This is just a concern i have about McMaster that i'm sure many students share.

I just wanted to inquire about the shortness of the Holiday break this year. I find it quite ridiculous that the break is so short. The majority of students are here until the 21st or 22nd of December, and classes commence for second semester January 4th? Is this the best McMaster can do? For people like me who finish on the 22nd that means we only have 12 days off. This completely unacceptable. Many other universities not only finish exams a week earlier, but do not have to return until the 11th. I know Guelph University does not return until then and Lakehead University has many exams ending this week (10th and 11th of December). This is only to name a few. Other schools such as Ottawa University end on the 22nd as well but do not have to go back to class until the 7th.

University students are pushed quite hard nowadays, and undergo many stresses. McMaster owes a longer break to its students this year with the lower quality of education experienced first semester. Not only did the new ELM system not work properly until early October, but a TA strike disrupted all students in a big way. When you couple that with the effects of swine flu on many McMaster students it is quite clear that 12 days off is hardly adequate.

McMaster has limited the hours of TA's to the point where in one of my classes the Professor must mark 300+ exams so the limitation of TA work hours is not exceeded. McMaster wants a solution to TA's working too much? Give them a few extra days off at Christmas a long with the students.

I thought it was mandatory for students to get 2 weeks vacation at Christmas? I guess not.. :/

I agree. I have an exam at 7:30 PM on the 22nd, the very last exam time slot. It's so ridiculous how short the break is this year, it wasn't this bad last year. Why is it that other schools get to have 2 reading weeks + longer winter breaks. It's so frustrating. Then we have to wait a really long time to get our grades back because they're still marking in the new year.

But, does this have to do with the fact we started on the 10th of September, which is pretty late?

even if it is, other schools that get the 2 reading weeks and longer break started at the same time

You're mad that we're getting more learning time for our money? That seems like a good thing to me...

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

You're mad that we're getting more learning time for our money? That seems like a good thing to me...

I don't think it's that we're getting more learning time - the exam period is really long, there's no reason to extend it to the 22nd. Really, we're getting more study time I guess, but that varies from person to person. I know some people who are done on the 15th.

I thought the holiday was a pretty decent length. Even if you have exams til the last possible day, you get 13 days. Maybe thats me though. I didn't come from high school where we got 2 weeks off every year. I came here from a job where I had to work 49 weeks a year, and many of the years I worked not only through the holiday season, but on the holidays themselves. I worked every major holiday, unless they happened to fall on my days off (weds, thurs, fri). My 18 days off is a godsend.

Not to mention I'm paying to come here, so like Andrew said, I see it as a good thing that I'm getting what I paid for.

students are the only consumers that are content if they get less than what they pay for

Originally Posted by manu

students are the only consumers that are content if they get less than what they pay for

Im a student, and no, I'm not :p

Originally Posted by manu

students are the only consumers that are content if they get less than what they pay for

to be honest, i'd rather have the extra days off. do you really think 3 or 4 more days of class would make a difference? besides, the university is going to cut TA hours later on if we have more days of class anyways.

We're not getting extra class time, we're getting more exam days. We ended sometime around the 18th last year, remember?

well assuming you have an exam on the last day (the 22nd) that still leaves you with 12 days of holidays.

I had an exam on the 22nd last year so no 18th is wrong.

Originally Posted by feonateresa

We're not getting extra class time, we're getting more exam days.

Which for most people means for time to prepare for exams, and get a higher grade, which is what it's all about, no?

But then, that still shortchanges a lot of students anyway, as a lot of them end much earlier (ex. the 15th). It just doesn't make sense either way.

Just wait until you get to the real world, where you'll start your life with 2 weeks of vacation a year. You're getting that at Christmas, and then 4 months off in the summer.