{"id":450,"date":"2010-12-14T23:11:35","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T04:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/?p=450"},"modified":"2010-12-14T23:11:35","modified_gmt":"2010-12-15T04:11:35","slug":"the-insiders-guide-to-exams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/2010\/12\/14\/the-insiders-guide-to-exams\/","title":{"rendered":"The Insider’s Guide to Exams"},"content":{"rendered":"

December at Harvard means one thing: finals. For the last three weeks of the semester, students spend the majority of their time writing final papers, finishing final projects, and studying for their impending final exams. We\u2019re lucky in that we have a full week of \u201creading period,\u201d during which there are no formal classes or exams and students are given time to crunch down.<\/p>\n

If that sounds stressful\u2026it\u2019s because it is. It\u2019s hard to deny that finals period is the most intense part of the semester \u2013 the libraries fill up, Houses have a \u201czero-parties\u201d policy, and the line for coffee at Starbucks is consistently 15 minutes long. Luckily, though, I\u2019ve spent (er, wasted) much of my reading period testing out different study spots, coffee shops, and snack stops in an attempt to find my perfect combination. Given my extensive research (glad to see reading period was good for something!), I\u2019ve developed a list of my favorite exam period standbys. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a non-library, coffee shop studier who loves Dunkin\u2019 Donuts and pizza from Noch\u2019s. Hopefully my bias doesn\u2019t come through too strongly, though!<\/p>\n

Best Libraries<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Widener<\/em> \u2013 Great for the \u201cI go to Harvard\u201d feeling. The main study room is really official looking, with long tables and lots of students doing seemingly important things. Plus, the silent study rule makes it a great place to crank out some work.<\/li>\n
  2. Lamont<\/em> \u2013 While it gets really packed over reading period, Lamont being open 24 hours makes it a convenient spot for late-night cramming. Misery loves company!<\/li>\n
  3. Law School library <\/em>\u2013 Conveniently right off the Yard, and stocked with free coffee! Hard to beat, but few undergrads.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Best Non-Library Study Spots<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Starbucks in the Garage <\/em>\u2013 While there are two Starbucks locations in the Square, the one in the Garage is much larger and has big tables and booths. Constant supply and coffee and snacks if you need them! Downside is that if you stay more than an hour, you start hearing their holiday playlist on repeat.<\/li>\n
    2. Crema Caf\u00e9<\/em> \u2013 A small, local coffee and sandwich shop with a great upstairs seating area. Again, delicious snacks at the ready! There\u2019s no wifi, though, which can be good or bad, depending on the type of work you need to get done.<\/li>\n
    3. Quincy Dining Hall <\/em>\u2013 The Houses leave their dining halls open at night so students can hang out and study. Quincy\u2019s is the best for serious work \u2013 big tables, good lighting, and comfortable chairs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Best Coffee and Tea<\/strong> (for you caffeine-addicted readers\u2026)<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Dunkin\u2019 Donuts<\/em> \u2013 Ok, ok. Dunkin\u2019 Donuts doesn\u2019t actually have the best coffee, if you\u2019re looking for quality of bean or any sort of real measure of quality. Being from New England, though, I\u2019m biased! The guy at the DD up the street knows my order.<\/li>\n
      2. Crema Caf\u00e9 <\/em>\u2013 Great home brews and cute coffee cups! They make the drinks to order, so everything\u2019s really fresh.<\/li>\n
      3. Starbucks<\/em> \u2013 I hate to admit it, but it\u2019s true. It\u2019s hard to beat Starbucks in terms of convenience, tastiness, and options.<\/li>\n
      4. Burdick’s<\/em> – Admittedly, Burdick’s is known for it’s hot chocolate, not it’s coffee, but their mochas are delicious. The dark hot chocolate is especially tasty, as well! Small tables, but they have wifi – good place to check your email or edit a paper.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Best Brain-Boosting Snacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Slice of pizza from Noch\u2019s<\/em> \u2013 Make sure you ask for Sicilian! Cheesy and delicious, and made even better when used as a break from studying. My recommendation is to get a slice of whatever\u2019s coming out of the oven.<\/li>\n
        2. Smoothie from Boloco<\/em> \u2013 One of the three burrito places in the Square, but this one has a plethora of smoothie options that are both sweet and filling.<\/li>\n
        3. Bagel from Au Bon Pain<\/em> \u2013 Best part about ABP is that it\u2019s open til 2 am. Anything with sugar and carbs is going to be super helpful getting through that late night of studying!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          December at Harvard means one thing: finals. For the last three weeks of the semester, students spend the majority of their time writing final papers, finishing final projects, and studying for their impending final exams. We\u2019re lucky in that we have a full week of \u201creading period,\u201d during which there are no formal classes or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2497,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29772],"tags":[3151,3095,29830,29833],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-carolines-blog","tag-coffee","tag-exams","tag-reading-period","tag-study"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions\/452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}