The month of October is marked by the looming presence of mid-semester exams, papers and projects, triggering anxiety for many Tulane University students. For many classes, midterms are weighted just as heavily as finals. Yet, despite their equal importance, midterm season is not given the same grace as finals season on Tulane’s campus. 

At the end of each semester, Tulane grants a two-day “reading period” between the end of classes and the start of finals. This pause gives students time to study and prepare for their exams without having to simultaneously attend classes. 

During finals week, there are no classes, campus events or other Tulane-related commitments that prevent students from focusing on their final exams and assignments. The schedule allows students to develop temporary tunnel vision for finals.

The midterm period, however, looks drastically different. 

Students juggle critical exams, major projects and daily classwork, often while professors keep introducing new content that will be tested days later. Clubs, jobs and assignments do not pause for midterms, forcing students to balance everything at once. The fact that these important examinations take place while the world keeps going prevents students from having the time to adequately prepare for their assessments. 

By having a longer period to prepare for midterm exams and complete important assignments than finals, midterms may be more manageable for some. But, while midterms could be more spread out in theory, in practice, they cluster together just as tightly as finals, but without additional support or structure. 

Students face identical workloads but with none of the accommodations that make finals bearable.

To remedy this, Tulane could structure midterms similarly to finals, implementing a short reading period or a designated week for testing. Or, a simpler solution would be a culture shift where professors become more understanding during this midterm period. 

Professors could adopt strategies common in high schools and replace lectures with in-class review sessions or work periods. This would provide students with additional time and space to work in an environment where their professor is actively available to help them. 

If the university continues to ignore this unfair midterm stress, midterm burnout will remain a defining part of Tulane’s midyear experience. 

So, whether this university-wide shift is structural or cultural, it is clear that it is time for a change. Tulanians deserve to be educated in a space that is set up to foster their success, not function in a culture that rewards exhaustion and calls it ambition.