Has anyone looked at the Sessional Date for 2009-2010? The last day of first term exams is December 22 and we have to go back to school on January 4th. That's a little over 1 week of vacation.
Most (if not all) other Universities/Colleges around get to go back on January 11th which is a full week later.

Now I have to alter my Christmas plans but all my friends and family (who go to and work at colleges in the area) get an extra week of vacation and get to keep the plans that I'm being left out on.

doubleyou.tee.eff.

is anyone else peeved at this?
does anyone know WHY they must torture us?

Originally Posted by janeller

Has anyone looked at the Sessional Date for 2009-2010? The last day of first term exams is December 22 and we have to go back to school on January 4th. That's a little over 1 week of vacation.
Most (if not all) other Universities/Colleges around get to go back on January 11th which is a full week later.

Now I have to alter my Christmas plans but all my friends and family (who go to and work at colleges in the area) get an extra week of vacation and get to keep the plans that I'm being left out on.

doubleyou.tee.eff.

is anyone else peeved at this?
does anyone know WHY they must torture us?

It's actually 13 days which is slightly under 2 weeks. I'm just hoping I don't have exams on the last couple days.

I'm pretty sure it's because we are starting later (Sept 10) and ending earlier (April 28). Last year I believe we started on the 3rd or 4th and we ended on the 29th or 30th.

Mac is unique in that way. Our schedule is different from most o ther universities. But it works out nicely. We finish fairly early and have a really long summer so whats there to complain about?

Originally Posted by janeller

Has anyone looked at the Sessional Date for 2009-2010? The last day of first term exams is December 22 and we have to go back to school on January 4th. That's a little over 1 week of vacation.
Most (if not all) other Universities/Colleges around get to go back on January 11th which is a full week later.

Now I have to alter my Christmas plans but all my friends and family (who go to and work at colleges in the area) get an extra week of vacation and get to keep the plans that I'm being left out on.

doubleyou.tee.eff.

is anyone else peeved at this?
does anyone know WHY they must torture us?

There's no guarantee that you will have exams towards the end of the exam period anyways. It sucks if you have to change plans, but there's still a chance you could have all of your exams in the first days of the exam period.

The point though, is that everyone else getting an extra week of vacation and, in fact, most schools start later than us because we always start on thursdays and they start monday. I think Mac is also usually last to finish inthe summer. This past year we ended the april term almost a week later than other schools.

Originally Posted by janeller

The point though, is that everyone else getting an extra week of vacation and, in fact, most schools start later than us because we always start on thursdays and they start monday. I think Mac is also usually last to finish inthe summer. This past year we ended the april term almost a week later than other schools.

Well, if that's actually the case, (and I can't confirm that it is) then it means we're getting more bang for our buck. I don't mind having more school for my tuition than everyone else.

Originally Posted by tauntobr

Well, if that's actually the case, (and I can't confirm that it is) then it means we're getting more bang for our buck. I don't mind having more school for my tuition than everyone else.

Haha that's such a good point that we often forget to think about. You have schools like UofT that might finish earlier, but automatically charge you like 5k even if you're not taking a full course load. How is that fair I wonder.

Hopefully we all get exam schedules that end early and it's even better. Plus there's reading week to think about. :]

Just hope you don't have exams all the way up to the end.

hahah this thread makes me realize that I'm SO not cut out for the academic environment of university (thank goodness this is my last year). I'm not enthusiastic enough about my education to think about how i'm getting more for my money. In my mind, I pay 10 thousand dollars a year to be here so I should get as much vacation time as I can take lol.

(Please note that my response is not a dig at anyone; I'm impressed that you're all excited to have more in-class time).

Originally Posted by janeller

Has anyone looked at the Sessional Date for 2009-2010? The last day of first term exams is December 22 and we have to go back to school on January 4th. That's a little over 1 week of vacation.
Most (if not all) other Universities/Colleges around get to go back on January 11th which is a full week later.

Now I have to alter my Christmas plans but all my friends and family (who go to and work at colleges in the area) get an extra week of vacation and get to keep the plans that I'm being left out on.

doubleyou.tee.eff.

is anyone else peeved at this?
does anyone know WHY they must torture us?

As an institution Mac does have a tenancy to go back earlier than most. I admit it kinda sucks, but I'd rather be spending $5k on 12-13 weeks of classes than 10 weeks, as already mentioned.

Torture? Until you've gone through real hardships (as I assume most of us have not, having the funds to go to school at the very least through some sort of loan), I would avoid being so melodramatic.

There are 65 other universities in Canada and at least 25 other colleges, and I'm pretty confident that we are not the only one who goes back January 4th. In the past I've had friends from Queens, Calgary and UofT who have gone back the same day as Mac.

I assume that high school and elementary school students will be going back the same day as us as well. But I suppose that may depend on the specific boards.

While everyone is all up in arms about this...Why not complain that some other universities also get a fall reading week, and that U of T gives their students a full week off before their exams start in the spring? And you may as well also complain that UBC and SFU are getting two weeks of reading week this winter as well.

I much prefer this system than finishing exams in mid-May. And I also assume
this is how Mac arranges the calendar year so summer school is done by the first week of August rather than mid-August.

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And just wait until you get into the working world where you start out with two weeks vacation, TOTAL.

does anyone know WHY they must torture us?

The same reason the dinosaurs are extinct:

"Because you touch yourself at night."

Originally Posted by lorend

Torture? Until you've gone through real hardships (as I assume most of us have not, having the funds to go to school at the very least through some sort of loan), I would avoid being so melodramatic.

1. I was totally over-exaggerating by using the word "torture". It wasn't a serious remark lol.

2. Accusing people of never having gone through hardships isn't the most sensitive thing I've ever heard.

Originally Posted by janeller

Accusing people of never having gone through hardships isn't the most sensitive thing I've ever heard.

Everybody has a story. Everybody has had some sort of challenge in their life. Honestly though no matter how much anyone complains, life isn't that bad if you're in university. There may be a couple of exceptions I won't deny it. However, having a 13 day vacation isn't really a hardship or something worth complaining about in my mind. Also, keep in mind that not everyone finishes on the last day. If they do finish on the last day, oh well, that's life. In addition, January isn't a very intense month when it comes to academics and though you attend class the workload isn't overwhelming. Not everyone is as privileged as we are to even attend university so if we have to be in class for a few extra days, be grateful. Maybe it's just me, I love being at Mac and I'm not ready to leave. In my eyes, the more days the better.

I'd also like to add that, at a time when class sizes are ballooning, programs are being cut, class offerings are reduced and students are using a wretched registration system that pretty much everyone despises, being outraged over a short vacation time seems, well, petty.

Lets keep our eyes on the ball here.

Since I'm in engineering, I know I probably will have an exam on the 22nd :(

I'd rather have summer be shorter and have longer breaks everywhere else. That way I don't have to work as long.