses so when the final came around I wasn't really going crazy with studying for it like I was for my other classes where my grades were a bit lower.