How To: Take an Exam
The London Business School Edition
With two exams under my belt (successfully TDB) I think it's time to share how this very important part of a university degree differs from UF to LBS. The schools themselves are so incredibly different - from 50,000 students to a few thousand, from a city that is mostly the campus to a campus that is barely a percentage of the city - I could go on and on. I do think though that most of the differences can be chalked up to the national university system.
If you think you ever may study in the UK, especially if you would be making the leap across the pond from the USA, or are a curious soul - read on!
1. Kiss a few Friday nights goodbye
My two midterm exams were on Saturday mornings. I suspect this is a highly LBS specific problem as we're nearly at capacity and it is the only time there are enough free lecture halls for all 174 of us to be spread out. While this is similar to UF exams happening at 8:20 at night (a time I'm sure no Warrington student will ever forget), it is a lot less fun.
2. Start your finger exercises and put down that pencil
I'm not sure that the scantron has made it to London yet. This was a real shock after four years of bubbling bubbles. Additionally troubling is that my S's look like a mix between an r, s, 7 and / which is a real potential issue when writing formulas. I had to take extra time to write carefully which put some stress on my timing to finish the exams.
3. Say the word "invigilator" 10 times fast
We got an email before the exam explaining that the 'invigilator would do this and the invigilator will do that' and I honestly couldn't stop the giggles. Is that a super hero? A masseuse? A robot? No - just an overly fancy word for proctor or exam administrator. Strangely these mythical creatures who sit with us in the exam room are totally random school employees who have nothing to do with the class. Gone are the days of looking to the front of the finance exam and thinking "Look at those friendly TAs - if they could do it, so can I."
4. Be prepared to wait
In the UK exams are graded by two people. Final exams are even graded by an external grader, in some effort to assure that LBS isn't marking its students too high (I need to do some research on this - seems like it would cause a regression to the mean to me). This in combination with the lack of scantrons means that grades take a while to get back. It is still left to be seen if we will be able to look over our work.
There you have it, my by no means exhaustive guide to taking an exam in the UK. I hope by the end of the program to be able to judge qualitatively which system is better.
Fellow MiMs and other who have studied abroad: If you're reading this, what other exam policies have you come across? Did I miss anything? I'd love to hear in the comments. =D
