20071107

On Irish Exams

Exams at NUIG are not held all on campus, like at home, but are at various locations throughout the city. This means either leaving an hour and a half ahead of time to walk, figuring out the almost non-existent public transportation system, or taking an expensive taxi. There are two times per day that exams can be held (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and they occur over the period of two weeks. We find out November 15, a month before they end - very unlike Madison where you know before you even register for classes. One thing I prefer over Madison is that we actually get time to study; and it's not just a Saturday thrown in that doesn't really count as some people actually have exams then and it's a weekend day, we get a whole week. A week to study followed by two weeks of exams! But exams are longer; mine are either 2 or 3 hours in length, and count for anywhere between 60 and 100% of my grades. Which sucks. I've decided that I like Madison as a school much much better than NUIG, where processes are outdated, inconvenient, and poorly run.