As January begins coming to a close, high school students anxiously await for one of the most important moments in their academic career: the finals. The sheer amount of stress that students have to endure while studying for finals make the students wonder: Is there too much emphasis on finals?

Final exams usually cover an entire semester’s worth of material and are given toward the end of each semester. Although many students would much rather choose not to take these tests, they can definitely help boost the grades of those who have missed the opportunity through previous assignments or tests, since finals are usually worth much more than a typical exam. According to Eddie Jang (10), “Some teachers give finals that are really similar to their past tests but are worth a lot more points, so students can take advantage of that in order to help them raise their grades.” For many of those who have borderline grades in their classes, finals can help them receive the grades they desire.

These tests are a great way to help students recap everything they had learned since September within a span of a few days. Final exams also help indicate how much a student really knows and test his or her knowledge, which is especially beneficial for AP students, most of whom plan to take the challenging AP exams in May. Chester Liu (11) says, “When I start studying for finals, I am reminded of a lot of things that I learned but had totally forgotten about.” Many kids can agree with Liu about finals’ helpful aspect.

It is true that finals may force students to be paranoid, but the emphasis schools put on them can be seen in a positive light. Maggie Chen (9) states, “I don’t really stress over finals as much as other people do. I treat them the same way I do with any other test and hope for the best.”

Although preparing for the finals is very stressful, these exams help students to not only review all the material they have covered during the semester, but to also have a significant boost in their grades.