Final exams begin on Friday, with students using Reading Day to prepare. We canvassed the campus community on Wednesday, asking a handful of them to discuss their favorite places to crack open their books. Most, we found, tend to gravitate toward Snell Library, while others seem to have discovered some hidden gems.

Mohammed Shafee, MS’17:

Shafee, a first-year graduate student studying engineering management, is in the midst of preparing for two exams, the first of which is Friday. His go-to study spot, he said, is the Digital Media Commons, which is located on the second floor of Snell Library.

“There’s enough space for my books and my laptop,” Shafee explained, as he walked from Columbus Avenue to Snell Library to prepare for his exam in data management and database design. It’s not too loud there, he said, not too quiet. As he put it, “I need a little noise. I can’t study in a silent space.”

Rashid Khamis, E’18:

Khamis, a second-year electrical engineering major, prefers the third floor of Snell Library. “The third floor is more relaxing than the fourth,” he said, prior to entering the building to study for his macroeconomics exam on Friday. “The fourth floor is too quiet. You can see panic on people’s faces.”

If Snell is too crowded, he’ll take his books to the basement of the Behrakis Health Sciences Center and study in one of the open classrooms there. “It’s a really good study spot,” he said.

Evan Hovaniak, E’17:

Hovaniak, a second-year electrical and computer engineering major, was studying on the second floor of the Curry Student Center on Wednesday afternoon. He likes the open space, he said, and will sometimes venture to one of the tables beneath the bank of TVs lining the space’s west-end wall. He even has a special name for the area, calling it “the pit.”

“I don’t always like being in a cube,” he said, referring to some of the study spaces in Snell. “Sometimes I like some background noise.”

Megan Wu, BHS’20:

Wu, a first-year physical therapy major, can often be found studying on the third floor of Snell Library. But when she’s not making study guides and reviewing her notes there, she might be spotted in one of the law school’s basement classrooms. Located in Dockser Hall, they’re big and quiet.

“I had the whole room to myself,” said Wu, reflecting on one of her study sessions earlier this semester. “And I did well on the exam too.”

Jimmy Heim, BHS’16:

Heim, a fourth-year physical therapy major, likes to study at the Panera Bread on Huntington Avenue. For him, the restaurant’s basement space is best place to prep for big tests. It’s pretty quiet there, he said, pretty secluded. “I’ll order a cup of black coffee to fuel my brain,” said Heim, who is currently doing his second clinical rotation, “and a bread bowl of soup when I’m hungry.”

Hours of operation:

Snell Library will be open 24/7 between now and the end of final exams on Dec. 18.

From now through Dec. 13, the Curry Student Center will be open 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Sunday. From Dec. 14-18, the student center will be open until 2 a.m. for study purposes only.