At Baruch College, Dec. 14 is reserved as Reading Day, a day off from classes that encourages students to study for their final examinations, but students say having finals on Reading Day defeats the point and extending it to a series of days would be more beneficial.

In a Google Form created by The Ticker surveying the Baruch community, students expressed their support for extending Reading Day by a few days or a week.

Brandon Nazario, who is enrolled in Economics 1002, one of the courses with a final test scheduled for Reading Day, is concerned about having one less day to study.

“It’s a difficult course and I have to prepare to know 18 chapters,” he said. Nazario proposed introducing final makeups into the academic schedule at Baruch.

Students felt that with additional time they could thoroughly study for their examinations and/or take a much-needed rest before their big tests.

“Cutting classes a week shorter to study would be great, especially in some cases where a midterm is a week before the final,” Jessie Wong, a statistics and psychology major who will graduate in May, said.

Ruth Cruz, a sophomore studying international business, agreed. She suggested Baruch incorporate a deadline into their academic calendar where professors can no longer assign assignments. This would help separate students’ studying time.

Setting assignments from lectures apart from the final exam might help students better manage their time. Students can learn more effectively if they focus their attention on studying rather than multitasking.

“Baruch can extend reading day to be a 2-day event, [right now] most students will probably be catching up doing work than actually studying for an exam,” Jennifer Vasquez, a sophomore pursuing business communication, said.

If given the extra time, students stated that they would study the final few topics they are unsure about and review last-minute study materials.

Ronny Popoteur, a senior studying sociology, noted how final examinations can be anxiety inducing because they account for a substantial portion of students’ grades. Having more study time can help to alleviate the excessive tension.

“Having finals in a big rush to meet the end of semester quota does not give students ample time to do their best,” Zain Mehar said. “Add on the fact that there are students taking multiple classes with their own respective deadlines, the imminent feeling of finals week can be stressful.”

There are universities that dedicate their whole reading day solely to preparation. Pace University’s academic calendar indicates that the final exam period starts after their study day.

Abby Coyne, a second-year transfer from Pace in music management, discussed how reading days support her with her hectic finals schedule. She said she would not be as prepared if she had to take an exam within that time frame.