Computer-based exams are dragging my GPA down to hell.

You know what’s awful? Computer based midterms. You know what is worse? When they take up 75% of your grade so you have to completely ace them without the slightest human error to be eligible for engineering classes you want to take regardless of whether or not you’ve proved your proficiency in projects. It’s almost like they only reward people who are good test takers or those who successfully cheat them than those who take the time out to actually master the course.

The absolute disparity between my grades on in-paper exams versus computer based exams are absurd with margins beyond 40%. In a paper-based exam for the Taylor Series in Calculus 2 I got an A+ without the curve, meanwhile for a computer-based exam for Linear Algebra my exam average is a C- with the curves.

What’s the difference between in-paper and computer based tests? I’m in-paper discrete I get to actually write down the necessary work in an un-simplified answer to prove that I did my work right. A computer-based test wants me to simplify 4x4x9 sig fig irrational entries from scratch paper to computer without any typo from shaky hands or you get zero points on that question. Repeat for 20 questions in a 50-minute time window.

I find computer-based testing to be absolutely atrocious, lazy, and an awful way to assess one’s ability to become successful in their respective engineering department. Yet here I am days before my computer-based final that will significantly impact my GPA for this semester on the brink of breakdown.