Comments on: Advertising on tests http://squaregalaxy.com/education/advertising-on-tests/ A blog by Jacob Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:47:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Hyrum http://squaregalaxy.com/education/advertising-on-tests/comment-page-1/#comment-10273 Hyrum Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:47:23 +0000 http://squaregalaxy.com/?p=2313#comment-10273 Late fees at the BYU testing center aren't just there to offset the cost of providing the exam--they're there to incentivize the taking of the exam <em>early</em>. For the student, it's often a cost/benefit analysis where money can be used to "buy" the extra day of study time. Aside from the fiduciary benefit, the testing center gains by effectively flattening the distribution of test takers over the last couple of days of the exam, especially for large courses (think American Heritage). (One might argue that a graduated system would work even better, but I have a hard time believing the students would buy that.) However, after getting hit with a $5 late fee once or twice, I vowed never to throw money away like that again, and it served me well. Late fees at the BYU testing center aren’t just there to offset the cost of providing the exam–they’re there to incentivize the taking of the exam early. For the student, it’s often a cost/benefit analysis where money can be used to “buy” the extra day of study time. Aside from the fiduciary benefit, the testing center gains by effectively flattening the distribution of test takers over the last couple of days of the exam, especially for large courses (think American Heritage). (One might argue that a graduated system would work even better, but I have a hard time believing the students would buy that.)

However, after getting hit with a $5 late fee once or twice, I vowed never to throw money away like that again, and it served me well.

]]>