Academic Advising Resource Center

Final Exam Time Change

The final exam schedule is determined by the college registrar and is posted on the Office of the Registrar’s website in the summer before the fall semester and by late November for the spring semester.

An individual student may not take a final examination or submit a final project at other than the scheduled day/time for that course by the registrar—not even at the time allocated to other sections of the same course—without special permission from an  assistant dean for student support in the Academic Advising Resource Center (for courses in the College of Arts and Sciences) or the conservatory associate dean for advising and retention (for courses in the Conservatory of Music).

A final exam may be administered either at the time and place scheduled for that course by the registrar or as a take-home exam that is due at the time that coincides with the end of the exam time scheduled for that course by the registrar. The time period for an “in class” final exam is limited to two hours. Take-home final exams should not be distributed before the last day of classes. In lieu of a final exam, instructors have the option of designation one academic exercise (a paper, performance, or other work) as the course’s final project and making this due at the time that coincides with the end of the exam time scheduled for that course by the registrar. The only exceptions to this are certain musical performance examinations, auditions, and other conservatory assessments.

The policies for each division varies. Be sure to review these policies before making any request.


Students who wish to request permission to change their final exam time must complete the time change request form and return it to the Academic Advising Resource Center for authorization. Requests for a final exam time change must be submitted before the officially scheduled time for the final exam.

Acceptable reasons for a student to request a final exam schedule change include having two exams scheduled at the same time or having three scheduled exams that start and end within a 24-hour period. One exam may be changed under each of these circumstances.  Exams must be changed to times that will not create a new scheduling issue.  Travel schedules are not considered a legitimate reason to change exam times.

For courses in the Conservatory of Music, students are required  to complete a form and attain special permission from the conservatory associate dean for student academic affairs. To complete the form and consult for special permission, students must schedule an appointment in Conservatory Bibbins 113 to schedule a session with the conservatory associate dean for student academic affairs.