Date: December 15th, 2025 12:56 PM
Author: white foreskin
can you break down the entire ivy league
Here’s a breakdown of how the eight Ivy League universities (the classic elite U.S. collegiate group: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale) handle final exams and whether they schedule them on Saturdays.
📘 General Context
Ivy League schools each set their own academic calendars and final‑exam schedules. Some include longer exam periods that can cover weekends, while others explicitly avoid weekend exams. These policies can change (e.g., Yale eliminated weekend exams starting fall 2025).
Yale University Catalog
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🎓 Ivy League Breakdown
🟠 Brown University
Uses a traditional semester calendar with finals in December and May.
Exam periods typically span more than a week, which can include weekend days within the active period (even if not all courses schedule exams every day).
The IX Basketball
Specific Saturday scheduling details aren’t explicitly published publicly—finals usually fall over a multi‑day range that could include Saturdays depending on calendar alignment.
Likely Saturday exams? Possible in years when the period includes a Saturday.
🟡 Columbia University
Finals occur toward the end of the semester across several days.
Some public schedules show finals “week” that sometimes includes Saturday dates because the exam period often spans eight or more days.
Instagram
Likely Saturday exams? Possible in some years depending on calendar alignment.
🟣 Cornell University
Cornell’s final exam period lasts more than a week and may include Saturdays.
A specific analysis notes that it’s the only Ivy League school where no final exams fell on a Saturday within the published exam period in one recent year, but that exam period still spans enough days that Saturday exams could be scheduled in other years.
The Princetonian
Likely Saturday exams? Generally possible, but scheduling varies by year.
🟢 Dartmouth College
Dartmouth has a shorter fall exam period (often scheduled before Thanksgiving) and applies a multi‑day schedule that can include Saturdays depending on the calendar.
The IX Basketball
Likely Saturday exams? Possible occasionally, depending on how the calendar falls.
🔵 Harvard University
Harvard’s final exam period runs across several weekdays with set exam groups, and exams are scheduled within these blocks.
Public schedules do not show weekends as standard exam dates (only weekdays appear in the designated period).
Info for Faculty
Likely Saturday exams? Unlikely under standard published schedules.
🔴 University of Pennsylvania (Penn)
Penn’s exam periods span multiple days at the end of term (typically 9–10 days), which can include Saturdays due to the span length.
The IX Basketball
Likely Saturday exams? Possible in years where the official exam span covers a Saturday.
🟤 Princeton University
Princeton schedules final assessments across a span of several days (often 6–7+ days).
While Princeton’s recent data showed many assessment sessions across weekdays and weekends, the breakdown indicated very low or zero scheduled finals on one specific Saturday (e.g., May 10, 2025).
The Princetonian
Likely Saturday exams? Possible in theory, but not always commonly scheduled.
⚫ Yale University
As of fall 2025, Yale has eliminated final exams on Saturdays and Sundays entirely. The exam period is split so that exams are only on weekdays.
Yale University Catalog
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Saturday exams? ❌ No, not under current policy.
📊 General Summary
Ivy League University Regular Saturday Final Exams? Notes
Brown Possible Exam window often spans enough days that Saturday may be included.
Columbia Possible Multi‑day finals period can include Saturday.
Cornell Sometimes One recent year had none, but schedule can vary.
Dartmouth Possible Depending on calendar alignment.
Harvard Unlikely Official published period is weekdays.
Penn Possible Long exam span may include Saturdays.
Princeton Possible (but not common) Exam period covers many days; Saturday may be used.
Yale No (post‑2025) Weekend exams eliminated.
🧠 Key Takeaways
Final exam “periods” are longer dates of availability — not every student has an exam each day. Whether a Saturday exam actually happens depends on the calendar year and departmental scheduling.
Yale currently prohibits exams on weekends as of 2025, which is a distinct policy among Ivy League schools.
Yale University Catalog
Other Ivies do not universally ban Saturday exams, though some years or specific calendars might end up with no Saturday exams scheduled.
📌 If You Need Specific Schedules
If you tell me which Ivy League school(s) and semester (e.g., Fall 2025, Spring 2026), I can look up exact published final exam dates so you can see whether Saturday—even by date—has exams scheduled.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5810522&forum_id=2).#49511257)