It’s the week before finals. You’re surrounded by all your books and notes at midnight, drowning in caffeine, trying to cram in all the knowledge and secure your target grade. Sound familiar? Finals week often is naturally a source of stress for students, as it is worth a lot of your grade. One thing debatable is if homework the week before helps students prepare for the exams.

I first asked freshman Shreeya Subramani what she thinks of assignments the week before finals. She responded, “I think it serves as a review, as then it gives you structure to help you prepare.” Subramani says this only applies, however, if the homework serves as a study guide, and all otherwise serves a hassle.

Advanced Algebra 2 and Geometry teacher, Mr. Whetstone, agrees with this. “…Homework helps if it’s designed to mirror or mimic things on the exam,” he says.

Senior Gill Advincula also finds this true, although for different reasons. “…I personally don’t have the attention span for traditional studying time.” She explains how she considers the homework itself as her studying. “Even if it is on the remaining lessons before the finals, I will use up that time to learn those concepts as well.”

Contrasting Subramani and Advincula, one may argue that homework in general suffocates a student’s schedule, making it harder for them to study on their own time in their own ways, and hindering their performance and increasing stress levels. Advincula agrees that this is true, but she also thinks stress is a good motivator to make sure she prepares in the first place. “…It really does make me lock in… I think it’s because I need a hard deadline to get things done.”

Whetstone, claims, “If they’re [the students] are doing their work, they’re going to naturally do better.”

Whetstone also motivates students to study by giving a semester final review a month in advance. This gives students the opportunity to prepare beforehand and use this as a guide, this way they do not feel crammed. Subramani shares, “My teachers give us time in class to work on finals or study for them,” She notes how helpful it is.

There is the argument of those less fortunate who are still learning new topics, being given assignments for it, and lacking class time. Though not uncommon, this still interferes with a student’s study time, which is a main reason they find themselves staying up late trying to prepare.

Whetstone says that this all comes down to prioritizing your time. “A focus would be the weekend before, studying diligently, maybe extra time.” When you find yourself pressed like this, Mr. Whetstone recommends focusing on your set of finals.

Regardless of your schedule and what you’re learning style is, it is no doubt the finals are something definitely worth taking the time to prepare for. For some less or no homework the week before will do them better so they can study of their own accord, while others prefer the structure their teachers give them. Wherever you’re at, I hope your hard work pays off well in your finals and I wish you good luck.