Final Exams Impact Well-being
Mental illness among college students is at a record high; many point to end of semester tests
Each year at the end of the semester, universities coordinate programs to help raise awareness for stress reduction. Pamphlets for health services are handed out. Therapy dogs are brought for students to ‘pet their stress away.’ Events like the University of Houston’s Finals Mania where students are fed pancakes at the library, are organized with hopes to reduce the stress of finals. But no matter how many dogs are pet, or pancakes ate, student’s stress continues to grow.
The mental health of college students has become a growing concern for public health officials. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, over 80 percent of students experience stress at some point in the semester, with the majority blaming finals as their biggest stressor.
While finals season is the most stressful time for most students, many don’t seek support. According to the faculty at University of Houston’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), students are less likely to seek counseling services during finals.
“CAPS has an increase in consultation requests from faculty/staff about students of concern. However we see an overall decrease in clients wanting to establish services,” said CAPS faculty.
The effects of stress on the body are paramount, with symptoms ranging from weight gain/loss, frequent headaches and heartburn. If left untreated, stress can trigger serious mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
According to a study conducted by the National Alliance of Mental Illness, three-fourths of those suffering from mental illness are diagnosed before the age of 24. The youth population is susceptible to developing chronic mental illnesses, especially with the addition of outside stressors, such as exams.
Students grow up taking standardized tests, which are meant to prepare them for higher education. The “No Child Left Behind” program implemented by President George W. Bush placed higher emphasis on standardized tests. This has been criticized as being a disservice to students and teachers, who now have to educate students for a test rather then a broader, less rigid curriculum.
High-stake exams have been linked to the rise in test anxiety among students. This affects student’s who suffer from anxiety negatively, and are less likely to score as high as their cucumber-cool counterparts.
At the University of Houston, Creative Writing Sophomore Cristobella Durrette said this semester was the easiest finals season since being in college.
“I think this has been my easiest finals season since I’ve been in college, in that I’ve gotten out of all my general requirements and moved more into my major courses,” said Durrette.
This is not surprising as general requirements typically require standard knowledge and are more prone to give scheduled proctored final exams.
The thought of removing proctored exams from curriculum is slowly gaining traction. A recent study at Harvard showed the faculty straying from traditional testing practices. Instead, professors are giving take home tests, or essays scheduled prior to the last weeks of school so that the students can work at their own pace.
Durrette credits her stress-free finals campaign to the lack of these traditional exams.
“A lot of them (final exams) were essays and projects, which is something I definitely excel at more than sitting down and taking a multiple choice test. It’s obviously stressful but it’s not nearly as I expected it to be,” said Durrete. “But, last semester, my last semester of freshman year, they were all like that. I was a mess. I was so stressed.”
The extinction of finals altogether will likely never happen; meaning students will continue to be overwhelmed with stress twice a year. This will require a better outreach from campus health services around the globe, which are already overloaded.
The International Association of Counseling Services recommends universities have one full-time staff member for every 1,000 students. Currently, the six largest schools in Texas are understaffed, but none more then UH.
This leads to increased wait time for students seeking help during finals week; time they don’t have. The average wait time during the last weeks of the semester for a CAPS consultation is approximately 30 minutes.
“To establish services students can walk-in for a brief triage between 8:30AM-4PM Mon-Fri. The triage session is usually 15–20 minutes and the goal is determine what services will be helpful for the student and whether their concerns would best be addressed at the University of Houston or with off-campus resources/providers. At this point in the semester the average wait-time for triages is approximately 30 minutes,” said CAPS faculty.
