In recent years, midterms have been canceled each winter in Henrico County. After continually having to cancel midterms due to weather, Henrico County decided to get rid of them altogether.
While recent Henrico County students never had a high school midterm, they now have several midterms a year at their college or university.
The amount of midterms administered at college fluctuates by major and place. Depending on the course, one might have two, three, or four midterms per semester.
These Godwin alums answered how they view their recent midterm experiences after never taking them in high school.
Caroline Kane, a Virginia Tech freshman, just took her first college midterms.
“Not all classes in college require a midterm and final exam, which is why I only had two in my first semester, even though I had six classes. In high school, midterms got canceled every year because of snow, which explains why I never took any,” said Kane.
Maddie Grega, a James Madison freshman, believes that she does not see a difference between having midterms and not.
“No, I don’t think it would be different [if I took midterms or not],” said Grega.
Midterms vary how much of your grade they make up. In some cases, midterms can be up to 50 percent of a student’s final grade.
“It depends on the class and professor, but my two midterms were 20% of my final grade,” said Grega.
Laura Hess, a University of New Hampshire freshman, shared how her midterms were weighted as well.
“My classes this past semester all had about four exams, and the first three were weighted the same, and the final was weighted extra. I’d say midterms were probably 6-12% of my grade depending on the class,” said Hess.
As midterms vary by school and professor, they also vary by high schools. In high school, midterms tend to be at the end of the first semester instead of the middle of each semester. In college, classes are only one semester, not two.
“Midterms in high school were exams during the middle of the school year while midterms in college are in the middle of each semester. Therefore, it feels like a lot less material you’re being tested on in college versus in high school,” said Kane.
Similar to Kane, Grega agrees that she did not notice much of a difference between not having high school midterms and having college midterms.
“The only difference is they can be worth a little more towards your final grade,” said Grega.
Hess compares her college courses and midterms to her Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school. She believes that her AP classes benefitted her more than having midterm exams.
“I do not think having midterms in high school really would have benefitted me. My college courses have been very similar to Advanced Placement courses.” said Hess.
Kane agrees that there is no benefit for having high school midterms, as long as you treat it as another test.
“A midterm is really just another big test. As long as you pay attention in lectures and take the time to study and prepare, then you’ll be fine,” said Kane.
Hess views that the greatest difference between high school and college assessments is the number of quizzes.
“College is a lot more exam-focused, having midterms isn’t where the difference is, I see the most difference in quizzes. Most of my courses did not have quizzes and it was just the material and then an exam,” said Hess.
Each of the Godwin alums agreed that the absence of high school midterms does not affect their college midterm experience.
