@Compass indeed, that's my experience, though I don't know the Canadian system.

I added Canada to google fu. w2prod.sis.yorku.ca/Apps/WebObjects/cdm.woa/wa/DirectAction/‌​… At least one Canadian university does this, so it is possible that this university could have it as well. Consult the registrar.

"All three of those exams are Worth 35% or more of my grade" what O.ó ?

@luk32 My reading is that the exams are each for different courses, for which they constitute 35% or more - the rest being coursework I assume, or perhaps a 'midterm' exam.

Oh, 35% grade of each respective course. For some reason I thought there is only one grade involved. Brain-fart I guess.

It looks like they are trying to squeeze FOUR exam periods into a day with the result of no time in between for meals and exams running on well into the evening. I would consider even two three-hour exams with only a 10 minuite break to be unreasonable let alone three.

Study hard, get a good night sleep, and just do it.

At my institution, "conflict finals" are handled by submitting official paperwork to the Registrar's office, who schedules and manages those final exams (instructors aren't directly involved). So as multiple answers state, check your college's rules/catalog.

I recall at Ohio State, the exam schedule was included in the course description booklet, so students would know when the exams were before signing up for their courses. They could use this information in order not to enroll in courses yielding an undesirable exam schedule.

Check with your university. Texas A&M student rules allow a student to have some final exams rescheduled if they have three in a day.

Be thankful you are not a disabled student needing double time, so resulting in 18hrs of not stop exams…..

Why don’t all universities use exam planning software that takes into account the courses each student has signed up to, the software does not cost that much….

@Compass Every university I have been a part of (in the US) had the same rule. No more than two final exams in one day. Instructors are required to accommodate this. My current university also specifies that it's the middle exam(s) that must be moved to a different day.

@Ian Final exam schedules are set before students register. If they weren't, then you'd have the problem where people make long-term plans that conflict with exams.

@David maybe in North America, not necessarily elsewhere. In Italy we would get the schedule about 10 days before the exam period.

This made the "hot questions" sidebar, but I don't exactly see why this is "on-topic" for this site. See the help center: "Avoid asking about... Undergraduate-specific issues that could not apply to graduate or post-graduate academicians."

@David In quite a few places the expectation is that as long as exams are during standard working days and usual hours, a full time student would not be expected to have any long term plans that conflict with that - you know beforehand in which weeks there will be a break, and which weeks are for studies and exams; there are all kinds of workarounds for emergencies, but long term plans are the kind of thing where you can simply consider e.g. a whole 4 week block at the end of semester as "busy", and then exams (and make-up exams, and delayed lab work, etc) will be allocated there.

@David, if you allow disabled students to have additional time etc (like in the UK) it is normal to only create the exam schedule when you know what the needs of each student is and what courses each student is taking. Not had with software like scientia.com/en-GB/Products/Exam-Scheduler (first shipped in 1996!) Students just need to know when term time is, as all exams take part in term time.

Since you are enrolled in "Computer Science", and not "Undecided" I imagine that a majority of the students within your major have exactly this same dilemma. Side note: Only 35%? What kind of final exam is that?

@apnorton This is not an undergraduate-only question. Graduate students take exams, and faculty plan for conflict exams.

@David That's not universallyt true. When I attended school in Canada, they set the final schedule about halfway through the term. I don't know why they didn't set it beforehand.

@GorchestopherH pretty common where I am (University of California Berkeley) for exams to be 30-40% of the grade

I'm kind of curious as I'm not a typical visitor to this Stack Exchange site, but are these types of questions that can be solved with a 5 minute conversation with one's adviser really on topic? This seems analogous to the SO cliche of "What have you tried?"

@krillgar I mentioned it to the department and to all of the professors concerned in an email, but as I didn't get any answer in 5 days, I figured I'd ask if anyone knew what to do in this situation ehre

@GorchestopherH Usually, at least from my experience in computer science here, the midterm and final exams are 20-45%, with the final equal or slightly higher than the midterm. The rest of the points are earned in practical work, labs and semester projects, which are usually pretty big. I usually spend about 2 to 4 times as much time on the projects and practical works than I spend studying on the exams, so that seems fair, and if I might say I still think the exams are worth too many points.

@KaitoKid Ah, ok. Perhaps adding that to your question would help. I do agree that 5 days is very long to not have an answer. I would suggest following up, especially in person with a professor after class, to see if you can get a definitive answer.

@KaitoKid From my experience at a Canadian university, Engineering exams were typically between 40% and 60%. We would dream of coursework.

Email is not an efficient way of handling these kinds of things. You will likely get far better results if you speak with the people involved in person. My personal experience is that, on the rare occasion that it was necessary for me to reschedule a final, it was not difficult to arrange.