As we all know, finals are the absolute worst. But instead of locking yourself in your room and trying to ignore your roommates while you focus on studying, try one of these other study spots. They’re ranked in order from quietest to loudest, so take your pick and try something new!
1. Library
Quietness: 5/5
Obviously the library is a study favorite for a lot of people. The near total silence can be really helpful if you need a place to really focus on your work, especially if you’re easily distracted. As we all know, the nice thing is there are plenty of computers for you to work on if you need to and plenty of different study spaces. From tables, to cubicles, to couches, the library is definitely the OG finals study place, as long as you can find an open seat somewhere.
2. Study Room
Quietness: 3-5/5
The study rooms are definitely highly coveted study spaces; one look at the completely red availability screen in Einstein’s can tell you that. These spaces are great for studying for exams with friends, as you can talk together and use the whiteboards to write down important things or walk through practice problems. These rooms can be silent or a slightly noisier study space, as it’s up to you. As long as you can snag one ahead of time, they’re a great place to work, so definitely keep them in mind for future finals or exams. Keep your eye out for open ones in the Bentley Bubble/Student Center too, especially if no orgs are meeting in them that day.
3. Mail Room
Quietness: 4/5
The mail room is definitely an underrated study spot on campus. Not only does it have comfortable chairs to sit in, but if you want to be left alone, chances are nobody will check here for you (but that won’t stop them from possibly seeing you through the window). Even while there may be a few people coming and going through the day to check their mail, there won’t be many, and it stays pretty quiet.
4. An Empty Classroom
Quietness: 4-5/5
This is a good alternative if you can’t find a study room. You pretty much get the same environment that you would get in a study room, just in a bigger space. The only problem is, depending on what time you try to get a classroom, you might get kicked out if there’s a final in that room. To avoid that, you should probably try to use a classroom to study on a weekend or at night.
5. Morrison
Quietness: 4/5
There are some tables and rooms around Morrison that you can find to go study in. It’s a pretty quiet space, and again, it’s somewhere you can go to “hide” from people while you study. Since the professors in Morrison are either helping students or trying to get work done themselves, it stays pretty quiet.
6. Adamian
Quietness: 3.5/5
Adamian is a good study space, as it gives you some different options for where to study. There is the lobby area with tables and couches on the first floor, or you can head to some of the tables upstairs. While it is a mostly quiet place, you will get some noise with people walking through to their finals or professors heading to their offices.
7. The Bentley Bubble
Quietness: 3.5/5
The Bubble is a nice place to study for finals, as it is close to a lot of the dorms and food for snacks and study breaks. The desks have a good amount of space, and since everyone there is working, everyone is focused and pretty quiet. The only downside is that if people are loud below you near the ping pong and pool tables, the sound carries up into the Bubble.
8. A Function Room/Lounge
Quietness: 3/5
Depending on what dorm you live in, your function room or lounge might be louder or quieter than others. The nice thing is that these are really close to your dorm room so you don’t have to go far at all to find a study space. The downside is that since it’s a common area of the dorm, people come and go and might not be as quiet as you want them to be. If you want to avoid a walk from your dorm and can deal with a little noise, a function room can still make a good study space.
9. Smith
Quietness: 3/5
Smith isn’t a bad place to try to get some studying done. While it can get pretty loud during the day while people are walking around, while classes are happening, or at night, Smith normally stays pretty quiet. If you don’t mind working while sitting on a couch, it’s definitely not a bad option to try.
10. The Pub
Quietness: 3/5
The Pub is not the most silent of study spaces, but it is normally pretty dead during the day. You can head in there and spread out at one of the tables if you want. You’ll probably hear some residual noise from the dining hall and the rest of the Student Center, but overall it’s not too bad. The real downside is the hard metal chairs, but if a hard seat doesn’t bother you, give the pub a try.
11. Einstein’s
Quietness: 2-3/5
Depending on when you’re there, Einstein’s can be loud or quieter. Normally, it gets a little louder around meal times and during the day, since there are a lot of people coming and going. However, if you like some background noise while you study instead of complete silence, this is a good study space. The hard thing is finding a seat, but once you do you can put in some headphones and work for as long as you need. Sometimes the Einstein’s workers will even give you some food they are about to throw away once they’re closing up (note: this is not a guarantee, but I did get two fruit cups last year when I stayed until they closed). Beware, though, the wooden chairs can get a bit uncomfortable after a while.
12. LaCava
Quietness: 2-3/5
Lacava has the same problem that Einstein’s does with noise level: at meal times it will get a bit louder, but overall it’s not awful. The booths are comfortable, and you have plenty of room to spread out by yourself of share the space with a friend. Again, this is a good place if you want some background noise while you’re studying. The nice thing, too, is that you’re right next to Lacava, so you can get some good study snacks (assuming you haven’t burned through all your discresh already).
13. The Russo’s Tables
Quietness: 2/5
The Russo’s tables are another place that can get a little loud, so you have to be prepared for that if you choose to study here. The other problem is the new flat screens can be a bit distracting. This could be a nice place to work on finishing up a final group project if noise doesn’t bother you.
14. The Dining Hall
Quietness: 1/5
Even though the dining hall is normally less busy during finals than it normally is, it is still a pretty loud study space, so it’s definitely not ideal if you need to really focus on something. Like a couple of the previously mentioned places, if background noise doesn’t bother you (or even helps you) while you study, this could be a good place to give a try. If you pick one of the booths closer to the grill, it tends to be a little quieter, but not by much. Basically, this is a step louder and busier than Lacava, but you still get comfy booth seats and lots of table space.