I have an exam i have to write and im freaking out because im scared its going to be soo much harder and i need an 11 or 12 in this course ! PLEASE HELP :(

In order to make things fair, the exam must be of the same difficulty as the original. For instance, if somebody lost their grandparent on the day of their exam, why should they be penalized for writing a deferred exam?

People usually slack off studying and its hard to remember this content when you aren't in the course and that's why people tend to find it harder even though it is not.

No. They are typically at the same level from what I hear. Some professors have been known to use the same question load-out rearranged (frowned upon). You can expect the most difficult questions from the regular exam to reappear in your deferred version. This is just from what I've heard from friends in the faculty of engineering, and upper year commerce classes.

Originally Posted by User22

I have an exam i have to write and im freaking out because im scared its going to be soo much harder and i need an 11 or 12 in this course ! PLEASE HELP :(

Relax. It's a bit late to decide whether or not you're gonna defer based on the difficulty of deferred exams...that ship sailed a long time ago. As you said, you have to write the exam whether it's harder or not, so worrying about whether or not it's harder shouldn't matter and will only take time away from studying. If you want a good grade then you should be studying at about the same level regardless.

Also the world won't end if you don't get an 11 or 12

Just chill out...and put that energy towards studying

You guys must not be in engineering, if you defer an exam or midterm for us, the makeup test is to a much higher degree of difficulty. and sometimes the profs decide to enforce an oral exam instead, just to really make you regret your choice. Must be nice being able to defer tests with no consequences

That doesn't seem fair. Could you not take that up with the Ombuds office? I know engineering is brutal and I have immense respect for your workloads but intentionally being screwed over - that's just not right.

Originally Posted by Chris23

You guys must not be in engineering, if you defer an exam or midterm for us, the makeup test is to a much higher degree of difficulty. and sometimes the profs decide to enforce an oral exam instead, just to really make you regret your choice. Must be nice being able to defer tests with no consequences

Thats because in engineering (especially ECE), alot of people abuse the MSAF and defer anything they are not prepared for.

Originally Posted by Chris23

You guys must not be in engineering, if you defer an exam or midterm for us, the makeup test is to a much higher degree of difficulty. and sometimes the profs decide to enforce an oral exam instead, just to really make you regret your choice. Must be nice being able to defer tests with no consequences

You should go on to note that this only happens in ECE, Phys, and Mech... And it's very rare.

Originally Posted by Chris23

You guys must not be in engineering, if you defer an exam or midterm for us, the makeup test is to a much higher degree of difficulty. and sometimes the profs decide to enforce an oral exam instead, just to really make you regret your choice. Must be nice being able to defer tests with no consequences

Sure. Must be nice to have a family member's funeral on the day of your exam. Or be hospitalized the night before your exam. Or any of the other legitimate reasons people have for deferring. I'm totally jealous.


As Bushra pointed out, there SHOULDN'T be negative consequences for deferring, because why would you punish someone for something like that? It sucks that they do, and you could probably do something about it if you wanted.

For biology and psychology at least, the deferred exams are generally the same difficulty as normal exams. I've even heard of profs using the same questions on the deferred exams.
That being said, the difficulty of deferred exams is more about the student slacking, not having the same resources (peers, TAs) as during finals, and forgetting a lot of previously learned material.

^ Agreed. I think most profs rest assured that most students screw themselves over for a deferred exam rather than anything else. Few will make it "intentionally more tricker" IMO.

Originally Posted by Chris23

You guys must not be in engineering, if you defer an exam or midterm for us, the makeup test is to a much higher degree of difficulty. and sometimes the profs decide to enforce an oral exam instead, just to really make you regret your choice. Must be nice being able to defer tests with no consequences

that sounds like the voice of experience, you bitter hypocrite.

Originally Posted by tyrant

that sounds like the voice of experience, you bitter hypocrite.

actually i have yet to defer a midterm or final exam and im heading into fourth year. and to make things clear, i never said that there arent people who have good reasons why they must defer a test, but to be realistic, a lot of people defer tests because they simply dont care to put in the effort to be prepared on time for the test. So yeah I see no problem with professors making the deferred tests have a higher degree of difficulty. Either way, whether or not you have a good reason, you are being given more time than the rest of the class to study, so teachers should hold the right to change the difficulty of the testing material. Dont like it? Then dont put off studying to the last minute. If you have a legitimate reason? Sorry it sucks, but I can bet that there are loads more people deferring tests due to being unprepared as opposed to having legit reasons. So no i dont think they should reap the benefits of the few who do have a real reason for deferring. Is it fair for all? no. but it is fair to the greater percentage of students

In Software Eng., based on people I know, they would go as far as to say that the deferred exam was identical to the original exam in some cases. Get to know your professor, if they seem lazy with assignments and quizzes, they probably are. It really all depends on who your prof is. But in the case that your exams aren't the same, they will more than likely be of the same difficulty level.