How come we only have one reading week in February before our midterms? I thought reading week was sorta like a study week where we can catch up/study for upcoming tests/midterms so wouldn't it make sense to have one in first term as well since we do have midterms/tests in first term...?

i guess i'm just a bit stressed out lately since october is midterm month (though many have a second wave of tests coming up in november).. like last year, the reading week in february gave me a chance to catch up on all my reading and do additional studying.. what i wouldn't give for a free week right now.. =(

I agree...I'd rather we had a 2nd reading week, and finished a week later/started a week earlier.

It'd help the stress levels majorly.

Ya i would like one too...I think York has two reading weeks :(

Eh...unless we started earlier, we'd lose a week and that week would have to be made up by going faster in the other lectures.

The school year would have to start earlier, and that would mean not adhering to the "week after labour day" rule, which means that we would have a long weekend right at the beginning of the school year which would be kind of awkward (everyone moves in, gets settled and then a long weekend?)

Finishing the school year a week later wouldn't work since the start of second term is dictated by the end of christmas break, and not necessarily by the beginning of the school year.

If the school year didn't start earlier, then we would get less class time which I am inclined to say no to... As far as I'm concerned, one reading week = better bang for my tuition dollars. I'm not paying for time off.

Originally Posted by Taunton

The school year would have to start earlier, and that would mean not adhering to the "week after labour day" rule, which means that we would have a long weekend right at the beginning of the school year which would be kind of awkward (everyone moves in, gets settled and then a long weekend?)

Finishing the school year a week later wouldn't work since the start of second term is dictated by the end of christmas break, and not necessarily by the beginning of the school year.

How is it other schools manage to have 2 readings weeks then?

Other universities and colleges have a study week this week.

I know because I'm currently sulking about my sister getting the week off while I have a ton of shit to do and I could really use a week off lectures.

Originally Posted by sew12

How is it other schools manage to have 2 readings weeks then?

Other universities and colleges have a study week this week.

I know because I'm currently sulking about my sister getting the week off while I have a ton of shit to do and I could really use a week off lectures.

I looked up York's sessional dates (York gets two reading weeks)... they started classes one day before us, and exams begin 2 days later, so they get less class time than we do. That means they get less education for their money... I'm not willing to accept that.

I looked up Trent's information (they also get 2 reading weeks), and they get 11 weeks of classes in first term, and we get 13. We get more education for our dollar, and again, I'm not willing to give that up.

I'm not paying for time off. Don't think for a second that if we got a reading week in term 1 that our tuition would go down.

Originally Posted by Taunton

I looked up York's sessional dates (York gets two reading weeks)... they started classes one day before us, and exams begin 2 days later, so they get less class time than we do. That means they get less education for their money... I'm not willing to accept that.

I looked up Trent's information (they also get 2 reading weeks), and they get 11 weeks of classes in first term, and we get 13. We get more education for our dollar, and again, I'm not willing to give that up.

I'm not paying for time off.

IF you actually use study/reading week to study/work on assignments and/or read than I would say the extra week off would help the quality of your education. I know my work suffers when I feel stressed and have a million things to do in a short period of time.

I really wish I could have this week off if all it meant was slightly less class time. Maybe its just me but assignments are the things generating the bottom line in my classes and having some time off to catch up on readings and begin/complete assignments would be more than welcome.

11 weeks vs. 13? No way I want that - if they learned as much as we did they'd have to move faster than us.

If you're complaining about the level of work you have now, imagine how it would be if you had a reading week now, but then what happens in November when you have to move faster to make up this week you 'lost' now?

Assuming they do not move faster than us, the only other option is that they do not learn as much as us.

Not down for that, either.

Originally Posted by sew12

IF you actually use study/reading week to study/work on assignments and/or read than I would say the extra week off would help the quality of your education. I know my work suffers when I feel stressed and have a million things to do in a short period of time.

I really wish I could have this week off if all it meant was slightly less class time. Maybe its just me but assignments are the things generating the bottom line in my classes and having some time off to catch up on readings and begin/complete assignments would be more than welcome.

I understand that sentiment, but to me it feels like my dollar has more value if I have more class time. More class time means more material covered, more time in tutorials and labs, and more education in general.

The ol' Tauton and Sew thread....guess that STD is busy...

Less school = less respect for degree

I heard that depression rates were highest in college/university students around February, and that's why Reading Week was put into place.

I have NO idea if that's even remotely true and I can't find anything on Google.

Maybe I should clarify my stance.

For my program specifically I feel like we would benefit from a week off in order to have time to focus on working on our major projects and assignments that will be due. We don't have exams in most of our courses so the bulk of the course mark is made up from our progress on, presention of and the final product for our major product. Therefore less lecture time doesn't really affect us all that much. We cover a lot of material important in aiding us in creating our final project this is true but there isn't normally an exam at the end (sometimes tests within the course) that we need to be able to cover a set amount of material for.

I have a lot of projects and assignments with due dates approaching in early November and presentations to prepare for etc. I personally feel a week off at this point would be very beneficial, but that is just me and based on my courses and what is going on at this point in my education.

Obviously lots of people disagree with me and they feel they need the extra time to cover material in lecture that will no doubt be on their final exam and I understand this. Just clarifying that having time to work on my projects would be worth it to me, I don't feel it would be a waste of my money.

Originally Posted by Taunton

I looked up York's sessional dates (York gets two reading weeks)... they started classes one day before us, and exams begin 2 days later, so they get less class time than we do. That means they get less education for their money... I'm not willing to accept that.

Well I don't mind not having 2 reading weeks...good to know the money I paid for tuition is well spent. We'll have two weeks off after exams anyway (I'm pretty sure we finish exams earlier than York does) and that's not so far off with how fast the days go.

It should also be noted that only undergrads get a reading week...for everyone else (grad students, profs, support staff etc) the week is exactly the same.